VAC | Volts Alternating Current. | |
vaporware | Software that has been announced but doesn't exist yet. | |
VESA | (veesa) Video Electronics Standards Association. The source of a Super VGA standard used on many video boards. | |
VGA | Video Graphics Array. 640 480 16 resolution. Can have more colors if there is enough video RAM. | |
video adapter | See video controller. | |
video card | See video controller. | |
video controller | An expansion card whose function is to convert signals in the computer into signals the monitor can display. | |
video RAM | Memory on a video card that enables or speeds up drawing to the screen or increases resolution. | |
virtual memory | Memory addresses and data that appear to the CPU to be in RAM but actually are on a hard disk. Special software manages this memory and gives the CPU access to it. | |
virus | Software that copies itself onto hard drives and floppies without user intervention, usually when a floppy is placed into the drive of a computer. Viruses usually carry a payload (qv), triggered by some preset condition. Viruses are frequently written with antisocial intent. | |
virus checker | Software whose purpose is to detect and remove viruses from a system. | |
VIVO | When mentioned with the Ensoniq Soundscape wavetable sound card, VIVO does not refer to anything. | |
VLSI | Very Large Scale Integration. IC's that have 5,000 to 50,000 components. Single components are microscopic. | |
.VOC | The usual extension for a Sound Blaster sound file filename. | |
voice mail | A technical term used to describe a phone message left on an answering machine or audix. | |
volatile | IC's that loose their state when the power is shut off. Compare nonvolatile. | |
volume label | An 11-character electronic label that can be created for hard or floppy disks. Labels are created with the LABEL command in DOS, and read with the VOL command. | |
VRAM | (vee-ram) Video Random Access Memory. Utilizes a dual port design, allowing the accelerator chip and RAMDAC to access the frame buffer simultaneously. In other words, it's cooler than DRAM, but not as cool as WRAM. |