In computing, a zoomed video port (often simply ZV port) is a unidirectional video bus allowing a device in a PC card slot to transfer video data directly into a VGA frame buffer, so as to allow laptops to display real-time video. The standard was created by the PCMCIA to allow devices such as TV tuners, video inputs and MPEG coprocessors to fit into a PC card form factor and provide a cheap solution for both the laptop manufacturer and consumer.
The ZV port is a direct connection between the PC card slot and VGA controller. Video data is transferred in real time without any buffering, removing the need for bus mastering or arbitration.
The ZV port was invented as an alternative to such methods as the VAFC (VESA Advanced Feature Connector).
Famous quotes containing the words video and/or port:
“We attempt to remember our collective American childhood, the way it was, but what we often remember is a combination of real past, pieces reshaped by bitterness and love, and, of course, the video past—the portrayals of family life on such television programs as “Leave it to Beaver” and “Father Knows Best” and all the rest.”
—Richard Louv (20th century)
“Through the port comes the moon-shine astray!
It tips the guard’s cutlass and silvers this nook;
But ‘twill die in the dawning of Billy’s last day.
A jewel-block they’ll make of me to-morrow,
Pendant pearl from the yard-arm-end
Like the ear-drop I gave to Bristol Molly—
O, ‘tis me, not the sentence they’ll suspend.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)