Abbreviations include acronyms and initialisms; acronyms are pronounced as words, but initialisms are not. To differentiate between them and to serve as an aid to pronunciation, Syncopated uses a writing style through which initialisms are abbreviated using periods but acronyms are not, and only abbreviations of proper names are capitalized. (Names of chemical elements and compounds are abbreviated per scientific convention.) Common abbreviations that differ from Syncopated's preferred style follow the preferred style parenthetically.
| μp (μP, uP) | : | microprocessor; see also c.p.u. |
| A (Amp) | : | ampere: the S.I. base unit (named after named after André-Marie Ampère, one of the main discoverers of electromagnetism) used to measure the flow of electric current; one Ampere is equal to one coulomb of electric charge per second (A = C / s) (wiki:Ampere) |
| A.B.C. (ABC) | : | American Broadcasting Company (now a Disney company, formerly part of N.B.C.), a network of radio and television broadcasting stations (owned by and affiliated with the network), usually referred to using its abbreviation; see also C.B.S. and N.B.C. |
| ARM | : | Advanced Risc Machines, a company that designs and markets risc c.p.u.s |
| C | : | coulomb: the S.I. unit (named after named after Charles-Augustin de Coulomb) used to measure electric charge; one coulomb is the amount of electric charge transported by a current of one ampere in one second (C = A * s), which can be equally represented as one farad of capacitance times one volt of electric potential difference (C = F * V) (wiki:Coulomb) |
| C.B.S. (CBS) | : | Central Broadcasting System (now a Viacom company), a network of radio and television broadcasting stations (owned by and affiliated with the network), usually referred to using its abbreviation; see also A.B.C. and N.B.C. |
| c.d. (CD) | : | compact disc; generally those recorded or pressed using the ISO-9660 "red book" audio format (sometimes referred to as the "High Sierra" format, referring to the lodge at Lake Tahoe where industry experts reached an accord leading to the standard), which is used to sample and store stereo sound (two-channel audio) using 16-bit resolution at a rate of 44.1 KHz; in this context, not to be confused with certificate of deposit, a financial term |
| c.d.-rom (CD-ROM) | : | compact disc read-only memory; generally those recorded or pressed using the ISO-9660 data format |
| C.D.C. (CDC) | : | Control Data Corporation, a now-defunct maker of the world's fastest computers designed by Seymour Cray; in this context, not to be confused with the Centers for Disease Control, part of the U.S. federal government |
| cisc (CISC) | : | complex instruction set computer: computer architecture using many machine language instructions, typically including some to perform relatively specialized tasks (includes those typical of Intel); converse to risc |
| coin-op. (coin-op) | : | coin-operated: used to describe coin-operated games (including those fitted with dollar bill slots or other monetary mechanisms), often referred to as "arcade" game |
| c.p.u. (CPU) | : | central processing unit; due to the trend toward processing decentralization, usage of the term "processor" is generally preferred |
| c.r.t. (CRT) | : | cathode ray tube; a type of vacuum tube used for displays (including electronic television, RADAR, and oscilloscope displays) in which electrons are fired from a cathode at one end onto a phosphorescent surface at the other; a usually-fixed magnetic yoke is usually used to deflect the beam(s) to create either raster- or vector-based images |
| D.I.N. (DIN) | : | Deutsches Institut für Normung e. V.: a German standards organization ( < http://www.din.de > ), similar to ANSI and ISO; often used to describe mounting slots for radios in automobile dashboards, mounting rails, many circular multi-pin connectors, and 3-row 96-pin (D.I.N. 41612) connectors used by Texas Instruments NuBus backplane architecture adapted to Apple Macintosh II |
| d.t.l. (DTL) | : | diode-transistor logic; compare with r.t.l. and t.t.l. |
| d.v.d. (DVD) | : | digital versatile disc or digital video disc |
| d.v.d.-rom (DVD-ROM) | : | digital versatile disc read-only memory or digital video disc read-only memory; discs containing data other than (or in addition to) video |
| d.v.r. (DVR) | : | digital video recorder: a device designed to record and play back audio and video digitally, often from a digital source and/or to a digital television; see also v.c.r. |
| E.A. (EA) | : | Electronic Arts, a company that develops and publishes entertainment software |
| e.e.prom (EEPROM, E2PROM) | : | electrically-erasable programmable read-only memory; see also e.prom |
| e.m. (EM) | : | electromagnetic energy; the electromagnetic spectrum, which includes radio waves and light |
| e.mail (e-mail, email) | : | electronic mail |
| e.prom (EPROM) | : | erasable programmable read-only memory, field-programmable (not factory-programmable, such and masked roms); usually eraved using ultraviolet (u.v.) light; see also prom |
| F (Fd) | : | farad: the S.I. unit (named after British physicist Michael Faraday) used to measure electrical capacitance; one Farad is equal to one coulomb of static charge per volt of potential (F = C / V) (wiki:Farad) |
