24-BIT COLOR
Same as true-color image. Generally refers to 24-bit or better images. In 24 bit color, each pixel has 24 bits assigned to it, representing 16.7 million colors. 8-bits - or one byte - is assigned to each of the red, green, and blue components of a pixel.
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24-BIT IMAGE
A digital image that can include as many as 16.7 million possible colors. Twenty-four bits are allocated for the storage of each pixel.
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8-BIT COLOR/GRAY SCALE
In 8-bit color, each pixel has eight bits assigned to it, providing 256 colors or shades of gray, as in a grayscale image.
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8-BIT IMAGE
A digital image that can include as many as 256 possible colors. Eight bits are allocated for the storage of each pixel.
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ABA
American Bankers Association.
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ABC INVENTORY SYSTEM
Inventory system that classifies items into categories based on sales or profits generated for each category for a specified period.
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ABEND
ABnormal END. A condition that occurs when the computer is presented with instructions or data it cannot recognize. Also called Crash or bomb.
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ABLATE
To remove. Refers to the formation of laser readable "pits" in the recording layer of optical disks. Also referred to as ablative.
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ABORT
To interrupt and halt the execution of a computer program.
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ABSTRACT SYNTAX
A description of a data structure that is independent of machine-oriented structures and encodings. See Transfer Syntax.
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ACCELERATOR
A device or software designed to speed up operations, such as refreshing a screen image. Many PC SVGA graphics boards come furnished with accelerator chips. There are also auxiliary boards (commonly called pass-through boards) that will boost the speed of regular VGA boards.
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ACCEPT RATE
The percentage of characters an OCR recognizes (either correctly or incorrectly) from the total number of characters in the documents.
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ACCESS
The reading or writing of data. To gain entry to data. Most commonly used in connection with information access via a user ID and qualified by an indication as to the kinds of access that are permitted. For example, read-only access means that the contents of the file may be read but not altered or erased. To retrieve information from memory.
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ACCESS CONTROL LIST
A list of the services available on a server, each with a list of the hosts permitted to use the service.
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ACCESS METHODS
Software routines that are part of the operating system or network control programs that perform actual storing and receiving of data; includes tape, disk and communications access methods.
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ACCESS TIME
The time it takes for the magnetic or optical drive to find the data or image. It is the sum of the average latency and the average seek time. The time required for a data storage device to locate and retrieve data. Time required to retrieve information from memory. The access time for data in main memory is much faster than from a mass memory storage medium such as a disk or tape.
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ACCOUNT
A subscription to a networked computer system.
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ACCOUNT NAME
Name, as in a login ID or user ID. The word typed at the "Login:" prompt; an electronic name.
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ACCOUNT NUMBER FIELD
On a coupon, the customer account number is usually printed on the document and included in the scan line. This account number determines which customer will be credited with the payment. On a check, the customer account number is their bank account number and determines which customer will be debited with the check amount. This account number is included in the On-Us Field of the check. See MICR Line.
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ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE ENTRY
An ACH transaction format that supports the electronic clearing and settlement of remittance checks converted to electronic transactions at lockboxes or other collection sites.
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ACCURACY
As used in judging OCR, it is the extent to which the document is recognized with no errors. Usually expressed as a percentage.
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ACH
Automated Clearing House (ACH) Network.
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ACHROMATIC
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ACL
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ACQUIRE
Moves data into an image-editing application from a PCMCIA card, from an archive folder on your hard disk, or from the dynamic random access memory of a camera connected to a computer without a PCMCIA card. As the image is acquired, the color correction values associated with the current balance selection are applied to the image data.
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ACQUIRING PROCESSOR
The processor that provides credit card processing, billing, reporting and settlement and operational services to acquiring banks.
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ACROBAT
Adobe Systems, Inc. software that lets users share desktop published documents with other users even if they don't have the original application on their system.
