M

Matrix Switcher
A combination or array of electromechanical or electronic switches which route a number of
signal sources to one or more destinations.

Mbps
Abbreviation of megabits per second. One megabit is equal to one million bits or 1,000
kilobits. It is used to measure high data transfer speeds of connections such as Ethernet and
cable modems.

Megabyte
A measure of computer memory or storage. It is one million bytes (in the context of computer
memory, sometimes used to mean 1,048,576 (2 to the power 20) bytes).

Megahertz
A unit of frequency equal to one million hertz or cycles per second. Usually abbreviated to
MHz.

Megapixel
The term pixel comes from the phrase picture element. One megapixel is equal to 1,000,000
(one million) pixels. For the most part, the larger number of pixels, the better the quality of
the picture.

Modulation
The process, or results of the process, whereby some characteristic of one signal is varied in
accordance with another signal. The modulated signal is called the carrier. The carrier may be
modulated in three fundamental ways: by varying the amplitude, called amplitude
modulation; by varying the frequency, called frequency modulation; by varying the phase,
called phase modulation.

Monitor
A device that accepts video signals from a computer or video camera and displays
information on a screen; a video display.

Monochrome
Black and white with all shades of gray.

Monochrome Signal

In monochrome television, a signal wave for controlling the brightness values in the picture.
In color television, that part of the signal wave which has major control of the brightness
values of the picture, whether displayed in color or in monochrome.

Monochrome Transmission
The transmission of a signal wave which represents the brightness values in the picture, but
not the color (chrominance) values.

Motion
A generalized use class aspect that specifies the level of motion you anticipate in a scene of
interest. See also, the Motion topic for video quality requirements considerations.[3]

Motion Picture Expert Group (MPEG)

A group of standards for encoding and compressing audiovisual information such as movies,
video, and music. MPEG compression is as high as 200:1 for low-motion video of VHS
quality, and broadcast quality can be achieved at 6 Mbit/s. Audio is supported at rates from
32 kbit/s to 384 kbit/s for up to two stereo channels.

Multi-factor Authentication (MFA)

A security system that requires more than one method of authentication from independent
categories of credentials to verify the user's identity for a login or other transaction.