C - Jargon Buster

Jargon Buster & dedicated Buying Guide will aid you in understanding the world of technology and consumer electronics. Select from the alphabetical order below.

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Cache (Computing)
The amount of information a computer can hold at once.

Caller display compatible (Home phones)
With this function, a phone can display the number of the caller.

Camcorder (Photography)
A handheld portable video recorder. Today’s camcorders are all digital, allowing you to record onto a hard disk drive, digital videos or DVDs, depending on the model.

Card readers (Photography and Printers)
Plug into your PC and insert a memory card for quick and easy download of images to your PC. Photo printers and all-in-one printers often have memory card readers too so you can print directly from the memory card.

CCD (Photography)
Charged couple device. 3CCD delivers greater colour and detail.


CDR (Audio)
A recordable CD. Data is written to the CDR using a special CD Writer but, once it’s written, it’s permanently burned into the CD. If you need to be able to record, erase and re-record data, use CDRW.

CDRW (Audio)
Recordable and re-writeable CDs.

Charging Time
This refers to the length of time it takes to fully charge a rechargeable battery.

Cinema-quality sound (Vision)
Digital sound can be separated into discrete channels. This makes full cinema stereo surround possible from your rear speakers.

CMOS sensor (Photography)
This gives a wider dynamic range and reduced light smear to your video footage. It results in high quality images with realistic colour and definition.

Component lead (TVs)
A superior way to connect your DVD player to your TV.

Compression (Audio)
The process of reducing the size of a music file to save space.

Continuous shooting mode (Photography)
When the shutter button is held down, some cameras are able to take several rapid-fire exposures. This is great for fast-moving action.

Contrast ratio (TVs)
The measurement of range between the brightest and darkest points on a TV screen. A high contrast ratio gives you a great looking, rich, deep picture with excellent shadow details.

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