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There is a lot of Jargon associated with games and consoles these days, the days of game, console control pad and that's it have faded. With new technology a lot of unknown words seem to arise. Here is what some of them mean. Feel free to add if you know them, but please try keep it to a certain standard.
Anti-Aliasing: A procedure to do with the graphics. It helps make the image appear smoother. It works by blurring pixels at edges of lines to make the difference between two colour areas less dramatic. This gets rid of the jagged images which occur at low resolutions.
Bandwidth: This is a measurement of how many bits of data can be transmitted at a given time.
Frame Buffer: This is an area of Ram that stores the pixel data for a particular frame or screen.
Gigabytes (GB): A measurement of storage capacity. 1GB = 1024 MB
Megabytes (MB): A measurement of storage capacity. 1MB = 1024K
Kilobytes (K): A measurement of storage capacity. 1K = 1024 bytes
Byte: A measurement of storage capacity. 1 byte = 8 bits.
Bit: The smallest unit of memory. A bit can either be a binary value of 1 or 0. (I.e. 1 = on, 0 = off)
Megahertz (MHZ): Is used in computing as a measure of clock speeds. 1MHZ is 1 million clocks per second. So the higher the number for the chip usually means its better. A quartz crystal with a specific resonating frequency is in every
processor, and the frequency at which it vibrates regulates the cycles of current going through the processor which allow it to perform tasks.
Nanosecond (NS): Is a measurement of time. 1 nanosecond is the same as 1 billionth of a second.
Polygon: A shape with more than 3 sides (pentagons, hexagons, squares, dodecahedrons etc) in 2D which are used to make a £D environment appear on a 2D screen.
Random Access Memory (RAM): This is a temporary location in memory. It is volatile which means it can be changed and will be lost when the power to it is switched off.
Read Only Memory (ROM): This is permanent location and the data stored in it can't be changed. Some special types of ROM like EPROM, EEPROM and UVEPROM PROM can be reprogrammed. It is programmed when it is made
Programmable ROM: The same as ROM except it is not programmed when it is made. Fusible links at the transistor-row/column junction can be either blown (to create a 0) or left intact (which creates a 1)
Erasable PROM (EPROM): Unlike an ordinary PROM, an EPROM can be reprogrammed after erasing the memory. Usually implemented by means of an isolated transistor gate that can store an electrical charge for an indefinite period of time. Erasure is the process that removes the gate charge.
Ultra-Violet EPROM (UVEPROM): Erasure of the gate charge is by exposure of the memory array to high-intensity UV radiation.
Electrically EPROM (EEPROM): Erasure achieved by means of an electrical pulse applied to the gate. Can be reprogrammed 'in circuit'.
Real-time: Adjective which indicates that the thing it modifies happens immediately. Most games use this so that when you input an action it is carried out as you do it (or very quickly after).
Z-Buffer: It basically stores the data about the pixels that are not present on the screen so that they appear in the right place when you move around and reveal new areas.
Mip-Mapping: Replaces a texture with a less complex copy as the view moves away from it. It doesn't affect the quality and is useful as it helps reduce the load on the machines memory.
Gouraud Shading: Applies colouring to each individual vertex which creates a more detailed illusion of a shadow. It helps make round objects appear to be round and makes objects that should be appear more curved.
Artificial Intelligence (AI): The part of the games programming that controls the actions of everything that the player doesn't control. This may be people on your side or opponents.
Physics model: Is part of the programming of a game that is used to calculate and also controls the physics of the game. Important in all games it recreates the behaviour of all physical objects.
Graphics processing Unit (GPU): A separate processor exclusively for the graphics card. Describes the onboard processing powers of the card. As usual the higher the number the better.
Double data Rate: Just like it sounds it is double the data rate. I.e. If your memory is clocked at 166MHz then it would operate at 333MHz.
Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU): Part of the processor which performs the arithmetic and logical procedures like add, subtract.
ASCII: American Standard Code for Information interchange. It is an alphanumeric coding system. It includes letters, numbers and special characters including punctuation marks. Upper and lower case characters have different codes.
Ok that's all that I can think of at the moment. I'll add more if I think of any.
Anti-Aliasing: A procedure to do with the graphics. It helps make the image appear smoother. It works by blurring pixels at edges of lines to make the difference between two colour areas less dramatic. This gets rid of the jagged images which occur at low resolutions.
