Depobook Court Reporters & Stenographers

We get a lot of phone calls regarding our videoconference services nationwide, and many of our clients have some basic questions concerning the technology and terminology. Here’s a brief glossary of some videoconferencing terms in plain English:

application sharing
A feature of many videoconferencing applications that enables the conference participants to simultaneously run the same application. The application itself resides on only one of the machines connected to the conference.

A feature of many videoconferencing applications that enables the conference participants to simultaneously run the same application. The application itself resides on only one of the machines connected to the conference.

bandwidth
(1) A range within a band of frequencies or wavelengths.

(2) The amount of data that can be transmitted in a fixed amount of time. For digital devices, the bandwidth is usually expressed in bits per second(bps) or bytes per second. For analog devices, the bandwidth is expressed in cycles per second, or Hertz (Hz).

The bandwidth is particularly important for I/O devices. For example, a fast disk drive can be hampered by a bus with a low bandwidth. This is the main reason that new buses, such as AGP, have been developed for the PC.

bit
Short for binary digit, the smallest unit of information on a machine. The term was first used in 1946 by John Tukey, a leading statistician and adviser to five presidents. A single bit can hold only one of two values: 0 or 1. More meaningful information is obtained by combining consecutive bits into larger units. For example, a byte is composed of 8 consecutive bits.

Computers are sometimes classified by the number of bits they can process at one time or by the number of bits they use to represent addresses. These two values are not always the same, which leads to confusion. For example, classifying a computer as a 32-bit machine might mean that its data registers are 32 bits wide or that it uses 32 bits to identify each address in memory. Whereas larger registers make a computer faster, using more bits for addresses enables a machine to support larger programs.

Graphics are also often described by the number of bits used to represent each dot. A 1-bit image is monochrome; an 8-bit image supports 256 colors or grayscales; and a 24- or 32-bit graphic supports true color.

bps
Abbreviation of bits per second, the standard measure of data transmission speeds.

broadband
A type of data transmission in which a single medium (wire) can carry several channels at once. Cable TV, for example, uses broadband transmission. In contrast, baseband transmission allows only one signal at a time.
Most communications between computers, including the majority of local-area networks, use baseband communications. An exception is B-ISDN networks, which employ broadband transmission.

camera presets
In desktop publishing, camera-ready refers to the final state of a publication before it is printed. Historically, the term has meant that the copy is ready to be photographed and turned into plates for offset printing. Increasingly, however, it is possible to print directly from the electronic version, either by sending it to a high-resolution laser printer or to a special device that can generate plates directly from electronic elements rather than from photographs. In these cases, therefore, camera-ready means merely that the document is ready to be printed.

echo cancellation
(adj.)Refers to the transmission of data in just one direction at a time. For example, a walkie-talkie is a half-duplex device because only one party can talk at a time. In contrast, a telephone is a full-duplex device because both parties can talk simultaneously. Duplex modes often are used in reference to network data transmissions.

Some modems contain a switch that lets you select between half-duplex and full-duplex modes. The correct choice depends on which program you are using to transmit data through the modem. In half-duplex mode, each character transmitted is immediately displayed on your screen. (For this reason, it is sometimes called local echo — characters are echoed by the local device). In full-duplex mode, transmitted data is not displayed on your monitor until it has been received and returned (remotely echoed) by the other device. If you are running a communications program and every character appears twice, it probably means that your modem is in half-duplex mode when it should be in full-duplex mode, and every character is being both locally and remotely echoed.

full duplex audio
(adj.) Refers to the transmission of data in two directions simultaneously. For example, a telephone is a full-duplex device because both parties can talk at once. In contrast, a walkie-talkie is a half-duplex device because only one party can transmit at a time.
Most modems have a switch that lets you choose between full-duplex and half-duplex modes. The choice depends on which communications program you are running.

In full-duplex mode, data you transmit does not appear on your screen until it has been received and sent back by the other party. This enables you to validate that the data has been accurately transmitted. If your display screen shows two of each character, it probably means that your modem is set to half-duplex mode when it should be in full-duplex mode.

full motion video
Equivalent to broadcast television video with a framerate of 30 fps (frames per second). Images are sent in real time and motion is continuous

frame rate
Frequency in which video frames are displayed on a monitor, typically described in frames-per-second. Higher frame rates improve the appearance of video motion and smoothness.

handshaking
The electronic process used to establish communications parameters between two videoconferencing sites.

h.320
An international videoconferencing standard over ISDN. ISDN offers quality of service since it is transmitted over a circuit- switched network.

h.323
An international videoconferencing standard over IP (packet-switched) networks.

isdn
Stands for Integrated Services Digital Network, and is a system of digital telephone connections that allows voice and data to be transmitted simultaneously across the globe using end-to-end digital connectivity.

ip
Internet Protocol

itu
International Telecommunications Union.

mbps
Mega bits per second.

multipoint
Videoconferencing between more than two sites.

point-to-point
Videoconferencing between only two sites.

public rooms
Videoconferencing services offered to the public on a fee per usage basis zoom conferencing

videoconferencing
Live, two-way, electronic audiovisual communication between two or more places separated by distance.

virtual classroom
An online learning space where students and instructors interact.