Gadget
Command button in the menu prompting of an Amiga computer.


Gateway
Transition from a digital network to another. At the gateway data and messages are being recoded in a way that enables them to reach their specified target also in a different network correctly.


Gameport
The gameport is an interface on most sound cards which is used to connect joysticks. Most modern joysticks additionally offer an USB interface.





GEN
Global European Network. Broadband network connecting several european countries. It will form the basis of prospective broadband networks.


Genlock Interface
The Genlocking technology is known from television. The interface is used to mix material recorded from a television camera with computer graphics.


GIF
The GIF format was developed as an image format for online usage for the online service Compuserve. Please read also: Graphic formats


Gigabyte
Storage unit: 1 Gigabyte (GB) is equal to 1024 Megabyte.


GPIB
General Purpose Interface Bus. Standardised interface by IEEE, intended to transmit data between a computer and peripheral devices such as printers. As IBM-compatible PCs and Macintosh computers do not posess this interface, additional cards are available.


GPS
Global Positioning System. Satellite Positioning System developed by the american military. It consists of several satellites, equally distributed around the earth. Every spot of the earth has contact to three satellites which makes it possible to locate it accurate to a few meters.


GPRS
General Packet Radio Service, a fast data transmission system for mobile networks. The connection is not being accounted for the time like within traditional systems but for the amount of data (10KB) per second.


Gradation
The transformation of light (intensity x time) into dark areas in the exposure process of photo material. The rate between the impacting light and the resulting black areas is displayed by a gradation graph. Every photo material generates a certain graph based on its specific properties. The steeper it is, the richer in contrast is the material.


Graphic Processor
High duty micro processors which are able to process the large amount of data (generated by high resolution and high refresh rate) very fast. They are usually installed on the graphic card of the computer.


Graphic Card
The graphic card passes the image signals to the screen. Modern cards are equipped with high performance CD chip sets and sometimes cost more than low priced completepc solutions.


Graphic Tablet
The sensitive touch screen records entries with a special pen and passes the information to the screen. Especially designers like to work with graphic tablets.


Grayscale Picture
Digital image files which specify a certain gray value for each pixel. Mostly, there are 256 values.


Grid
Please read grid computing.


Grid Computing
Also known as distributed computung. Many computers are connected in a network in order to provide processors and memory. This way, high computing power is achieved in order to execute complex calculations in a parallel way with many CPUs.


Grotesque Font
In the 19th century sans serif fonts appeared and were called grotesque.


gTLD
Generic Top Level Domain. Please read domain.


GUI
Graphical User Interface, the itnerface which is used by a user in order to control program functions. It includes buttons, menues and input fields. Windows, the Linux desktop KDE and MacOS X offer very perfected user interfaces.