Glossary
3
3D Vision
NVIDIA® 3D Vision™ is a combination of stereoscopic 3D glasses and software that allows you to view many PC games, digital photographs, and video in stereoscopic 3D. NVIDIA 3D Vision requires a compatible NVIDIA graphics card, 3D Vision-ready display, and a PC running on Windows Vista or Windows 7.
3DTV Play
NVIDIA® 3DTV Play™ is software that lets you view content in stereoscopic 3D on HDMI 1.4 3D TVs. NVIDIA 3DTV Play requires a 3D Vision-ready GPU, a PC running on Windows Vista or Windows 7, and an HDMI 1.4 3D TV with compatible 3D glasses.
A
analog display
Analog display refers to your CRT display, in general. The terms CRT and analog display may be used interchangeably in this guide.
antialiasing
A technique for diminishing jaggies – stair step-like lines that should be smooth
C
Control Panel (Microsoft Windows)
You can access the Windows Control Panel window by clicking Start > Settings > Control Panel from the Windows desktop taskbar.
control panel (NVIDIA display)
The NVIDIA display properties “control panel” refers to the entire NVIDIA-based window with the fly-out NVIDIA display menu containing menu options, each of which opens to a separate configuration page.
control panel (nView Desktop Manager)
The nView Desktop Manager “control panel” refers to the entire nView Desktop Manager control panel window (tabbed style or NVIDIA menu style) from which you can configure nView Desktop Manager settings. For details, refer to the nView Desktop Manager User’s Guide for the current driver release.
nView Desktop Manager is also a clickable icon in the Windows Control Panel group of icons. When you click this icon, the nView Desktop Manager “control panel” appears.
D
desktop
Desktop is your Windows on-screen work area on which windows, icons, menus, and dialog boxes appear.
dialog box
Dialog boxes are user-input windows that contain command button and various options through which you can carry out a particular command or task.
For example, in a Windows application “Save As” dialog box, you must indicate the folder to contain the document to be saved and the name of that document when saving it.
digital display
A digital display can be a digital flat panel (DFP) or, for example, a mobile (laptop or notebook) computer’s LVDS internal display panel.
DisplayPort
DisplayPort is a digital audio/video interface, intended to be used primarily between a computer and its display monitor, or a computer and a home-theater system.
dual-card configuration
A setup where two or more displays (such as an analog display, a digital display, or a TV) are connected to two NVIDIA GPU-based graphics cards installed in the computer.
F
frame lock
Frame lock involves the use of hardware to synchronize the frames on each display in a cluster of systems.
frame synchronization
The process of synchronizing display pixel scanning to a synchronization source.
G
genlock
The process of synchronizing the pixel scanning of one or more displays to an external signal.
GPU
NVIDIA graphics processor (chip) products are called graphics processing units (GPU). The graphics card you are using is based on an NVIDIA GPU.
H
HDMI
HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is an uncompressed, all-digital, audio/video interface.
HDMI 1.4 3D Video
HDMI 1.4 3D Video refers to NVIDIA software that lets you view stereoscopic Blu-ray 3D video over HDMI 1.4 on 3D TVs. The software requires a 3D Vision-ready GPU, a PC running on Microsoft Windows 7, compatible Blu-ray 3D playback software (from CyberLink, ArcSoft, Corel, or Roxio), Blu-ray 3D disc, and an HDMI 1.4 3D TV with compatible 3D glasses.
HDTV
high definition television. A system for transmitting a TV signal with far greater resolution than the standard National Television Committee (NTSC) standards. An HDTV set requires at least two million pixels versus a common television set of 360,000.
house sync
The external timing signal used to synchronize all the displays in a frame lock or genlock setup.
M
multi-display configuration
A setup where two or more displays are connected to either a multi-display NVIDIA GPU-based graphics card; or two (or more) NVIDIA GPU-based graphics cards.
multi-graphics card configuration
A setup where two or more displays (such as an analog display, a digital display, or a TV) are connected to two (or more) NVIDIA GPU-based graphics cards installed in the computer.
O
Optimus technology
NVIDIA® Optimus™ technology is a power-saving GPU technology that automatically turns on or off the high-performance NVIDIA GPU according to the programs that are running. See Using NVIDIA’s Power-Saving GPU Technology.
P
pixel
Short for Picture Element, a pixel is a single point in a graphic image.
profile
A saved list of unique display settings, usually associated with games when they are launched.
R
RAID
Stands for redundant array of independent disks, a technique for using multiple drives to increase disk performance, disk space, or data protection.
S
single-display configuration
A setup where only one display is connected to the NVIDIA GPU-based graphics card in your computer.
SLI technology
NVIDIA SLI multi-GPU technology takes advantage of the increased bandwidth of the PCI Express™ bus architecture to allow multiple GPUs to work together to deliver accelerated performance.
An NVIDIA SLI system consists of a PCI Express motherboard that supports two physical connectors capable of having two NVIDIA PCI Express graphics cards plugged into them. The two graphics cards must be joined together by the NVIDIA SLI connector.
With the appropriate graphics drivers installed, SLI mode can then be enabled or disabled. When SLI mode is disabled, you can use all the nView multi-display modes that are supported, including using up to four monitors connected to the two SLI graphics cards. When SLI mode is enabled, nView multi-display modes are not available. Instead, the two graphics cards drive a single display to provide accelerated 3D performance in DirectX and OpenGL applications.
For more information on NVIDIA SLI technology and for an up-to-date list of compatible hardware and software please visit www.SLIZone.com.
stereoscopic 3D
The technique for presenting two-dimensional images in such a way that it creates the illusion of depth. This effect is created by presenting slightly different images to each eye.
W
window
A window is any independent window on your desktop. Applications such as Microsoft® Windows® Outlook® or Explorer may have several windows which are all part of the same application. Windows can be dragged around the screen, opened and closed, and resized.
The nView Desktop Manager application (described in the NVIDIA nView Desktop Manager User’s Guide) allows you to do even more with windows such as make them transparent or force them always to be on top of other windows.