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ACS
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ACT OF GOD
A term used to denote a danger beyond control of avoidance by human power; any accident produced by a physical cause that is irresistible, such as hurricane, flood, lightning, etc., which is in no way connected with negligence.
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ACTIVE DISPLAY AREA
The part of the image that falls inside of the borders of the display screen.
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ACTIVE WINDOW
The window on the desktop where the next action will occur. Horizontal lines in the title bar indicate that the window is the active one.
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ACTIVEX
Microsoft's proprietary Windows technology.
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ADAPTIVE COMPRESSION
Data compression software that continuously analyzes and compensates its algorithm depending on the type and content of the data and the storage medium.
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ADAPTIVE DESCRIPTION FILE (ADF)
Text file that is associated with a Micro Channel peripheral that describes the resources it needs to operate.
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ADDENDA RECORD
A portion of an ACH payment record that contains payment related information. This information, sent in standard formats, can accompany payments exchanged through the ACH network.
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ADDITIVE COLORS
Red, Green, and Blue are referred to as additive colors. Red+Green+Blue=White.
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ADDRESS
Numbers that identify locations on the disk by sector and by byte. A character or group of characters that identify a register, a location or some other data source or destination.
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ADDRESS CHANGE SERVICE (ACS)
An automated process that provides change-of-address information to mailers who maintain computerized mailing lists. The information is captured in the Computerized Forwarding System (CFS) units and sent to mailers on electronic media to eliminate manual processing of change information.
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ADDRESS SERVICE REQUEST (ASR)
An endorsement which, when printed below the return address on a mailing piece, authorizes the USPS to provide the new address (when known) of a person at the address on the mailing piece.
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ADF
Automatic Document Feeder
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ADMINISTRATIVE DOMAIN (AD)
A group of hosts, routers and networks operated and managed by a single organization.
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ADOBE SYSTEMS, INC.
Mountain View, California, company that produces Postscript, Photoshop and Acrobat along with other popular software programs.
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ADOBE TYPE MANAGER (ATM)
Software from Adobe Systems lnc. for Macintoshes that eliminates jagged edges in screen fonts and allows non-Apple printers to reproduce postscript fonts accurately and cleanly.
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ADP
Automatic Data Processing
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ADSL
See Digital Subscriber Line.
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ADVANCE DEPOSIT ACCOUNT
Mailer account maintained by the USPS from which postage is deducted at the time of mailing.
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ADVANCED DATA COMMUNICATIONS CONTROL PROCEDURE (ADCCP)
A bit oriented communications protocol standardized by ANSI.
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AFFIDAVIT
A sworn statement. In the case of ACH processing, a sworn statement by a consumer declaring that a particular ACH transaction was unauthorized.
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AFP
Association for Financial Professionals or AppleTalk Filing Protocol.
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AGGRESSIVE RECOGNITION
An OCR that uses rules and parameters that increase the chance of a mistake. A broader OCR. Fewer rejects but more mistakes.
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AIX
(Advanced Interactive executive) IBM's version of UNIX.
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ALERT BOX
Box that appears on screen to give a warning or to report an error message. Sometimes accompanied by a beep.
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ALGORITHM
Mathematical formula or procedure used to solve a problem or conduct an operation. The specific process in a computer program used to solve a particular problem. A list of exact steps to perform a specific calculation or programming problem. A precise description of the solution to a problem.
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ALIAS
An alternate name used for a field or file. A duplicate of a file's icon, not of the file itself, indicated by an italicized icon name
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ALIASING
An effect caused by sampling an image (or signal) at too low a rate. It makes rapid change (high texture) areas of an image appear as a slow change in the sample image. Once aliasing occurs, there is no way to accurately reproduce the original image from the sampled image.
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ALIGNING EDGE
The bottom edge of a check when its face is being viewed.
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ALIGNMENT
The vertical variation between the bottom edges of adjacent MICR characters.
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ALLOCATE
To reserve a portion of disk or memory.
