Electronics Specs Explained

Soundbar numbers count channels: the first is ear-level speakers, the second the subwoofer, and a third, as in 5.1.2, the height channels for Dolby Atmos.

A tower server stands alone like a desktop and suits an office without a server room; a rack server mounts in a 19-inch rack and suits growing server rooms.

A belt drive turntable turns the platter with a belt from an offset motor, a direct drive puts the motor under it, and a phono preamp boosts the signal.

The plug shape (USB-A or USB-C) and the speed (USB 2.0 up to USB 80Gbps) are separate things, so check both, plus the wattage a USB-C cable is rated for.

A USB microphone plugs straight into a computer, while an XLR microphone needs an audio interface or mixer in return for more room to upgrade.

Use a charger with at least the wattage your device maker recommends; USB-C Power Delivery now reaches 240 watts, and GaN is a smaller build of the same idea.

A standalone VR headset has its own processor, storage and battery, while a PC VR headset uses a Windows PC and its graphics card; some do both.

A 1080p webcam matches the top call quality in Zoom's bandwidth guide; 4K helps when you crop, zoom or record, and 60 fps makes motion smoother than 30 fps.

In 8x42, the 8 is the magnification and the 42 is each front lens width in millimeters; 42 divided by 8 gives the exit pupil, a guide to dim-light brightness.

ATX, Micro ATX and Mini ITX are standard board sizes that set which cases fit and how many slots you get; ATX is the most common size we list.

Mirrorless cameras swap the DSLR's mirror and optical viewfinder for a live electronic view; a megapixel is one million pixels, and 7 MP covers an 8x10 print.

An air cooler moves heat through metal fins and a fan, an all-in-one (AIO) liquid cooler pumps coolant to a radiator, and both are sized to the CPU's power.

The Cat number names a cable's performance grade; Cat5e handles gigabit, Cat6a carries 10 Gbps over a full 100 meter run, and Cat6 only on short runs.

Home consoles plug into a TV, handhelds carry their own screen and hybrids do both; a digital edition skips the disc drive, and a PS5 draws 200 to 220 watts.

VRAM is the memory on a graphics card that holds textures and other image data; Corsair suggests at least 8GB for 1080p gaming, 12GB for 1440p and 16GB for 4K.

Headphones differ by fit (earbuds, on-ear, over-ear), by ear cup (open or closed back) and by whether active noise cancelling (ANC) cancels outside sound.

Pick the case style first (tower, compact or all-in-one), then match CPU, RAM, storage and graphics to your heaviest task; 16GB is our most common RAM size.

In an Intel laptop chip, the number after Core sets the performance tier and the end letter the power class; U means power efficient, H highest performance.

A mini PC is a small desktop that saves space and power; a tower gives more room for graphics cards and upgrades, which matters most for gaming.

Pick monitor size and resolution together: a 27-inch 1440p screen packs about 109 pixels per inch against 82 for 27-inch 1080p, so it looks sharper.

DPI sets how far the cursor moves per inch of mouse travel; at 800 DPI one inch moves it about 800 pixels, and most gamers play at 400 to 3,600.

A NAS is a small always-on computer that shares its drives over your network; the number of bays sets your space and how many drive failures it survives.

An unmanaged switch just adds wired ports, a managed switch adds settings and monitoring, and a PoE switch also powers cameras and access points.

An OLED TV lights each pixel on its own for perfect black, while QLED and LED TVs are LCDs lit by a backlight; QLED adds a quantum dot layer for purer color.