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Help Contents
Contents

A - L

Access Time

Audio Board (Sound Board)

AUTOEXEC.BAT (PC)

Cache

CD-ROM

CONFIG.SYS (PC)

Daisy Chaining

Data Capacity

Data Transfer Rate

Device Driver

Digitized Audio

M - Z

MPC

MSCDEX

MultiSpin®

Photo CD

Red Book Audio

SCSI

SCSI Host Adapter

SCSI ID

System Folder (Macintosh)

Termination

XA


Access Time

The time required for a CD-ROM reader to find a specific file on the CD.  Access time is measured in milliseconds.  The lower the access time, the faster your CD-ROM will find the information you requested.


Audio Board (Sound Board)

A board installed in your computer which processes digitized audio, such as special sound effects.


AUTOEXEC.BAT (PC)

A file which runs each time you start your computer.  The file automatically executes a set of common commands which you would otherwise have to execute manually each time your computer starts.  The Microsoft CD-ROM Extensions, (MSCDEX) which allow DOS to access your CD-ROM reader, are loaded in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file.


Cache

Memory in the CD-ROM reader used to store data until your computer is ready to use it.  Your MultiSpin CD-ROM reader contains a 256 Kbyte, continuous flow cache for maximum video and animation performance.


CD-ROM

Acronym for Compact Disc - Read Only Memory.  Uses the same basic technology as music CDs to store computer data.


CONFIG.SYS (PC)

The configuration file for your system.  The CONFIG.SYS file defines various system features and loads device drivers, such as the driver which controls a CD-ROM reader.


Daisy Chaining

Connecting more than one peripheral to a single SCSI Host adapter.  Up to seven SCSI devices can be connected to one SCSI Host adpater.


Data Capacity

The amount of data a CD can hold.  A single CD-ROM disc can hold up to 680 Mb of data.


Data Transfer Rate

How fast the CD-ROM reader sends data to the computer.  Data transfer rates are measured in kilobytes per second.  All NEC MultiSpin 3X CD-ROM readers feature a data transfer rate of 450 Kbytes/sec. All NEC MultiSpin 2X CD-ROM readers feature a data transfer rate of 300 Kbytes/sec.


Device Driver

Software which controls communication between your computer and CD-ROM reader.  The device driver is loaded in your CONFIG.SYS file each time your computer is started.


Digitized Audio

Sound which has been converted to a computerized format.  To use digitized audio, your computer must have an audio board installed.


MPC

Acronym for Multimedia Personal Computer.  MPC is also a set of criteria, developed by leading hardware and software manufacturers, for the minimum system requirements for a personal computer to run multimedia applications.


MSCDEX

Acronym for MicroSoft CD-ROM EXtensions.  MSCDEX is the software program which allows DOS to recognize and use a CD-ROM reader.  MSCDEX loads in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file each time your computer is started.


MultiSpin®

MultiSpin is the brand name for CD-ROM readers made by NEC Technologies.  The double and triple-speed technology used in your MultiSpin CD-ROM reader involves spinning the CD two and three times as fast as a standard CD-ROM reader when reading data.  This allows your CD-ROM reader to transfer data to your computer two and three times faster than standard CD-ROM readers.  When playing a music CD, your MultiSpin CD-ROM reader automatically switches to the slower spin rate required to play music CDs.


Photo CD

A technology developed by Kodak which allows you to store 35mm photos on a CD.  The photos can then be viewed and edited on a computer.  Each photo is stored in five different resolutions and each Photo CD can hold up to 100 photos.  Photos can be added to the CD at any time, until the disc is full.  A Photo CD containing only one set of photos is a "single session" disc.  When more than one set of photos is added to the disc, it becomes a "multisession" disc.


Red Book Audio

The data format used for music CDs.  Red Book audio does not have to be processed by an audio board, it plays directly through the headphone jack of your CD-ROM reader.  On the MultiSpin internal and external readers, Red Book audio will also play through the CD-ROM reader's line out jacks.


SCSI

Acronym for Small Computer Systems Interface.  SCSI is a communications standard which allows a computer to utilize a variety of peripherals, such as CD-ROM readers, hard disk drives, scanners and tape back-up units.  The main advantage of SCSI is the ability to attach up to seven devices to one SCSI port.


SCSI Host Adapter

The SCSI controller which has been installed in your computer.  The host adapter may be an optional board inserted into an expansion slot or may be built in to your computer's main system board.


SCSI ID

Each device attached to a SCSI host adapter is assigned an "ID" value between 0 and 7.  Each device must have a different ID.  In general, it does not matter which value is used.  However, internal hard disk drives are usually set to ID 0, and the SCSI host adapter is usually set to ID 7.   All MultiSpin CD-ROM readers are factory set to ID 1.


System Folder (Macintosh)

The configuration folder for a Macintosh computer.  The software used to control the system and peripherals, such as your CD-ROM reader, is stored in the System Folder.


Termination

The first and last devices in a daisy chain of SCSI devices must be "terminated".  Termination tells the SCSI host adapter where the chain of SCSI devices ends.


XA

Acronym for EXtended Architecture.  The XA data format stores audio and data files together on the CD, in a compressed file.  Because the data is compressed, it must be decompressed before it can be used.  Your MultiSpin CD-ROM reader can read the data from an XA disc but does not decompress the data.  To use the data on an XA disc, your computer must have XA decompression hardware.