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ALPHANUMERIC
Category of characters including letters and numbers. Sometimes also includes punctuation marks and standard typewriter symbols such as $, %, &, etc.
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ALPHANUMERIC OCR READER
An OCR reader that can read both alphabetic and numeric characters.
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AMERICAN BANKERS ASSOCIATION
The trade association representing the interests of federally insured commercial banks. Administers standards for MICR encoded checks in the United States. Plays a key role in setting standards for inter-bank financial transactions (e.g., checks).
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AMERICAN NATIONAL STANDARDS INSTITUTE (ANSI)
The national coordinator of the voluntary standards system for the United States. ANSI coordinates the voluntary development of national consensus. (ANSI) standards, approves standards as American National Standards and serves as a clearinghouse and information center for American National Standards and international standards.
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AMERICAN STANDARD CODE FOR INFORMATION EXCHANGE (ASCII)
This is the de facto world-wide standard for the "code" used by computers to represent all the upper and lower-case Latin letters, numbers, punctuation, etc. There are 128 standard ASCII codes each of which can be represented by a 7 digit binary number: 0000000 through 1111111.
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AMERICAN STANDARD CODE FOR INFORMATION INTERCHANGE (ASCII)
(Pronounced AS-kee) The most popular coding method used by small computers for converting letters, numbers, punctuation and control codes into digital form. ASCII is a common language that can be recognized by other computers and communication devises. ASCII recognizes text in seven on-off bits.A capital "C" for instance is 1000011. Seven bit encoding represents up to 128 symbols. Eight bit encoding is called extended ASCII and extends symbols to 256.
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AMOUNT
The value of a check, which will pass from the account of the maker to the account of the payee. The appearance of the amount in numbers is referred to as the Courtesy Amount and the appearance of the amount as text is referred to as the Legal Amount.
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AMOUNT FIELD
A field in the MICR line of a check, which identifies the amount for which the check is being drawn. This is the only field that is encoded after a check is written.
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AMOUNT SYMBOL
An MICR character that is used to bracket the Amount Field.
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ANALOG
Continuously variable measurement of physical phenomenon which are similar to the original quality. Opposite of digital. A method of storing electric information, used by most audiotapes, videotapes and laserdiscs. (An analog device uses a physical quantity, such as length or voltage, to represent the value of a number. By contrast, digital storage and gray scale rely on a coding system of binary numbers.)
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ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERTER (A/D CONVERTER)
A device that converts analog information (a photograph or video frame) into a series of numbers that a computer can store and manipulate.
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ANALOG TRANSMITTED DATA
Can be represented electronically by a continuous wave form signal. Examples of analog items are traditional photographed images and phonograph albums.
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ANNOTATION AND MARKUP
Features that allow you to add comments to an electronic document in much the same way that you would use highlighters or Post-it notes to draw attention to specific areas of a printed document.
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ANONYMOUS FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL
A method utilized to move files from one computer to another, usually on the Internet, without having to create a user ID and password.
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ANSI
(American National Standards Institute) An organization in the U.S. that coordinates the development of standards. It is the U.S. member body to ISO.
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ANSI CHARACTER SET
The ANSI-standard character set that defines 256 characters. A combined group of 128 ASCII and 128 foreign and math symbols.
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ANTI-ALIAS
PIE function that smoothes the edges of text or reduces the stair-stepping of an image where individual pixels are visible. It gives it a more professionally printed look.
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ANTI-ALIASING
A blending technique that smoothes the jagged edges of computer generated graphics and type. The process of reducing stair-stepping by smoothing edges where individual pixels are visible.
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AOG
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APERTURE CARD
Card that combines a computer punch card with an opening for the mounting or insertion of microfilm. A standard Hollerith encoded IBM-style punch card that acts as a transport for a 35mm transparency. Typically, aperture cards are used to store blueprints and engineering drawings.
