| Vacuum Tube Amplifiers |
An amplifier that uses valves (vacuum tubes) to make the signal louder. They add a bit of coloration to the signal, which is usually desirable, and sound very warm and rich when overdriven. |
| Variable |
A place in the computer's main memory in which a certain piece of information is stored. Each variable is composed of four parts:
1: The memory location in which the information is stored
2: The type of information which will be stored in that location
3: The information which is stored in that location
4: An identifier (The name of the variable) When the programmer declares a variable, he is telling the computer to set aside a certain amount of space in memory. The computer needs to know how much space to set aside, and the programmer gives this information by declaring what type of information will be stored. (Some types of data require more space in memory than others.)
The programmer must also have some way of keeping track of which information is stored in which location. Modern computer games require tremendous amounts of information. Keeping track of the exact memory location of each piece of information would be tedious. So the programmer assigns the variable an identifier. This is the name by which the programmer will refer to the variable.
Suppose a programmer needs to retrieve the hit points of a character named Toadbottom. If the programmer needed to refer to this as "the information stored at 00FF 92CA" it would be a nightmare. But by using an identifier, the programmer could refer to this information as "Toadbottom.hitPoints", or something equally nice.
top |
| Variables |
In most programming languages, there are areas of memory abstracted to contain certain values. Since most languages higher than C, do not worry about Registers and Memory Addresses, Variables are an abstract concept for those higher languages to store values that are not constant. In most languages, constants are not much use, as you may be required to gather user input, or change various states of the program. Constants generally include anything not put into variables. Just for further knowledge: [code] six = 4 + 2; # In this fictional example, six is a variable, while 4 and 2 are constants (or atleast as far as the interpretor/compiler is concerned). [/code] Generally the interpretor has the job of alloting various areas of memory for the variables to be put into and referenced from. In some languages (mostly compiled ones) variables may also be put into Registers--however that should be done with utmost caution. |
| VB |
Visual Basic. An extension of BASIC made by Microsoft, often used to create Windows applications quickly |
| VCA |
Voltage Controlled Amplifier. In analog synthesizers, an amplifier whose magnitude of amplification manipulated through control voltage. With various modulators, it is possible to create a number effects with a VCA, such as tremolo (a low-frequency sine wave as the modulator). |
| VCF |
Voltage Controlled Filter. A filter in analog synthesizers controlled by voltage |
| VCO |
Voltage Controlled Oscillator. In analog synthesizers, a device that generates various waveforms, whose frequency is determined by a control voltage |
| Vector |
A line or movement defined by its end points, or by the current position and one other point. |
| Vector |
1) A resizable array of elements (such as std::vector) 2) A mathematical object, usually in 2D or 3D space containing position elements of the same order. A vector is different than a point of the same magnitude in that it generally assumes movement from the origin of the coordinate system to the specified position. |
| Vector |
In 3D graphics, a set of numbers representing magnitude and direction |
| Vector Graphics |
Made famous by games like Asteroids and Battlezone, these are graphics that are defined by objects like lines, triangles or boxes, instead of by a bitmap |
| Vertex |
The point of intersection of lines or the point opposite the base of a polygon or other object. |
| Vertical Retrace |
In a CRT, this is the time during which the electron gun is repositioning itself from the lower right to the upper left. It is during this time that proper page flipping is done, so that smooth, tear free animation can be done.
top |
| VESA |
Video Electronics Standards Association. An organization that sets standards for video and multimedia in PCs. They created the Super VGA (SVGA) standard and the VESA Local Bus. |
| VGA |
Video Graphics Array: Analog graphics standard introduced with the IBM PS/2 series. Backwards compatible with EGA at the BIOS level, but provides higher resolutions. Supports a maximum resolution of 640 x 480 pixels in 16 colors (mode 0x12) out of a palette of 262,144 colors. Mode switching can be done using int 0x10, func 0x00 |
| Vibrato |
The sine-wave modulation of a signal's frequency. Basically, it results in the warbling of the signal's pitch |
| Virtual Memory |
Virtual memory is a space in secondary memory (usually the hard drive) used to extend the "apparent" size of main memory (RAM). When all the RAM is currently in use, and more is needed, non-imperitve, low-priority, and/or suspended processes are paged out to virtual memory. Their process information is written to the harddisk, and the process image is deleted from the main memory, allowing a new process to begin. Low levels of main memory on high power systems require almost the constant use of virtual memory, which can lead to thrashing. |
| Visual C++ |
An Integrated Development Environment used to create C++ programs
See Also:IDE |
| Visual Surface Determination |
Ensuring polygons are drawn in appropriate order. Popular methods are depth soring, Z-buffering, portals, and BSP trees. Often abbreviated VSD |
| VNC |
VNC stands for Virtual Network Computing. It is, in essence, a remote display system which allows you to view a computing 'desktop' environment not only on the machine where it is running, but from anywhere on the Internet and from a wide variety of machine architectures. VNC's Website |
| VOC File |
Creative Labs' sound format made popular with the Sound Blaster. |
| Volume Rendering |
A method of rendering that deals with the space that is used, as opposed to the faces that make up the outside of an object. Originally used for medical purposes only, it has also been adapted to do environmental effects, such as light through fog. |
| Voxel |
Volume pixel. These are basically another way of drawing 3D objects, instead of defining them as the polygons that make up the outside of an object, you define it as a number of points. Voxels can be the size of a pixel on the screen, or they can be large spheres, sprites or any graphical representation of a point.
top |
