Technology Glossary

3D Vision

NVIDIA 3D Vision^® technology delivers stereoscopic 3D images for gamers, movie-lovers and photo enthusiasts when configured with NVIDIA GPUs, NVIDIA 3D Vision active shutter glasses, and 3D Vision-Ready display/projector. Only NVIDIA 3D Vision supports the richest array of 3D content available - more than 600 3D games, Blu-ray 3D movies, 3D photos and streaming YouTube 3D videos.

3D Vision Surround

magine being able to play your favorite games across three 1080p displays in full stereoscopic 3D. With a NVIDIA GeForce GTX GPU, 3D Vision 2 monitors, and a pair of 3D Vision 2 glasses, you can do just that. Upgrade now for a breathtaking gaming experience that places you in the thick of the action.

4K

4K revolutionizes the way you view your games by adding four times as many pixels as commonly used 1920x1080 screens, opening your eyes to rich, superbly-detailed worlds. If you have a high-end GeForce GTX PC, you’re ready for the revolution. Just plug and play and you’ll immediately receive a flawless, jaw-dropping experience.

Adaptive VSync

NVIDIA Adaptive VSync makes your gaming experience smoother and more responsive by eliminating frame rate stuttering and screen tearing. To learn more check out the Technology tab.

Battery Boost

NVIDIA Battery Boost™ is a new ultra efficient mode that delivers the same great 30+ FPS experience, but with up to 2x longer battery life while gaming.

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a specification for the use of low-power radio communications to wirelessly link phones, computers and other network devices over short distances. The name "Bluetooth" is borrowed from Harald Bluetooth, who was a king in Denmark more than 1,000 years ago.

Bluetooth technology was designed primarily to support simple wireless networking of personal consumer devices and peripherals, including mice, keyboards, and cell phones. The wireless signals transmitted in Bluetooth reach over short distances, typically up to 30 feet (10 meters). Bluetooth devices generally communicate at less than 1 Mbps. With a lack of USB ports, most tablets utilize a Bluetooth connection to pair with peripheral devices, such as the K4000 keyboard. Bluetooth mice such as the X4000b can also be beneficial when there are a lack of free USB ports.

Chiclet Keys

On a keyboard equipped with chiclet keys, the key caps are shorter and more squared off on top. The key travel of chiclet keys is usually closer to that of a laptop, with a more direct feel than that of a standard keyboard. Chiclet keys can be used on top of scissor key switches. The K3500 keyboard utilizes chiclet keys to provide an easy typing keyboard at a reasonable price.

COB
(Chip on Board)

• System in package (SIP) design means all components are enclosed & protected in casing
• Components are not exposed therefore board resists water & is more durable than PCBA (even without a USB housing

CUDA

(Compute Unified Device Architecture) is a parallel computing architecture developed by NVIDIA. CUDA enabled products accelerate the most demanding tasks such as – 3D graphics rendering, video/audio encoding, data encryption/decryption/compression, medical imaging, and scientific research.

DirectX 11

Microsoft DirectX is the graphics technology powering today’s most impressive games. The latest version, DirectX 11, enables the addition of advanced effects and features in NVIDIA-enhanced titles, ranging from tessellation and HBAO+, to Percentage Closer Soft Shadows and NVIDA HairWorks.

Encryption

Encryption is the conversion of data into a form, called a ciphertext, that cannot be easily understood by unauthorized people. Basically is it protection for your data.

Extreme HD

Go beyond standard high definition (HD) and experience Extreme High Definition (XHD), the ultimate widescreen, ultra-high-resolution PC experience made possible by NVIDIA® GeForce® graphics processing units (GPUs). XHD has over 4x the picture clarity of native 1080i HD televisions and 2x the picture clarity of 1080p HD televisions on today’s hottest PC games.

FCAT

We at NVIDIA created a tool called Frame Capture Analysis Tool (FCAT) to maximize the performance of your GPU. To do that, FCAT identifies performance degradation, including dropped frames, runt frames, micro-stuttering, and other problems that reduce the visible smoothness of the action on-screen, even when running at sixty frames per second and above as reported by FRAPS. Through FCAT, GeForce is able to build better GPUs that deliver faster, smooth and improve performance for PC gaming.

G-SYNC

NVIDIA G-SYNC is groundbreaking new display technology that delivers the smoothest and fastest gaming experience ever. G-SYNC’s revolutionary performance is achieved by synchronizing display refresh rates to the GPU in your GeForce GTX-powered PC, eliminating screen tearing and minimizing display stutter and input lag. The result: scenes appear instantly, objects look sharper, and gameplay is super smooth, giving you a stunning visual experience and a serious competitive edge.

GSM

GSM phones require a small electronic chip, called a SIM card, to be inserted into a slot in the handset. This international SIM card is the "heart" of your phone - it contains your cell phone number, your phone book, and all of your registration information. Most companies with GSM service provide you access to over 320 GSM networks in over 140 countries.

What are Unlocked GSM Phones?
Unlocked GSM phones are either (a) phones which are directly from the manufacturer which were locked, or (b) phones from a carrier which have been modified to openly work on any network.

HDMI

(High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a compact audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed digital data.