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APERTURE CARD SCANNER
Device for scanning micro images in aperture cards. NOTE: Some scanners can also read information on the card. See also aperture card, reader-scanner and scanning. A type of scanner that allows aperture cards to be converted into electronic documents.
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API
Application Program Interface.
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API (APPLICATION PROGRAM INTERFACE)
A language used by an application program to communicate with another program that provides services for it. These may be calls to the database management system, a messaging systems or the operating system.
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APL (A PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE)
A high-level programming language that runs on micros and mainframes, usually used to develop mathematical models.
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APPC (ADVANCED PROGRAM TO PROGRAM COMMUNICATIONS)
A communications protocol from IBM that allows a program to interact with another program. It provides a common programming across all IBM platforms in client/server and distributed computing environments.
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APPEND
Adding data to the end of an existing file.
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APPLE TALK FILING PROTOCOL
Protocol that allows distributed file sharing across an AppleTalk network.
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APPLET
A small Java program that can be embedded in an HTML page. Applets differ from full-fledged Java applications in that they are not allowed to access certain resources on the local computer, such as files and serial devices (modems, printers, etc.) and are prohibited from communicating with most other computers across a network. The current rule is that an applet can only make an Internet connection to the computer from which the applet was sent. See HTML, Java.
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APPLICATION
An application is a specific user program that calls operating system services and performs work, such as data creation or manipulation. Imaging is an application program. Applications may be stand-alone, network-based, or part of an integrated package. A computer software program designed to meet a specific need. The use to which a data processing system is put within a given discipline, such as a payroll application, an airline reservation application or a network application.
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APPLICATION GENERATOR
Software that generates an executable program with the information that is supplied by the user.
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APPLICATION LAYER
The highest layer within the protocol hierarchy. See OSI model.
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APPLICATION PACKAGE
A software program from a software vendor that is created for a specific purpose, function or industry.
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APPLICATION PROGRAM
A program that is written for or by a user that applies to the users discipline.
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APPLICATION PROGRAM INTERFACE
A set of calling conventions defining how a service is invoked through a software program.
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APPLICATION SERVER
A dedicated CPU that delivers a specific application to the network users.
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APRP (ADAPTIVE PATTERN RECOGNITION PROCESSING)
One of the most sophisticated technologies currently available in modern text retrieval software. APRP automatically indexes the binary patterns in digital information, creating a pattern-based memory that is optimized for the content of the data. It eliminates the costly labor of manually defining keywords and sorting and labeling information in database fields. APRP has a high tolerance for input data errors, eliminating the need for OCR clean up.
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APS (ADVANCED PHOTO SYSTEM)
A film cartridge system that magnetically records all picture data for each frame of film. This data is then used by the photo finisher to provide you with better pictures and new services that can't be found with traditional film cameras.
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ARC
See Accounts Receivable Entry.
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ARCHIE
A tool (software) for finding files stored on anonymous FTP sites. One must type the exact file name or a substring of it. See Gopher, Prospero, WAIS and World Wide Web.
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ARCHIVAL IMAGE
An image meant to have lasting utility. Archival images are usually kept off-line on a cheaper storage medium such as CD-ROM or magnetic tape, in a secure environment. Archival images are of a higher resolution and quality than the digital image delivered to the user on-screen. The file format most often associated with archival images is TIFF, or Tagged Image File Format, as compared to on-screen viewing file formats, which are usually JPEGs and GIFs.
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ARCHIVAL SCANS
Digital images serving as surrogates of the original. At this point in time, there is no such thing as an Archival or Preservation scan that acts as an exact replica or replacement of the original, as it is not yet possible to record every piece of information found in the original with today's scanner technology.
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ARCHIVE
The long-term storage of data or images. Archiving is generally accomplished on some form of magnetic media; such as disk or tape, or optical media; such as Writable CD. To copy programs and data onto an auxiliary storage medium (disk, tape, etc.) for long-term retention. A file with a structure that allows storage of multiple files within it in such a way that the names of the files can be listed and files can be individually added and deleted. The terminology is typically associated with microcomputers. On a mainframe, such an archive is typically called a library.
