Specifications

ManualsBrandsEpson ManualsComputer equipmentOS/2 Warp 3.0 and TWAIN

Glossary

specification defines the following minimum stan-

dard requirements: 25MHz 486SX with 4MB RAM,

160MB hard disk, 16-bit sound card,; 65,536-color

video display, double-speed CD-ROM drive, and sys-

tems software compatible with the APIs of Microsoft

Windows version 3.1 or later. The MPC 3 specifica-

tion defines the following minimum standard

requirements: 75MHz Pentium with 8MB RAM,

540MB hard disk, 16-bit sound card, 65,536-color

video display, quad-speed CD-ROM drive, OM-

1–compliant MPEG-1 video, and systems software

compatible with the APIs of Microsoft Windows ver-

sion 3.1 and DOS 6.0 or later. Virtually all com-

puters sold since 1995 exceed MPC 3 standards.

MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group)

A working ISO committee that has defined stan-

dards for lossy digital compression and decompres-

sion of motion video/audio for use in computer

systems. The MPEG-1 standard delivers decompres-

sion data at 1.2MBps–1.5MBps, enabling CD play-

ers to play full-motion color movies at 30 frames

per second. MPEG-1 compresses at about a 50:1

ratio before image degradation occurs, but compres-

sion ratios as high as 200:1 are attainable. MPEG-2

extends to the higher data rates (2Mbps–15Mbps)

necessary for signals delivered from remote sources

(such as broadcast, cable, or satellite). MPEG-2 is

designed to support a range of picture aspect ratios,

including 4:3 and 16:9. MPEG compression pro-

duces about a 50% volume reduction in file size.

MP3 (the audio layer portion of the MPEG-1 stan-

dard) provides a wide range of compression ratios

and file sizes for digital music storage, making it

the de facto standard for exchanging digital music

through sites such as Napster and its many rivals.

See also TCO.

MSDOS.SYS One of the DOS/Windows 9x system

files required to boot the machine. Contains the

primary DOS routines. Loaded by

IO.SYS, it in turn

loads

COMMAND.COM.

MTBF (mean time between failure) A statis-

tically derived measure of the probable time a

device will continue to operate before a hardware

failure occurs, usually given in hours. Because no

standard technique exists for measuring MTBF, a

device from one manufacturer can be significantly

more or significantly less reliable than a device

with the same MTBF rating from another manu-

facturer.

MTTR (mean time to repair) A measure of

the probable time it will take a technician to ser-

vice or repair a specific device, usually given in

hours.

Multichannel Multipoint Distribution

Service (MMDS) The most common form of so-

called “wireless cable TV,” MMDS is also used for

two-way wireless Internet service. One of the lead-

ing MMDS technology manufacturers is Navini

Networks (www.navini.com).

multicolor graphics array See MCGA.

multimedia The integration of sound, graphic

images, animation, motion video, and text in one

environment on a computer. It is a set of hardware

and software technologies that is rapidly changing

and enhancing the computing environment.

multisession A term used in CD-ROM recording

to describe a recording event. Multisession capabili-

ties allow data recording on the disk at various

times in several recording sessions. Kodak’s Photo

CD is an example of multisession CD-R technology.

See also session (single or multisession).

multitask To run several programs simultane-

ously.

multithread To concurrently process more than

one message by an application program. OS/2 and

32-bit versions of Windows are examples of multi-

threaded operating systems. Each program can start

two or more threads, which carry out various inter-

related tasks with less overhead than two separate

programs would require.

multiuser system A system in which several

computer terminals share the same central process-

ing unit (CPU).

nano (n) A prefix indicating one billionth

(1/1,000,000,000 or .000000001) of some unit.

nanosecond (ns) A unit of time equal to one

billionth (1/1,000,000,000 or .000000001) of a

second.

Appendix A

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