Toshiba NB200 User Manual

Page 130

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User’s Manual

Glossary-10

Glossary

K

K: Taken from the Greek word kilo, meaning 1000; often used as

equivalent to 1024, or 2 raised to the 10th power. See also byte

and kilobyte.

keyboard: An input device containing switches that are activated by

manually pressing marked keys. Each keystroke activates a switch

that transmits a specific code to the computer. For each key, the

transmitted code is, in turn, representative of the (ASCII) character

marked on the key.

kilobyte (KB): A unit of data storage equal to 1024 bytes. See also byte

and megabyte.

L

L1 cache: Level one cache. Memory cache built into the processor to help

improve processing speed. See also cache memory, L2 cache.

L2 cache: Memory cache installed on the motherboard to help improve

processing speed. It is slower than L1 cache and faster than main

memory. See also cache memory, L1 cache.

LAN: A group of computers or other devices dispersed over a relatively

limited area and connected by a communications link that enables

any device to interact with any other on the network.

Light Emitting Diode (LED): A semiconductor device that emits light

when a current is applied.

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD): Liquid crystal sealed between two sheets

of glass coated with transparent conducting material. The

viewingside coating is etched into character forming segments with

leads that extend to the edge of the glass. Applying a voltage

between the glass sheets alters the brightness of the liquid crystal.

M

main board: See motherboard.
megabyte (MB): A unit of data storage equal to 1024 kilobytes. See also

kilobyte.

megahertz: A unit of wave frequency that equals 1 million cycles per

second. See also hertz.

memory: Typically refers to the computer's main memory, where

programs are run and data is temporarily stored and processed.

Memory can be volatile and hold data temporarily, such as RAM, or

it can be nonvolatile and hold data permanently, such as ROM.

A computer's main memory is RAM. See RAM, ROM.

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