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ARCHIVED
To be copied onto a disk for backup. Archived files are usually compressed for improved storage.
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ARTIFACTS
Visual digital effects introduced into an image during scanning that do not correspond to the original image being scanned. Artifacts might include pixelation, dotted or straight lines, regularly repeated patterns, moire, etc.
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AS-400
IBM's very popular proprietary computer.
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ASCII
American Standard Code for Information Interchange.
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ASPECT RATIO
Refers to the ratio of horizontal to vertical dimensions of an image. (35mm slide frame is 3:2, TV 4:3, HDTV 16:9, 4X5 film 5:4) The length divided by the height of a mail piece. First-class mail requires an aspect ratio between 1.3 and 2.5. The mail sorting equipment requires mail to be rectangular in shape. Postage is higher for nonstandard sizes.
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ASSOCIATION FOR INFORMATION AND IMAGE MANAGEMENT (AIIM)
The industry trade association that includes micrographics, optical disc, and electronic image management markets. In 1996 the name is being changed to AIIM International.
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ASYNCHRONOUS
A method of transmission where characters are sent at irregular intervals by preceding each character with a start bit and following it with a stop bit. This is how most small computers communicate with each other.
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ASYNCHRONOUS TRANSFER MODE
The standard for a packet switching technique that uses packets (cells) of fixed length. Also referred to as BISDN and Cell Relay.
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ATM
Asynchronous Transfer Mode or Automatic Teller Machine.
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ATM (ASYNCHRONOUS TRANSFER MODE)
ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) is a packet-switched, broadband network architecture and it is expected to become an established standard by the late 1990s. ATM is a real-time architecture that provides very high bandwidths as required. The initial implementations will operate at 155.52 megabits per second (Mbps), then at 622.08 Mbps. The very high bandwidth and the ability to transmit multiple media (images, voice, video, etc.) make ATM an attractive, high-speed architecture for both local-area networks (LANs) and wide-area networks (WANs) especially where images are a major part of the business processes.. ATM can be useful for enterprise networks, which often connect LANs over wide areas and may need to transport large amounts of data over very long distances. FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) is also good architecture for LANs, and frame relay has possibilities for WANs, but neither of these architectures is suitable for both LANs and WANs. But ATM is still quite expensive. ATM allows transmission of voice, images, video, and data at the same time.
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ATM (ASYNCHRONOUS TRANSFER MODE)
A network protocol that transfers data in cells or packets of a small fixed size. The small, fixed size of ATM allows data such as video, voice and data to be transferred over the same network.
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ATTENDED MODE
A PIE operating mode. When PIE is in attended mode, it stops the first time it finds an error, prompts you to resolve the error, and starts up again only after you do so. See also Unattended Mode.
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AUDIT TRAIL
Information captured and printed on the back of a document that normally includes the date, batch number, transaction or sequence number, amount and possibly operator number, machine number or other information included by the software vendor. The audit trail (captured and printed) is used to track an item through the entire process.
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AUTHENTICATION
The process of ensuring the identity of a user who has logged on to a system.
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AUTHENTICATION TOKEN
A portable device used for authenticating a user. Authentication tokens operate by challenge/response, time-based code sequences or other techniques. This may include paper-based lists of one-time passwords.
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AUTHORIZATION
Permission to access non-public information or use equipment that is either fully or partially restricted. Process of establishing what can or cannot be done. The act of insuring that a credit card holder has adequate funds available against their line of credit. When a positive authorization occurs, an authorization code is generated and funds are set aside. The cardholder's available credit limit is reduced by the authorized amount. As used in ARC processing, an agreement by a Receiver allowing for the posting of credit or debit items to its account. Authorizations for credit transactions may be given orally, but debit authorizations are generally required to be in writing.