Bandwidth: This is a measurement of how many bits of data can be transmitted at a given time.
Frame Buffer: This is an area of Ram that stores the pixel data for a particular frame or screen.
Gigabytes (GB): A measurement of storage capacity. 1GB = 1024 MB
Megabytes (MB): A measurement of storage capacity. 1MB = 1024K
Kilobytes (K): A measurement of storage capacity. 1K = 1024 bytes
Byte: A measurement of storage capacity. 1 byte = 8 bits.
Bit: The smallest unit of memory. A bit can either be a binary value of 1 or 0. (I.e. 1 = on, 0 = off)
Megahertz (MHZ): Is used in computing as a measure of clock speeds. 1MHZ is 1 million clocks per second. So the higher the number for the chip usually means its better. A quartz crystal with a specific resonating frequency is in every
processor, and the frequency at which it vibrates regulates the cycles of current going through the processor which allow it to perform tasks.
Nanosecond (NS): Is a measurement of time. 1 nanosecond is the same as 1 billionth of a second.
Polygon: A shape with more than 3 sides (pentagons, hexagons, squares, dodecahedrons etc) in 2D which are used to make a £D environment appear on a 2D screen.
Random Access Memory (RAM): This is a temporary location in memory. It is volatile which means it can be changed and will be lost when the power to it is switched off.
Read Only Memory (ROM): This is permanent location and the data stored in it can't be changed. Some special types of ROM like EPROM, EEPROM and UVEPROM PROM can be reprogrammed. It is programmed when it is made
Programmable ROM: The same as ROM except it is not programmed when it is made. Fusible links at the transistor-row/column junction can be either blown (to create a 0) or left intact (which creates a 1)
Erasable PROM (EPROM): Unlike an ordinary PROM, an EPROM can be reprogrammed after erasing the memory. Usually implemented by means of an isolated transistor gate that can store an electrical charge for an indefinite period of time. Erasure is the process that removes the gate charge.
Ultra-Violet EPROM (UVEPROM): Erasure of the gate charge is by exposure of the memory array to high-intensity UV radiation.
Electrically EPROM (EEPROM): Erasure achieved by means of an electrical pulse applied to the gate. Can be reprogrammed 'in circuit'.
Real-time: Adjective which indicates that the thing it modifies happens immediately. Most games use this so that when you input an action it is carried out as you do it (or very quickly after).
Z-Buffer: It basically stores the data about the pixels that are not present on the screen so that they appear in the right place when you move around and reveal new areas.
Mip-Mapping: Replaces a texture with a less complex copy as the view moves away from it. It doesn't affect the quality and is useful as it helps reduce the load on the machines memory.
Gouraud Shading: Applies colouring to each individual vertex which creates a more detailed illusion of a shadow. It helps make round objects appear to be round and makes objects that should be appear more curved.
Artificial Intelligence (AI): The part of the games programming that controls the actions of everything that the player doesn't control. This may be people on your side or opponents.
Physics model: Is part of the programming of a game that is used to calculate and also controls the physics of the game. Important in all games it recreates the behaviour of all physical objects.
Graphics processing Unit (GPU): A separate processor exclusively for the graphics card. Describes the onboard processing powers of the card. As usual the higher the number the better.
Double data Rate: Just like it sounds it is double the data rate. I.e. If your memory is clocked at 166MHz then it would operate at 333MHz.
Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU): Part of the processor which performs the arithmetic and logical procedures like add, subtract.
ASCII: American Standard Code for Information interchange. It is an alphanumeric coding system. It includes letters, numbers and special characters including punctuation marks. Upper and lower case characters have different codes.
Ok that's all that I can think of at the moment. I'll add more if I think of any.
Yeah, Ok. Also, by the time people do take advantage of the P4 architecture, things willh ave progressed once more in terms of advances in technology.
No, even in PCs - it depends what the processor is optimised for, and what apps take advantage of it. A 1.4GHz Palmino consistantly outperformed the 2GHz P4 on applications that haven't been designed specifically to take advantage of the P4 architecture.
Cel Shading: Its a technique that is used that makes the image look as if it was hand drawn on animation cels like in modern animation.
That's because the PS2 has other componenets included in it for optimizing things that are regularly used in games, whereas the PC is a generic system i.e. used for word processing, running the OS, etc. so it must have a more "general" design, processor wise.