| f.m. (FM) | : | frequency modulation: an analog signal-encoding technique; also generally used to refer to the the electromagnetic (radio) spectrum reserved for commercial radio transmissions using this technique |
| f.p.s. (FPS) | : | first-person shooter: a type of video game in which the player views the game space from the first-person's perspective and the game play includes (and often revolves around) shooting guns |
| f.r.u. (FRU) | : | field-replaceable unit |
| G.E. (GE) | : | General Electric, formerly the Edison General Electric Company |
| GaAs | : | gallium arsenide: a semiconductor used to make integrated circuits, though not as commonly used as silicon dioxide (SiO2) |
| G1, G2, G3, etc. | : | generation one, two, three, etc.; first-, second-, third-generation, etc. |
| Gb | : | gigabit; 1,000,000,000 bits |
| GB | : | gigabyte; 1,000,000,000 bytes (8 bits each) |
| Gib | : | gigabinary (210)3 bit (gibibit) (U.S. N.I.S.T.) |
| GiB | : | gigabinary (210)3 byte (8 bits each) (gibibyte) (U.S. N.I.S.T.) |
| Hz | : | Hertz: unit used to measure frequency; one Hertz is equal to one cycle per second |
| I.B.M. (IBM) | : | International Business Machines, usually referred to using its abbreviation |
| i.c. (IC) | : | integrated circuit; often commonly referred to as silicon chips, though integrated circuits may be constructed from other semiconductors – such as gallium arsenide (GaAs) – and/or discrete components |
| i.f. (IF) | : | intermediate frequency; in video, the signal from a television tuner (also found in v.c.r.s) to a television monitor |
| I.P. (IP) | : | Internet Protocol (often specified as T.C.P./I.P. or U.D.P./I.P.); see also i.p. (intellectual property) |
| i.p. (IP) | : | intellectual property; any idea reduced to tangible form, including patents, trademarks, copyrights; see also I.P. (Internet Protocol) |
| i.r. (IR) | : | infrared; the portion in the electromagnetic spectrum of light with wavelengths too small to be seen by humans, generally smaller than 350 nM |
| J | : | joule: the S.I. unit (named after James Prescott Joule for his work on the relationship between heat, electricity and mechanical work) used to measure energy; one joule is equal to one coulomb volt (J = C * V), which is equal to one watt second (J = W * s) (wiki:Joule) |
| Kb | : | kilobit; 1000 bits |
| KB | : | kilobyte; 1000 bytes (8 bits each) |
| Kib | : | kilobinary (210)1 bit: kibibit (U.S. N.I.S.T.) |
| KiB | : | kilobinary (210)1 byte (8 bits each): kibibyte (U.S. N.I.S.T.) |
| laser (LASER) | : | light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation: a method used to produce an intense beam of light, usually highly-columnated and within a single narrow e.m. band; also commonly used to describe devices that produce light using this method |
| Mb | : | megabit; 1,000,000 bits |
| MB | : | megabyte; 1,000,000 bytes (8 bits each) |
| Mib | : | megabinary (210)2 bit: mebibit (U.S. N.I.S.T.) |
| MiB | : | megabinary (210)2 byte (8 bits each): mebibyte (U.S. N.I.S.T.) |
| MIPS | : | a company that designed risc processors (before being acquired by S.G.I. in 1993); processors using its architectures; see also mips |
| mips | : | millions of instructions per second; used to evaluate processing speed; see also MIPS |
| M.S. (μsoft, MS) | : | Microsoft |
| o.t.p. (OTP) | : | one-time programmable, a device and/or medium that is one-time programmable (usually field-programmable, not factory-programmable); see also worm |
| N.B.C. (NBC) | : | National Broadcasting Company (a General Electric company, which formerly included what is now A.B.C.), a network of radio and television broadcasting stations (owned by and affiliated with the network), usually referred to using its abbreviation; see also A.B.C. and C.B.S. |
| p (P) | : | processor; see also c.p.u. |
| P.C. (PC) | : | personal computer; often used to refers to those using Intel i80x86 architecture derived from the I.B.M. P.C., the term may be used more generally to include others such as the Apple Macintosh; historically, the term "home computer" is used to describe older personal computers with 8-bit c.p.u.s |
| P.C.M.C.I.A. (PCMCIA) | : | Personal Composite Memory Card International Association; often jokingly referred to as "People Can't Memorize Computer Industry Abbreviations" |
| p.c.b. (PCB) | : | printed circuit board; some (usually only outside Silicon Valley) use the term "printed wiring board" (or p.w.b.), but that term fails to recognize many of the dynamics (beyond connectivity or "wiring") offered by printed circuit boards; in this context, not to be confused with the hazardous chemical compound used in some electromagnetic transformers |
| prom (PROM) | : | programmable read-only memory, usually one-time programmable (o.t.p.) and field-programmable (not factory-programmable, such and masked roms); see also e.prom |
| P.S.1 (PS1) | : | a cost-reduced version of the Sony PlayStation |
| P.S.2 (PS2) | : | Sony PlayStation 2, its second-generation home game console; software for this system is recorded on second-generation optical (d.v.d.-rom) media |
| P.S.3 (PS3) | : | Sony PlayStation 3, its third-generation home game console; software for this system is recorded on third-generation optical (BluRay) media |
