Managing Interactive Media Glossary: V

Glossary: V (14 entries found)

validation: An appraisal of the methods that have been used to check that they are consistent with the results. It is sometimes used with the sense of evaluation, but strictly it is part of an evaluation process. Also sometimes used with the meaning of field trial as a validation exercise. See also field trials.
VBI: Vertical Blanking Interval, the part of an analogue television signal between the bottom of one picture and the top of the next. Used for teletext, closed captioning, time code and test signals. In computing the VBI is useful because it provides time to change a displayed image.
version control or tracking: In software development, keeping track of changes to the software so that development is co-ordinated. This is especially important where more than one person is writing code.
video CD: A compact disc, actually a Mode 2 CD-ROM, which contains MPEG-l video and audio, and can be played on a television or PC screen like a videocassette. Although this early digital video disk has not been widely accepted by consumers in the West, it is very popular in the Far East.
video compression: Reduction of the amount of data needed to carry something; also known as bit rate reduction to avoid confusion with dynamic range reduction in audio which is also known as compression.
video conferencing: Basically the combination of a telephone conference call and television or a video telephone. Recent video-conferencing systems operate using personal computers, allowing both ends of the conference to work together on documents that each can see.
video on demand: A system whereby a home subscriber can access television material stored remotely on a server. Some systems use high-bandwidth cable and others use ordinary telephone wires for the link between the server and the consumer's television. See also set-top box.
videodisk: See interactive video.
viral marketing: Marketing or advertising of a product that relies on people spreading the information via email for others to look at a particular online feature or web page. The feature may be embedded as attachments in the emails sent from one person to another.
virtual machine: A layer of software between a computer program and the computer such that the interface between the program and this software is standard no matter what actual machine is used. The new software exists in different versions for different machines.
virtual reality or VR: A 3-D visual environment which reacts to a user's presence and input so as to give the impression of actually being there. Non-immersive VR uses a screen whereas immersive VR is shown using goggles to give a pseudo-realistic stereoscopic view.
virtual team: A team that operates across time and distance often through electronic communications. They are not co-located.
viruses: Tiny pieces of code that can inadvertently be run on a computer and can cause damage or other mischief.
voice-over: An audio commentary that accompanies video or graphics. Hence voice-over artist, a person who reads the commentary.