Higher mhz in processors doesn't usually make them better. This is ony true for processors of a similar family, Intel P3, AMD Athlon. However it very clearly obvious that the Emotion Engine can outperform a P3 733, despite having less than half the mhz. Word lenght, no. of registers, FPUs, pipelines etc. all determine the peroformance of a processor, mhz can only be used as an accurate reference when comparing processors of the same family.
What's wrong with this stuff? Nothing too difficult.
Me too....
(Cue Bonus: Sill Game, doesnat know a thing!)
:D
(Cue Bonus: Sill Game, doesnat know a thing!)
:D
My brains hurting... :-D
There is a lot of Jargon associated with games and consoles these days, the days of game, console control pad and that's it have faded. With new technology a lot of unknown words seem to arise. Here is what some of them mean. Feel free to add if you know them, but please try keep it to a certain standard.
Anti-Aliasing: A procedure to do with the graphics. It helps make the image appear smoother. It works by blurring pixels at edges of lines to make the difference between two colour areas less dramatic. This gets rid of the jagged images which occur at low resolutions.
Bandwidth: This is a measurement of how many bits of data can be transmitted at a given time.
Frame Buffer: This is an area of Ram that stores the pixel data for a particular frame or screen.
Gigabytes (GB): A measurement of storage capacity. 1GB = 1024 MB
Megabytes (MB): A measurement of storage capacity. 1MB = 1024K
Kilobytes (K): A measurement of storage capacity. 1K = 1024 bytes
Byte: A measurement of storage capacity. 1 byte = 8 bits.
Bit: The smallest unit of memory. A bit can either be a binary value of 1 or 0. (I.e. 1 = on, 0 = off)
Megahertz (MHZ): Is used in computing as a measure of clock speeds. 1MHZ is 1 million clocks per second. So the higher the number for the chip usually means its better. A quartz crystal with a specific resonating frequency is in every
processor, and the frequency at which it vibrates regulates the cycles of current going through the processor which allow it to perform tasks.
Nanosecond (NS): Is a measurement of time. 1 nanosecond is the same as 1 billionth of a second.
Polygon: A shape with more than 3 sides (pentagons, hexagons, squares, dodecahedrons etc) in 2D which are used to make a £D environment appear on a 2D screen.
Random Access Memory (RAM): This is a temporary location in memory. It is volatile which means it can be changed and will be lost when the power to it is switched off.
Read Only Memory (ROM): This is permanent location and the data stored in it can't be changed. Some special types of ROM like EPROM, EEPROM and UVEPROM PROM can be reprogrammed. It is programmed when it is made
Programmable ROM: The same as ROM except it is not programmed when it is made. Fusible links at the transistor-row/column junction can be either blown (to create a 0) or left intact (which creates a 1)
Erasable PROM (EPROM): Unlike an ordinary PROM, an EPROM can be reprogrammed after erasing the memory. Usually implemented by means of an isolated transistor gate that can store an electrical charge for an indefinite period of time. Erasure is the process that removes the gate charge.
Ultra-Violet EPROM (UVEPROM): Erasure of the gate charge is by exposure of the memory array to high-intensity UV radiation.
Electrically EPROM (EEPROM): Erasure achieved by means of an electrical pulse applied to the gate. Can be reprogrammed 'in circuit'.
Real-time: Adjective which indicates that the thing it modifies happens immediately. Most games use this so that when you input an action it is carried out as you do it (or very quickly after).
Z-Buffer: It basically stores the data about the pixels that are not present on the screen so that they appear in the right place when you move around and reveal new areas.
Mip-Mapping: Replaces a texture with a less complex copy as the view moves away from it. It doesn't affect the quality and is useful as it helps reduce the load on the machines memory.
Gouraud Shading: Applies colouring to each individual vertex which creates a more detailed illusion of a shadow. It helps make round objects appear to be round and makes objects that should be appear more curved.
Artificial Intelligence (AI): The part of the games programming that controls the actions of everything that the player doesn't control. This may be people on your side or opponents.
Physics model: Is part of the programming of a game that is used to calculate and also controls the physics of the game. Important in all games it recreates the behaviour of all physical objects.
Graphics processing Unit (GPU): A separate processor exclusively for the graphics card. Describes the onboard processing powers of the card. As usual the higher the number the better.
