black box

black box

1. The device in an airplane that records flight audio and data. Once the black box is recovered from the wreckage, it will give us more insight into what caused the crash.
2. Any sort of system or device with inner workings that are difficult to understand. Does anyone outside of the IT department really understand how this black box works?
See also: black, box
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

a black box

You can call a process or system a black box when you know that it produces a particular result but you do not understand how it works. What steroids do is currently something of a black box. The firm's investment success lies in its black box of formulas which identify trends. Note: In an electronic or computer system, a black box is a self-contained part. You can understand its function without knowing anything about how it works.
See also: black, box
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

black box

an automatic apparatus, the internal operations of which are mysterious to non-experts.
Black does not refer to the colour of the device but to the arcane nature of its functions. Originally Royal Air Force slang for a navigational instrument in an aircraft, the phrase is now used in aviation specifically to refer to the flight recorder.
See also: black, box
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • a black box
  • mix (something) down
  • mix down
  • experiment
  • experiment (up)on (someone or something)
  • experiment on
  • record on
  • record on (something)
  • joe job
  • here's the thing (about someone or something)
References in periodicals archive
The Indonesian government has affirmed it will probe the content of the black box to reveal the cause of the crash.
Black Box will also be showcasing the Emerald ZeroU DVI transmitter for the company's Emerald Unified KVM platform.
"The integration of the Black Box technology has allowed us to process millions of risk assessments each year-an invaluable resource," said Ian Rogers, managing director at CYTI, the site that powers MoneySupermarket's travel insurance proposition in the UK.
The post Black box from crashed Indonesian jet retrieved, diver says appeared first on Cyprus Mail .
LIFELINE Black box helped Graham Gethan to afford his insurance
Black boxes can provide a lot of information about downed planes, including data on factors like altitude and speed and recordings of cockpit conversations, (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-26/black-box-flight-recorders/5343456) according to the Australia Broadcasting Corporation .
In this new role, Oathout will help develop and lead a holistic and innovative partner strategy for the business that leverages the best practices within Black Box and the industry.
The USD0.12 per share dividend was declared on all outstanding shares of Black Box's Common Stock and will be payable on January 13, 2017 to stockholders of record at the close of business on December 30, 2016.
Under this acquisition, financial details of which were not available, the Cloudium development team will join Black Box.
Las Vegas, NV, February 26, 2016 --(PR.com)-- The Naughty Black Box unveils the newest way to purchase adult relationship and intimacy lifestyle enhancing products.
Black Box Corporation (NASDAQ: BBOX) said that the company has been awarded an eight-year, USD103 million managed services agreement by Miami-Dade County for the Miami-Dade Aviation Department (MDAD).
It is more amazing though that nothing has been done to improve the black box idea as this idea of storing flight information on a black box is outdated and has proved impractical in many previous air crash accidents.
Australian prime minister Tony Abbott said crews had pinpointed the location of the Malaysia Airlines jet's elusive black box after they traced a series of underwater ping signals.
27 ( ANI ): After the revelation that the Malaysia Airline passenger jet crashed into the southern Indian Ocean, investigators are now fearing that the black box from the plane might have overwritten key data, making it all the more difficult to gauge what exactly went wrong with the plane.
He brings a veteran eye to cold cases and cracks them by finding the "black box," a "piece of evidence, a person, a positioning of facts that brought a certain understanding and helped explain what happened and why." In 1992, during the LA riots, Bosch was first on the scene of the murder of Danish journalist Anneka Jespersen.