Electronics

Terms related to electronics, including definitions about electrical components and words and phrases about computers, laptops parts, digital cameras, televisions and home appliances.

shift register - A shift register is a digital memory circuit found in calculators, computers, and data-processing systems.
soap opera effect (motion interpolation) - The soap opera effect is the colloquial name for a visual effect caused by motion interpolation on television sets that some people find undesirable.
solar cooling - Solar cooling is a system that converts heat from the sun into cooling that can be used for refrigeration and air conditioning.
solar power - Solar power is a renewable form of energy harvested from the sun for the purpose of producing electricity or thermal energy (heat).
solid - A solid is a state of matter that retains its shape and density when not confined.
solid-state - Solid-state is a common descriptor used to refer to electronic components, devices and systems based entirely on semiconductor materials such as silicon, germanium or gallium arsenide.
solid-state storage - Solid-state storage is a type of computer storage media that stores data electronically and has no moving parts.
sound card - A sound card is a computer component responsible for generating and recording audio.
sound wave - A sound wave is the pattern of disturbance caused by the movement of energy traveling through a medium (such as air, water or any other liquid or solid matter) as it propagates away from the source of the sound.
space - Space is a term that can refer to various phenomena in science, mathematics and computing and generally encompasses the concept of an area or region.
spatial computing - Spatial computing broadly characterizes the processes and tools used to capture, process and interact with three-dimensional (3D) data.
stack pointer - A stack pointer is a small register that stores the memory address of the last data element added to the stack or, in some cases, the first available address in the stack.
standard temperature and pressure (STP) - Standard temperature and pressure (STP) refers to the nominal conditions in the atmosphere at sea level.
standing wave ratio (SWR) - Standing wave ratio (SWR) is the ratio of the maximum magnitude or amplitude of a standing wave to its minimum magnitude.
state of charge (SOC) - The state of charge (SOC) is a measurement of the amount of energy available in a battery at a specific point in time.
Stefan-Boltzmann constant - The Stefan-Boltzmann constant, symbolized by the lowercase Greek letter sigma (σ), is a physical constant expressing the relationship between the heat radiation emitted by a black body and its absolute temperature.
superconductivity - Superconductivity is the ability of certain materials to conduct a direct electric current (DC) with practically zero resistance.
tablet (tablet PC) - A tablet is a wireless, portable personal computer with a touchscreen interface.
teleoperations (telerobotics) - Teleoperation, also called telerobotics, is the technical term for the remote control of a robot.
thyristor - A thyristor is a four-layer semiconductor device, consisting of alternating P-type and N-type materials (PNPN).
toroid - A toroid is a coil of insulated or enameled wire wound on a donut-shaped form made of powdered iron.
touch screen - A touch screen is an electronic display screen that is also an input device.
transconductance - Transconductance is an expression of the performance of a bipolar transistoror field-effect transistor (FET).
transducer - A transducer is an electronic device that converts energy from one form to another.
transistor-to-transistor logic (TTL) - Transistor-to-transistor logic -- also known as simply transistor-transistor logic or TTL -- is a family of digital logic design built from a family of bipolar junction transistors that act on direct-current pulses.
transponder - A transponder is a wireless communication, monitoring or control device that picks up and automatically responds to an incoming signal.
virtual assistant (AI assistant) - A virtual assistant, also called an AI assistant or digital assistant, is an application program that understands natural language voice commands and completes tasks for the user.
volt-ampere (VA) - A volt-ampere (VA) is a measurement of power in a direct current (DC) electrical circuit.
voltage - Voltage, also called electromotive force, is a quantitative expression of the potential difference in charge between two points in an electrical field.
voltage reference - A voltage reference is an electronic component or circuit that produces a constant DC (direct-current) output voltage regardless of variations in external conditions such as temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, current demand, or the passage of time.
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive - The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive is a legislative act that the European Union adopted to address the growing amounts of e-waste that come from electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) at the end of its life.
water cooling - Water cooling, also called liquid cooling, is a method used to lower the temperature of computer processor units (CPUs), and sometimes graphics processor units (GPUs).
watt - A watt (symbolized W) is the standard unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI).
watt-hour (Wh) - The watt-hour, which is symbolized Wh, is a unit of energy equivalent to one watt of power expended for one hour of time.
wave number - A wave number, or wavenumber, refers to the spatial frequency of a wave over a specific unit distance.
What is a drone (UAV)? - A drone is an unmanned aircraft.
What is a microcontroller (MCU)? - A microcontroller is a compact integrated circuit designed to govern a specific operation in an embedded system.
What is a transistor? - A transistor is a miniature semiconductor that regulates or controls current or voltage flow in addition to amplifying and generating these electrical signals and acting as a switch/gate for them.
What is EM shielding (electromagnetic shielding)? - EM shielding (electromagnetic shielding) is the practice of surrounding electronics and cables with conductive or magnetic materials to guard against incoming or outgoing emissions of electromagnetic frequencies (EMF).
What is impedance? - Impedance, denoted with Z, is an expression of the opposition that an electronic component, circuit or system offers to alternating or direct electric current.
What is matter? - Matter is a substance made up of various types of particles that occupies physical space and has inertia.
What is modulation? - Modulation is the process of converting data into radio waves by adding information to an electronic or optical carrier signal.
What is passive keyless entry (PKE)? - Passive keyless entry (PKE) is an automotive security system that operates automatically when the user is in proximity to the vehicle, unlocking the door on approach or when the door handle is pulled, and locking it when the user walks away or touches the car on exit.
What is podcasting? - Podcasting is the preparation and distribution of digital audio files to the computers of subscribed users using Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds.
What is SRAM (static random access memory)? - SRAM (static RAM) is a type of random access memory (RAM) that retains data bits in its memory as long as power is being supplied.
What is unobtainium? - Unobtainium is a term used to refer to a material that cannot be accessed.
What is wavelength? - Wavelength is the distance between identical points, or adjacent crests, in the adjacent cycles of a waveform signal propagated in space or along a wire.
wireless charging - Wireless charging is any of several methods of charging batteries without the use of cables.
x86-64 - x86-64 (also called x86_64, x64, or amd64) is the 64-bit CPU architecture that is used in Intel and AMD processors.