Jargon Buster - P
New Technology Institute (NTI)

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

PartnerML
A proprietary mark-up language that conforms to a Drutt defined XML schema for partner use

Peer-to-peer (P2P)
A type of Internet network that allows users of the same networking program to connect with each other and directly access shared files. This negates the need for a central point of management. Examples of peer-to-peer programs are Kazaa and Napster.

Picture in Picture
Facility on TVs to view more than one channel within smaller windows on the TV, can also be used to display picture and text where indicated.

Pixel
(PICture ELement) The smallest element of a digitized image. One small dot of light among the many dots that make up an image on a computer screen.

Plasma
Technology that uses electrical impulses that react with gases contained to produce pixels. Plasma televisions are increasing in demand due to their light weight and positioning flexibility as opposed to traditional CRT television sets.

Platform
The platform is the type of machine and operating system you are using. On personal computers, Windows 2000 and Mac OS X are examples of two different platforms.

PlaysForSure
This is Microsoft's attempt to unify the Windows Media-based portable digital music players as there is a forest of incompatibility problems but all new players should conform to this 'standard'.

Polyphonic ringtone
When part of a song is digitised into a somewhat tinny version of the original and used as a ringtone on a mobile phone. You download them off the internet and they are sent to your phone.

Processor
The processor or CPU is the heart of a computing device. It performs all the calculations and operations on data. Processors are commonly rated in MHz or GHz, a measurement which refers to their speed - the higher the MHz/GHz the faster the speed.

Progressive Scan
An advanced method of viewing video images that provides better quality than traditional interlaced images.