Multimedia requires sound and graphics capability. A speedy processor chip plus a CD-ROM drive or DVD drive are also desirable. Today, multimedia components are standard equipment even on many inexpensive computers.
多媒体设备
多媒体需要声音和图形功能。还需要一个快速的处理器芯片再配上—个CD-ROM或DVD驱动器。现在,即使在很多廉价计算机上,多媒体部件也是作为标准设备。
A sound card gives a computer the capability to record and play sound files as well as video sound tracks. Housed within the system unit, a sound card contains connectors that project from the back of the computer so that you can attach speakers, headphones, and a microphone. Expensive sound cards include circuitry for special audio effects, such as 3-D sound. The quality of your computer’s speakers and headphones can also affect the quality of the sound that you hear.
声卡为计算机提供了录制与放映声音文件的功能,作用类似于录音带。声卡安装在系统机箱内,它在计算机后面有一些突出的接口,可供用户将扬声器、耳机和麦克风插在上面。机器配置的扬声器和耳机的质量也会影响到你听到的音质。
A CD-ROM drive allows your computer to aclearcase/" target="_blank" >ccess audio and software CD-ROMS. Multimedia elements—especially videos—require lots of storage space. Rather than store huge amounts of multimedia data on a computer’s hard disk, the data can be stored on a CD-ROM, which you insert only when you want to access the multimedia elements. A DVD drive can access multimedia data from CD-ROMs as well. A DVD also allows you to watch feature-length movies on your computer.
CD-ROM驱动器允许计算机访问光盘内的音频和软件—特别是视频—需要大量的存储空间。人们并不把大量的多媒体数据存储在电脑硬盘上,而是存放在只读光盘上,只有需要访问多媒体数据时,才将光盘插入驱动器。一个DVD驱动器可以访问CD-ROM中的多媒体信息,也能让你在计算机上观赏高质量的电影。
Your computer’s graphics card takes signals from the processor and uses them to “paint” an image on the screen. A graphics card is installed inside the computer’s system unit and provides a connection for the monitor’s data cable. Your computer’s graphics card has to do a lot of work and must do it quickly. To display videos, for example, it repaints every pixel on the screen 15 times per second. More expensive “accelerated” graphics cards are equipped with circuitry that optimizes such tasks.
计算机的图形卡接收来自处理器的信号,并在屏幕上画出图形。图形卡安装在机器的机箱内,并提供调制解调器的数据电缆的接口。计算机的图形卡需要快速的做大量工作。比如,为了显示图像,每个像素每秒必须重画15次。为了优化此类工作,电路需安装更昂贵的加速图形卡。
A fast processor can quickly handle the huge amount of digital data that is required to store and produce multimedia. The faster the processor, the more data it can process each second. A computer with a fast processor outputs smooth video sequences with a sound track that is perfectly coordinated with the action. The popularity of multimedia has caused chipmakers to equip processor chips with special multimedia capabilities that speed up multimedia features such as sound and video.
一个快速处理器能快速处理需要存储并生成多媒体的大量数字数据。处理器越快,每秒处理的数据越多。配有快速处理器的计算机输出光滑的配有动作的声音影像。多媒体的流行使得芯片制造商开始配置具有特殊多媒体功能的处理器芯片,以加速声音和图像等多媒体性能。