P2, M2, D2

HCI:

HCI or Human computer interface is the study of how the user communicates with a computer, this can range from GUI to language.

In terms of gaming HCI is used to see how the user communicates with the gaming platform they are using. An example of HCI in gaming is the use of controllers, controllers must be easy to understand and operate without much fuss or learning, this can be achieved with similar button layouts.  

Another example of HCI is the increase in touch screen technology. Before touch screen technology hit the market there would of been a lot of studies looking into if people of different languages, nationalities and disabilities could all use them and from these studies we finally got touch screen devices that most people can use with most phone apps having similar finger movements to operate and without much difficulty.

Central processor unit (CPU): 

CPU or Central processing unit is located in every computer and handles all of the normal computer system commands such as moving the mouse and running applications. There are two different types of processor architecture 32bit or 64x, modern computers use 64bit because it allows you to allocate more RAM to application as well as run programs especially designed for 64bit. A processor also contains many cores which work together to allow your computer to run more effectively and run more programs at the same time without you seeing a difference in performance.

You can improve your computers performance by getting a CPU with more cores such as a Dual Core or a Quad Core processor but some higher end computer have multiple CPU’s which gives them more cores.

A CPU is the rate in which the CPU can complete a full cycle and is measured in megahertz or gigahertz (Mhz, Ghz), one megahertz is equal to one million cycle a second and one gigabyte megahertz is equal to one billion a second. 

Graphic processor: speed; two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional(3D) processor, eg pixels, polygons, nurbs; speed; graphics memory

Most computers also contain a GPU or Graphics processing unit which is designed to process 3D functions that the CPU find difficult to process. You can find most GPU’s attached to the motherboard within the computer but with some mobile phones the GPU is integrated into the motherboard which is good for space but has trouble cooling down. Having both a CPU and GPU within a computer allows it to run normal application and 3D graphics such as games effectively and without performance issues.      

Pixel or “picture element” are small shapes (dots, rectangles, triangles) which make up computer screens, each of these screens are made up of millions of pixels which merge together to make a picture/ display.

Print: Cyan, yellow, magenta, keytone(black) 

A pixel is made up can of red, green and blue which is determined by the number of bits it corresponds to, an example of this 8-bit colour allows 2 to the 8^th or 256 colours.

Memory: purpose; random access memory (RAM); capacity; type, eg rambus dynamic (RDRAM), static(SRAM), dynamic (DRAM), unified

RAM or random access memory is made from small memory chips that create a memory module which is then placed onto the motherboard. Every time you open a program or application it goes from the hard drive to the RAM, this is because reading data through the RAM is much quicker than through the hard drive. Running programs and applications through the RAM allows the computer to run without any latency issues. The more RAM you have installed into your computer the more application you can run, you can buy RAM in sticks of 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB.

ROM or read only memory is built in commands that the computer needs to use before anything else runs when you start up a computer.   

Cache stores newly used information so that it can be quickly accessed later on. There are many types of cache found in a computer, the first is browser cache which take HTML’s, images or JavaScript’s from websites you have visited and when you reload that website the computer will reload the HTML’s, images or JavaScript’s instead of downloading them again.

The second is memory cache, this is when you have open an application the computer may cache things from the RAM which reduces lag.

Thirdly disk cache is a small amount of RAM located on the HDD or SSD which is used for holding a small amount of data so it can be easily reopened such as a large folder full of files.

The last is processor cache which is even smaller than disk cache and is only used to store commonly used commands so the CPU can access them quickly.

RDRAM or rambus dynamic random access memory is the fastest memory available for a computer.

SRAM or static random access memory is a type of RAM which stores it memory statically this means the data will stay on the RAM as long as it has electricity. 

DRAM or dynamic random access memory is a type of RAM which stores its memory on separate capacitors. 

Game storage medium: proprietary; standard; flash memory; digital versatile disc (DVD); optical disc; universal media disc (UMD); magnetic tape; internal; speed; size; advantages and disadvantages; antipiracy

A hard drive is where all your data is stored inside your computer.IDE is a widely used hard drive interface which only supported hard drives up to 540mb of data but the new EIDE (enhanced-IDE) can now support hard drives that contains more than 250GB of data as well at doubling the data transfer rate. Some newer hard drives may use SATA which improves both speed and power consumption.

There are a few different types of hard drive, the first is a hard disc drive which is when the data is stored on a disk no bigger than your hand which is mounted inside your computer, the data will stay on the disks even though the power supply has been cut off because it stores the data magnetically, these disk spin incredibly fast on an average 5400 or 7200 RPM so that is can be accessed at any time. One problem with this is that there may a slight latency issue because the head must find the data, a good solution for this is the other type of hard drive a SSD drive or Solid State Drive, this type of hard drive doesn’t have any moving pieces like the hard disc drive which decreases latency and access time. An SSD might run quick and have less latency problems but the price of them are 7 to 8 times more than a hard disk drive.

You can have more than just one hard drive installed into your computer at any given time, to do this you must have a Master and Slave system. This system allows the hard drives to communicate with one another as well as share data eg saving a piece of work may be split onto too different hard drives.

A Flash drive is a type of storage which allows the user to connect portable memory to their computer via USB.  

ports; wireless; cabled; analogue; digital; controller ports

Ports: 

Ports can be found on the back off the computer and come in many different forms USB, Serial and Parallel. A serial port is used to connect things to your computer such as mice and keyboards but can only transmit one piece of data at one time where as a parallel can transmit multiple piece, but most newer computers use a more compatible ports a USB or Universal serial bus as it is much quicker than a serial or parallel ports, a USB 3.0 has a transfer speed of up to 5GB a second.

Power supply: internal battery; external source

A power supply is a component inside of a computer which supplies electrical current to other components which allows them to run. A power supply can be internal or external, internal means that the power supply is stored inside the PC case and external is stored outside the case. In gaming the reason for having internal and external is because of heat, an external power supply is much more transportable and much cooler than an internal one which is the reason for them being used on laptops.

Sound card:

A sound card is a computer component which controls audio input and output, most sound cards contain an analog line input and one stereo line ouput.

 

Peripherals:

A peripheral can be any external device which provides an input and output for a computer. Some examples of a peripheral is a mouse, speakers and a printer

Display:

A display can come in many different forms. The most used form of display is a monitor, a monitor is used to display the user interface and any programs the computer is running.
A monitor can be any thing from LCD to CRT's, LCD stands for liquid crystal display, these displays tend to be very thin and used in laptops and smart phones. The image is created by squashing two electrodes with electrical reactive materials such as liquid crystals. The image can be changed by decreasing or increasing the amount of electric current going through it.    

 

Connectivity: 

WAN is used to connect multiple people on multiple different consoles from all over the world so that they can play together online.

LAN is used to connect multiple consoles together so that players can play together.

Interface:

One type of interface on a computer system is a GUI. GUI acts as an interactive barrier between the user and the computer’s hardware, this allows for multiple functions to be performed more easily.