| P.S.X. (PSX) | : | Sony PlayStation, its first-generation home game console released in Japan then in U.S.A. in 1995; software for this system is recorded using black first-generation optical (c.d.-rom) media that is nearly opaque to visible light, but readable by infrared lasers |
| p.w.b. (PWB) | : | printed wiring board; see p.c.b. (printed circuit board) |
| ram (RAM) | : | random-access memory; memory that may be accessed in any order (vs. sequential-access memory); through common usage, generally implies memory that may be read and written; compare with rom |
| R.C.A. (RCA) | : | Radio Corporation of America (a General Electric company), usually referred to using its abbreviation; also refers to circular coaxial connectors commonly used in consumer electronics for audio and video signals |
| rom (ROM) | : | read-only memory; compare with ram |
| risc (RISC) | : | reduced instruction set computer: computer architecture using a limited number of machine language instructions (includes those typical of ARM, MIPS, and Motorola); converse to cisc |
| r.t.l. (RTL) | : | resistor-transistor logic: a design methodology in which one transistor is used to switch a signal's state between high and low, using a biasing resistor to return the signal to one state when the transistor does not conduct; compare with d.t.l. and t.t.l. |
| s (sec) | : | second: unit used to measure time |
| SCART | : | a type of connector used in Europe for integrated audio/video |
| S.F.X. (SFX) | : | Nintendo's Super Famicom, its second-generation home game console released in Japan in late 1990; see also SNES |
| S.C.E.I. (SCEI) | : | Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc., the division of Sony Corporation that develops, manufactures, and markets its PlayStation products |
| S.G.I. (SGI) | : | Silicon Graphics, Inc., a now-defunct maker of computer workstations that provided significant technology for the Nintendo Game Cube |
| S.I. (SI) | : | International System of Units (abbreviated from the French "Système international d'unités"): the modern form of the metric system |
| SiO2 | : | silicon dioxide: a semiconductor used to make integrated circuits, more commonly used than others such as gallium arsenide |
| S.O.E. (SOE) | : | Sony Online Entertainment, the division of Sony Corporation that develops and runs online games for its PlayStation products |
| s.o.i. (SOI) | : | semiconductor-on-insulator or silicon-on-insulator: a type of manufacturing technology for semiconductors |
| SNES | : | Nintendo's Super Nintendo Entertainment System, the 1991 U.S.A. version of the Super Famicom |
| s.t.b. (STB) | : | set-top box: a box designed to sit on top of or to be used with a television set |
| T.C.P. (TCP) | : | Terminal Control Protocol, usually used in conjunction with Internet Protocol; compare with U.D.P. |
| T.C.P./I.P. (TCP/IP) | : | Terminal Control Protocol over Internet Protocol |
| T.I. (TI) | : | Texas Instruments, often referred to using its abbreviation |
| t.t.l. (TTL) | : | transistor-transistor logic: a design methodology in which transistors are used to switch a signal's state between high and low; compare with d.t.l. and r.t.l. |
| t.v. (TV) | : | television |
| U.D.P. (UDP) | : | User Datagram Protocol, usually used in conjunction with Internet Protocol; compare with T.C.P. |
| U.D.P./I.P. (UDP/IP) | : | User Datagram Protocol over Internet Protocol |
| U.S.A. (U.S., US or USA) | : | United States of America: the nation based in North America (and all of its parts, including many that are not states), vs. the term "America", which may refer to either of two continents or any of their parts; also may refer to the USA Television Network |
| u.v. (UV) | : | ultraviolet light; see also i.r. |
| u.v.e.prom (UVEPROM) | : | ultraviolet-erasable programmable read-only memory; eraved using ultraviolet (u.v.) light; see also prom |
| V | : | volt: the S.I. derived unit (named in honor of the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta, 1745-1827, who invented the voltaic pile, the first modern chemical battery) used to measure electric potential difference or electromotive force; one volt is defined as the potential difference across a conductor when a current of one ampere dissipates one watt of power (V = W / A), which can be equally represented as one joule of energy per coulomb of charge (V = J / C) (wiki:Volt) |
| v.c.r. (VCR) | : | video cassette recorder; see also d.v.r. |
| V.C.S. (VCS) | : | Atari's 2600 Video Computer System; codenamed Stella (after a favorite female employee), it was also often referred to by its model number, 2600, apparently a reference to the frequency (in Hertz) formerly used to control telephone company switching equipment |
| V.E.S. (VES) | : | Fairchild's Channel F Video Entertainment System |
| W | : | watt: the S.I. derived unit (named after James Watt for his contributions to the development of the steam engine) used to measure power; one watt is equal to one joule per second (W = J / s) (wiki:Watt) |
| worm (WORM) | : | write once read many: a device and/or medium that is one-time programmable (o.t.p.); a worm medium that has been written to but may not be read (due to some failure) is sometimes jokingly refered to as "worn" ("write once read never") |
