fax

views updated

fax (facsimile transmission) Equipment by which text and images can be transmitted and received through a telephone system. The image, on paper, is scanned to translate it into a series of electrical pulses. Inside the fax machine, a modem converts the pulses into an analogue form that can be transmitted through the telephone system. At the receiving end, the fax machine's modem converts the signals back into digital pulses, and prints these as dots to build up a copy of the original document. See also scanning

More From encyclopedia.com