Glossary
Plain definitions of the terms that actually affect a purchase.
30 pages
Adaptive Charging
Firmware that delays the final part of a charge until shortly before you normally wake.
ANC
Active noise cancellation, which uses microphones and inverted waveforms to reduce ambient sound.
Binning
Combining adjacent sensor pixels into one larger virtual pixel to gather more light.
Bit Depth
How many distinct values are recorded per colour channel.
Bit Rate
How much data per second a video or audio stream carries.
Border Router
A device that bridges a Thread mesh to your normal IP network.
Codec
The compression scheme used to send audio over a Bluetooth connection.
Dynamic Range
The span between the darkest and brightest detail a sensor can record in one exposure.
eSIM
An embedded SIM profile provisioned by software rather than a removable card.
Focus Breathing
A change in apparent focal length as a lens is refocused.
Frequency Response
How evenly a device reproduces the range of audible frequencies.
IBIS
In-body image stabilisation, which moves the sensor to counteract camera shake.
IP Rating
A laboratory-tested rating for resistance to solids and liquids.
Local Control
Smart home automations that run on your own network without a cloud connection.
LTPO
A display backplane that lets the refresh rate drop as low as 1Hz on static content to save power.
Matter
A common application-layer standard letting smart home devices from different brands interoperate.
Multipoint
A Bluetooth feature allowing one accessory to hold active connections to two devices at once.
Nits
A unit of screen brightness, formally candelas per square metre.
Oleophobic Coating
A thin surface layer that repels skin oils and makes fingerprints wipe away easily.
Passive Isolation
Noise reduction from the physical seal of an earphone or earcup, before any electronics.
Peak vs Sustained Brightness
Peak is a brief small-area maximum; sustained is what the whole panel holds indefinitely.
PoE
Power over Ethernet — supplying power and data over one network cable.
Refresh Rate
How many times per second a display redraws its image, measured in hertz.
Response Time
How long a pixel takes to change from one state to another.
Rolling Shutter
Distortion caused by a sensor reading out line by line rather than all at once.
Thermal Throttling
Firmware reducing clock speeds to keep a device within a safe temperature range.
Thread
A low-power wireless mesh protocol used by many smart home devices.
Vapour Chamber
A sealed flat heat pipe that spreads heat across a larger area.
Variable Refresh Rate
A display that changes its refresh rate dynamically to match content.
Wh (Watt-hour)
A measure of stored energy, used for laptop and larger batteries.