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AUTHORIZING CUSTOMER
A check writer with the legal authority to sign checks drawn against a particular account as shown on the check, and, by extension, to authorize conversion of the check to an electronic transaction.
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AUTO DISCRIMINATION
The ability of a scanner or reader to distinguish automatically between two or more fonts or character types.
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AUTOMATED CLEARING HOUSE NETWORK
The ACH Network is a nationwide batch-oriented electronic funds transfer system governed by the ACH Operating Rules, which provides for the interbank clearing of electronic payments for participating financial institutions. The ACH infrastructure, a combination of federal and private sector initiatives, supports the electronic conversion, clearing and settlement of various categories of payments traditionally made by check, including payroll, remittance and point-of-sale checks.
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AUTOMATED PURCHASING SYSTEM
The electronic method of creating, encumbering and issuing purchase documents and of tracking and recording the receipt of, and processing payments for, goods and services. The system is intended to expedite the processing of Purchase Orders and to greatly reduce the amount of paper that is maintained under a manual system.
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AUTOMATIC DOCUMENT STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL (ADSTAR)
Generic term for systems that identify, select and display images that have been previously electronically stored.
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AUTOMATIC IDENTIFICATION
A means of identifying an item by machine and entering the data automatically into a computer. The most widely used technology at present is barcode. Others include optical character recognition (OCR), magnetic ink character recognition (MICR), radio frequency (RF), machine vision, and magnetic stripe and voice systems.
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AUTOMATIC TELLER MACHINE (ATM)
An electronic system through which customers may make deposits to accounts by cash or check and perform other financial transactions.
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AUTOMATICS
Transactions that are full payments or matched payments, that is, where the check amount equals an amount on the scan line of the remittance coupon. These transactions are batched separately and fed through a transport; the amount due is read off the scan line on the coupon and automatically encoded on the check. Also referred to as Power Encode.
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AUTOMATION COMPATIBLE LETTER
Letter-size mail that weighs less than 2.5 ounces (3.0 ounces if the piece is pre-barcoded) and meets other physical criteria. In addition, the piece must be part of a mailing that is 85 percent zip+4 coded or delivery point bar coded.
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AUXILIARY ON-US FIELD
The left-most field in the MICR line, on the bottom of a business size check. This field is not present on small (personal style) checks, as it would extend past the end of the check. On business-sized checks, this field generally contains the check serial number (check number) and may also contain accounting control information that is specific to the account. This field must be preceded and followed by On-Us Symbols.
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AVAILABLE FUNDS
Funds on deposit with a financial institution and available for withdrawal by the accountholder.
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AVERAGE LATENCY
A display terminology. The time required for a disk to rotate one-half revolution.
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BACK PRINTING
A feature on a printer that can automatically add date, time, or specific text to the backside of the picture.
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BACKBONE
The backbone usually refers to the communications line of a "Bus" type network such as Ethernet. Arms or nodes of the network connect to the Backbone and receive signals to determine if the information is for that specific network user. The primary connectivity mechanism of a hierarchical distributed system. All systems, which have connectivity to an intermediate system on the backbone, are assured of connectivity to each other. This does not prevent systems from setting up private arrangements with each other to bypass the backbone for reasons of cost, performance or security. See Core Gateway.
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BACKFILE CONVERSION
Refers to the process of converting existing files by scanning or filming them as part of the system implementation.
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BACKGROUND
The color or pattern that sits behind the images in the composite. A process that is taking place in the computer that is not interactive or visible on the screen.
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BACKGROUND PROCESSING
A feature that enables the computer operator to continue working while the computer executes another action, such as spooling data to a printer. Utilizing a terminal for one project and concurrently submitting a job that is placed in a background queue that the computer will run as resources become available. Also refers to any processing in which a job runs without being connected to a terminal.