Double data Rate: Just like it sounds it is double the data rate. I.e. If your memory is clocked at 166MHz then it would operate at 333MHz.
Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU): Part of the processor which performs the arithmetic and logical procedures like add, subtract.
ASCII: American Standard Code for Information interchange. It is an alphanumeric coding system. It includes letters, numbers and special characters including punctuation marks. Upper and lower case characters have different codes.
Ok that's all that I can think of at the moment. I'll add more if I think of any.
Anti-Aliasing: A procedure to do with the graphics. It helps make the image appear smoother. It works by blurring pixels at edges of lines to make the difference between two colour areas less dramatic. This gets rid of the jagged images which occur at low resolutions.
Bandwidth: This is a measurement of how many bits of data can be transmitted at a given time.
Frame Buffer: This is an area of Ram that stores the pixel data for a particular frame or screen.
Gigabytes (GB): A measurement of storage capacity. 1GB = 1024 MB
Megabytes (MB): A measurement of storage capacity. 1MB = 1024K
Kilobytes (K): A measurement of storage capacity. 1K = 1024 bytes
Byte: A measurement of storage capacity. 1 byte = 8 bits.
Bit: The smallest unit of memory. A bit can either be a binary value of 1 or 0. (I.e. 1 = on, 0 = off)
Megahertz (MHZ): Is used in computing as a measure of clock speeds. 1MHZ is 1 million clocks per second. So the higher the number for the chip usually means its better. A quartz crystal with a specific resonating frequency is in every
processor, and the frequency at which it vibrates regulates the cycles of current going through the processor which allow it to perform tasks.
Nanosecond (NS): Is a measurement of time. 1 nanosecond is the same as 1 billionth of a second.
Polygon: A shape with more than 3 sides (pentagons, hexagons, squares, dodecahedrons etc) in 2D which are used to make a £D environment appear on a 2D screen.
Random Access Memory (RAM): This is a temporary location in memory. It is volatile which means it can be changed and will be lost when the power to it is switched off.
Read Only Memory (ROM): This is permanent location and the data stored in it can't be changed. Some special types of ROM like EPROM, EEPROM and UVEPROM PROM can be reprogrammed. It is programmed when it is made
Programmable ROM: The same as ROM except it is not programmed when it is made. Fusible links at the transistor-row/column junction can be either blown (to create a 0) or left intact (which creates a 1)
Erasable PROM (EPROM): Unlike an ordinary PROM, an EPROM can be reprogrammed after erasing the memory. Usually implemented by means of an isolated transistor gate that can store an electrical charge for an indefinite period of time. Erasure is the process that removes the gate charge.
Ultra-Violet EPROM (UVEPROM): Erasure of the gate charge is by exposure of the memory array to high-intensity UV radiation.
Electrically EPROM (EEPROM): Erasure achieved by means of an electrical pulse applied to the gate. Can be reprogrammed 'in circuit'.
Real-time: Adjective which indicates that the thing it modifies happens immediately. Most games use this so that when you input an action it is carried out as you do it (or very quickly after).
Z-Buffer: It basically stores the data about the pixels that are not present on the screen so that they appear in the right place when you move around and reveal new areas.
Mip-Mapping: Replaces a texture with a less complex copy as the view moves away from it. It doesn't affect the quality and is useful as it helps reduce the load on the machines memory.
Gouraud Shading: Applies colouring to each individual vertex which creates a more detailed illusion of a shadow. It helps make round objects appear to be round and makes objects that should be appear more curved.
Artificial Intelligence (AI): The part of the games programming that controls the actions of everything that the player doesn't control. This may be people on your side or opponents.
Physics model: Is part of the programming of a game that is used to calculate and also controls the physics of the game. Important in all games it recreates the behaviour of all physical objects.
Graphics processing Unit (GPU): A separate processor exclusively for the graphics card. Describes the onboard processing powers of the card. As usual the higher the number the better.
Double data Rate: Just like it sounds it is double the data rate. I.e. If your memory is clocked at 166MHz then it would operate at 333MHz.
Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU): Part of the processor which performs the arithmetic and logical procedures like add, subtract.
ASCII: American Standard Code for Information interchange. It is an alphanumeric coding system. It includes letters, numbers and special characters including punctuation marks. Upper and lower case characters have different codes.
Ok that's all that I can think of at the moment. I'll add more if I think of any.