Laser Tracking

The laser mouse uses an infrared laser diode instead of a LED to illuminate the surface beneath their sensor. The laser illumination enables superior surface tracking compared to LED-illuminated optical mice, with much higher sensor resolution. You will notice the cursor moves slightly more quickly with a laser mouse, but also does not jump around on the screen when using your mouse on patterned surfaces.

Micro COB
(Chip on Board)

• System in package (SIP) design means all components are enclosed & protected in casing
• Components are not exposed therefore board resists water & is more durable than PCBA (even without a USB housing

microSDHC & microSDXC

(Secure Digital eXtended Capacity) cards are memory cards with capacities ranging from 64GB up to 2TB (2048GB), compared to the 32GB limited for SDHC cards. SDXC cards are not backwards compatible with SDHC format host devices.

Near Field Communication

Near field communication (NFC) is a set of standards for bluetooth devices to establish radio communication with each other by touching them together or bringing them into proximity, usually no more than a few inches. The Touch to Pair mouse utilizes this technology, enabling you to simply tap the mouse to your NFC-enabled laptop to pair the mouse.

Optical Tracking

An optical computer mouse uses a light-emitting diode (LED) to illuminate the surface beneath the mouse sensor to detect movement relative to a surface. They are generally less expensive than laser sensors, but cannot track on the same wide range of surfaces. The mouse cursor will move slightly more slowly than a laser mouse, but will generally track smoothly without jumping around. Depending upon the type of surface on which you are tracking, a mouse pad may be necessary.

PCBA (Printed Circuit Board Assembly)

• All components are mounted to the board
• Components are exposed until housing PCBA is assembled into/ covered with a USB housing
• USB metal head/ connector must be attached to the board

Read and Write Speeds

The Read Speed is how long it takes to read something from the Card. So, how long it takes to open a picture or video that is stored on the card. The Write Speed is how long it takes to save something onto the card. So, how long it takes for the picture to actually save to the card. This is why the Write Speed is generally of more importance to seasoned photographers who wants to utilize their DSLR camera’s fast click features.

SATA

Serial ATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment or SATA) is a new standard for connecting hard drives into computer systems. As its name implies, SATA is based on serial signaling technology, unlike current IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) hard drives that use parallel signaling.

SATA has several practical advantages over the parallel signaling (also called Parallel ATA or PATA) that has been used in hard drives since the 1980s. SATA cables are more flexible, thinner, and less massive than the ribbon cables required for conventional PATA hard drives. SATA cables can be considerably longer than PATA ribbon cables, allowing the designer more latitude in the physical layout of a system. Because there are fewer conductors (only 7 in SATA as compared with 40 in PATA), crosstalk and electromagnetic interference (EMI) are less likely to be troublesome. The signal voltage is much lower as well (250 mV for SATA as compared with 5 V for PATA

Scissor Key Switch

On a keyboard equipped with scissor key switches, the key caps are attached to the keyboard via two plastic pieces that interlock in a "scissor"-like fashion, and snap to the keyboard and the key. They usually have a shorter total key travel distance (2 mm instead of 3.5 – 4 mm for standard dome-switch keyswitches). This type of keyswitch is often found on the built-in keyboards on laptops and keyboards marketed as 'low-profile'. These keyboards are generally quiet and the keys require little force to press. The Elite V2 keyboard uses scissor key switches to provide the ultimate in key feel and quiet, comfortable typing.

SDHC

(Secure Digital High Capacity) cards are memory cards developed by the SD Card Association for use in portable devices. SD cards have a maximum capacity of 2GB*; SDHC cards have capacities ranging from 4GB* to 32GB*. SDHC cards are not backwards compatible with legacy SD format host devices.

What is Class Speed Rating?
The SD Association has created and defined 4 speed classes to help you identify speed and performance capabilities/minimum requirements of SD/SDHC cards and the host products. The SD Speed Class Ratings specify a minimum sustained write speed for SDHC cards.

Class	Minimum Performance	Application
	2 MB/s	SD video recording
	4 MB/s	High-definition video (HD) recording including Full HD (from 720p to 1080p/1080i)
	6 MB/s	High-definition video (HD) recording including Full HD (from 720p to 1080p/1080i)
	10 MB/s	Full HD (1080p) video recording and consecutive recording of HD stills (high-speed data bus)
	10 MB/s	Real-time broadcasts and large HD video files (UHS bus)
	30 MB/s	4K video files (UHS bus)

*For Flash Media Devices, 1 megabyte = 1 million bytes; 1 gigabyte = 1 billion bytes. Actual usable capacity may vary. Some of the listed capacity is used for formatting and other functions, and thus is not available for data storage.

SDXC

(Secure Digital eXtended Capacity) cards are memory cards with capacities ranging from 64GB up to 2TB (2048GB), compared to the 32GB limited for SDHC cards. SDXC cards are not backwards compatible with SDHC format host devices.

SiP

(System in Package) is a number of integrated circuits enclosed in a single package. SiP reduces the complexity of the printed circuit board and overall design and manufacture.

UHS

Ultra High Speed bus can apply to both SDHC and SDXC cards allowing for interface speeds from 50MB/s to 104MB/s.