metal). They are normally planted on the roofs of houses or on top of a structure. They are generally light weight and can be from one foot to 20 feet or more.

Besides external antennas, there are plenty of antennas that are made for indoor use. These are smaller in size and weigh less. They may also include amplifiers to make the TV broadcast signal stronger. All antennas are attached to your receiver which usually is your TV set to give your TV set the best possible signal and ultimately the best picture possible.

Vocabulary:

integrate – внедрять, интегрировать incorporate – объединять

cathode ray tube (CRT) – электронно-лучевая трубка (ЭЛТ)

LCD (liquid crystal display) – ЖК-дисплей (жидкокристаллический дисплей) Plasma (gas charged display) – плазменный (газовый заряженный дисплей) copper or fiber optic – медное или оптоволокно

unscramble and decompress – расшифровать и распаковать cathode ray tube – электронно-лучевая трубка obstructions – препятствия, помехи

Picture Quality

Picture quality is a general term used by the viewer to rate the inherent quality of the image. It is mainly subjective, meaning that each viewer rates the picture quality differently. Some people may think that an image is high enough quality, but you may have an individual with higher standards that may say the image lacks quality or sharpness. Picture quality is used in a general sense.

With digital images, many people are able to rate and categorize images based on bits of information or pixels that create an image. For instance, if you had two digital images, one being 1 mega pixels (1 million pixels) and another image having 5 mega pixels of information in the image, most people would state that the image with more mega pixels has the higher picture quality. And this would be true in lots of circumstances. However, if the 5 mega pixel image was taken in complete darkness and the 1 mega pixel image was taken using regular light, most people would agree that although an image may have more mega pixels, that doesn't necessarily mean that it has a better picture quality.

Picture quality for the most part is determined by resolution and a balance of colors which is usually termed contrast. Resolution refers to the amount of detail in a picture. Usually the more detail in a picture, the higher the resolution. For instance, a 5MP (mega pixel) image has more resolution than a 1MP image.

Besides an image having more bits of information, the sharpness or colors in a picture should also be vivid. Meaning that the viewer should be able to see an image clearly and differentiate the numerous colors from one another in the image. You don't want

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to look at an image that is muddy, cloudy or out of focus. You want to see clearly defined objects with sharp colors. Contrast is important to this process.

Contrast or sometimes called contrast ratio, it is the specific amount of brightness or luminance between two colors, one of these colors is always the color black, the other colors can vary, usually green, blue or red. Contrast helps a viewer perceive picture quality. If an image has a high contrast ratio, the colors will be sharp and vivid. If the image has a low contrast ration, the image will probably be muddy or out of focus.

For most people the quality of picture quality can easily be improved or reduced when taking digital images or when it is being shown on a HDTV set. Digital images can be easily augmented to add picture quality. For instance, with digital images, you can usually set the resolution level and even add the amount of colors that an image can have. Some digital cameras or HDTV sets can produce millions upon millions of different colors, with the end result of increasing the overall picture quality.

Vocabulary:

inherent quality of the image – неотъемлемое качество изображения resolution – разрешение

contrast ratio – контрастность luminance – яркость augment – увеличение

Zoom

Zoom is a videotelephony software program developed by Zoom Video Communications. The free version provides a video chatting service that allows up to 100 devices at once, with a 40-minute time restriction for free accounts having meetings of three or more participants. Users have the option to upgrade by subscribing to one of its plans, with the highest allowing up to 1,000 people concurrently, with no time restriction.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a major increase in the use of Zoom and similar products for remote work, distance education, and online social relations.

A beta version of Zoom, which could host conferences with up to 15 video participants, was launched on September 10, 2012. On January 25, 2013, version 1.0 of the program was released with an increase in the number of participants per conference to 25. By the end of its first month, Zoom had 400,000 users, which rose to 1 million by May 2013. After the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, by February 2020, Zoom had gained 2.22 million users in 2020 – more users than it amassed in the entirety of 2019 with the company's share spiking by 35 per cent. On one day in March 2020, the Zoom app was downloaded 2.13 million times. In April 2020, Zoom had more than 300 million daily meeting participants. On August 24, 2020, Zoom experienced widespread outages for several hours before service was restored

Zoom is compatible with Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, and Linux. It is noted for its simple interface and usability, specifically for non-tech people. Fea-

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tures include one-on-one meetings, group video conferences, screen sharing, plugins, browser extensions, and the ability to record meetings and have them automatically transcribed. On some computers and operating systems, users are able to select a virtual background, which can be downloaded from different sites, to use as a backdrop behind themselves.

Use of the platform is free for video conferences of up to 100 participants at once, with a 40-minute time limit if there are more than two participants. For longer or larger conferences with more features, paid subscriptions are available, costing $15– 20 per month. Features geared towards business conferences, such as Zoom Rooms, are available for $50–100 per month. Up to 49 people can be seen on a screen at once. Zoom has several tiers: Basic, Pro, Business, and Enterprise. Participants do not

have to download the app if they are using Google Chrome or Firefox; they can click on a link and join from the browser. Zoom is not compatible with Safari for Macs.[19]

Zoom security features include password-protected meetings, user authentication,

waiting rooms, locked meetings, disabling participant screen sharing, randomly generated IDs, and the ability for the host to remove disruptive attendees.[23] As of June

2020, Zoom began offering end-to-end encryption to business and enterprise users, with AES 256 GCM encryption enabled for all users. In October 2020, Zoom added end-to-end encryption for free and paid users. It's available on all platforms, except for the official Zoom web client.

Zoom also offers a transcription service using Otter.ai software that allows businesses to store transcriptions of the Zoom meetings online and search them, including separating and labeling different speakers.

As of July 2020, Zoom Rooms and Zoom Phone also became available as hardware as a service products. Zoom Phone is available for domestic telephone service in 40 countries as of August 2020. Zoom for Home, a category of products designed for home use, became available in August 2020.

In September 2020, Zoom added new accessibility features to make the app easier to use for individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, or visually impaired. New features include the ability to move around video windows in gallery view; to pin video windows to be spotlighted; improved keyboard shortcuts; new tools to adjust the size of closed captioning text; and sign language interpreters' windows can now sit directly next to the speaker.

In October 2020 at Zoomtopia, Zoom's annual user conference, the company unveiled OnZoom, a virtual event marketplace with an integrated payment system where users can host and promote free or paid live events. With OnZoom, users will be able to schedule and host one-time events or event series for up to 1,000 attendees, and sell tickets online. The company also announced Zoom Apps, a feature integrating thirdparty apps so they can be used within the Zoom interface during meetings. The first such apps will be available around the end of 2020, from companies including Slack, Salesforce, and Dropbox. In October 2020, Zoom gave its users better security with an upgrade to end-to-end encryption for its online meetings network

Zoom has been used by banks, universities, and government agencies around the world, by the UK Parliament, by healthcare professionals for telemedicine, barbershops, and ceremonies such as birthday parties, funeral services, and Bar and Bat

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