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BACKUP
Making a spare copy of computer files or programs on diskette or tape. A regular backup schedule helps prevent loss of vital data due to a computer malfunction.
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BANDING
An artifact of color gradation in computer imaging, when graduated colors break into larger blocks of a single color, reducing the "smooth" look of a proper gradation.
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BANDWIDTH
Bandwidth refers to the amount of data a cable (network) can carry; measured in bits per second (bps), for digital signals, or in hertz (Hz), for analog signals, such as sound waves. For digital signals, a higher bit rate represents a larger bandwidth. A higher bandwidth (that is, a higher signal frequency) will mean a faster transmission, which means a shorter signal. With a short signal, there is a smaller margin for error in interpreting the signal. A signal traveling along a cable degrades with distance. It is possible to connect the cable to special components that can clean up and rejuvenate a signal. Defines the amount of information that can travel between two points in a specific time. A term used to describe, usually in terms of number of bits per second, the volume capacity of any point within a system or network.
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BANK STATEMENT
A periodic statement of a customer's account detailing credits and debits posted to the account during the period and the book balance as of the statement cutoff date.
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BANKING DAY
Any day on which a financial institution is open and available for transacting business.
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BAR CODE
Machine-readable array of vertical rectangular marks and spaces in a predetermined pattern. In document management, a bar code is used to encode indexing information. Bar coding is more reliable than OCR.
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BARCODE
A unique symbolic code made up of a series of vertical bars that is used for fast and accurate identification of items using an optical scanner.
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BARCODE CHARACTER
A set of bars and spaces within a barcode that represent data; a single letter, number, or other character.
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BARCODE READ AREA
The clear zone on the bottom right-hand part of a document, which must be kept free of printing and symbols except the barcode itself to enable automatic processing machines to read the code and rapidly process the document.
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BARCODE READER (BCR)
A system that reads bar codes.
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BARCODE READER AND SORTER (BC RS)
A system including a transport, which reads and sorts preprinted bar codes.
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BARCODE SORTER
A computer-controlled, electro-mechanical transport system that sorts letters, based upon an imprinted barcode.
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BASE TWO
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BASIC INPUT/OUTPUT SYSTEM (BIOS)
Software (services) used in the ROM (read only memory) that handles the transfer of information between system elements such as disks and monitors. The BIOS services enable hardware and software, operating systems and applications, and also applications and users to communicate with each other. The BIOS services are loaded automatically into specific addresses, and they should always be accessible. BIOS services are updated and expanded to handle newer devices and greater demands. To get a newer BIOS, you simply need to replace the ROM chip in your computer with an appropriate upgrade chip or flash the existing chip.
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BASIC PRESORT
The process of sorting mail to comply with minimum USPS requirements. It is recommended that any mail that is not carrier-route or 5-digit presorted go through basic presort.
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BATCH
A Group of related documents (in various media) considered a single unit for processing. The accumulation of captured sales transactions from a merchant waiting to be processed. Multiple batches may be processed and settled each day.
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BATCH BALANCING
A feature to provide for the balancing of batches in financial transaction processing. If an out of balance occurs, it must be corrected and an update function must be performed.
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BATCH MODE
Method of processing forms and items by grouping them into batches before scanning and reading.
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BATCH PROCESSING
A serial form of data processing in which groups or batches of transactions are input to the system. Batch processing stands in contrast to distributed real time processing in which forms are processed immediately upon initial input.
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BAUD
Unit of transmission speed equal to the number of signal events per second. In casual, non- technical usage, baud is often used to mean bits per second. A measurement of the speed of transmission over a communication line. Named after Baudot, a pioneer of telegraphic communication. In common usage, the baud rate of a modem is how many bits it can send or receive per second. Technically, baud is the number of times per second that the carrier signal shifts value. For example, a 1200 bit-per-second modem actually runs at 300 baud, but it moves 4 bits per baud (4 x 300 = 1200 bits per second). See Bit, Modem.
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