368 articles
ATX
ATX, or Advanced Technology Extended, is an Intel specification defining the dimensions, mounting holes, rear I/O, and power connectors of the standard desktop PC, including microATX and Mini-ITX derivatives.
Audio and video interfaces and connectors
Audio and video interfaces and connectors are the ports, plugs, cables, and signaling standards, from VGA and RCA to HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB-C, that carry sound and picture between devices.
Backplane
A backplane is a circuit board or wiring structure with a shared bus and connectors into which a computer's separate circuit boards plug to communicate and receive power.
Banana Pi
Banana Pi is a family of open-source single-board computers launched in April 2014 as a faster Raspberry Pi-compatible board, now made by Chinese manufacturer SINOVOIP.
Barcode reader
A barcode reader, or barcode scanner, is an input device that shines light on a barcode, decodes the reflected signal, and transmits the data to a host computer.
Belkin
Belkin, formally Belkin International, is an American consumer electronics accessories company founded by Chet Pipkin in 1983, known for chargers and cables and owned by Foxconn since 2018.
BenQ
BenQ Corporation, formerly Acer Communication & Multimedia, is a Taiwanese electronics company in Taipei, launched in 2001 and known for LCD monitors, projectors, and gaming displays.
BIOS
The BIOS, or Basic Input/Output System, is the firmware of a personal computer that initializes the hardware at power-on and then loads the operating system.
Biostar Microtech
Biostar Microtech (映泰) is a Taiwanese computer hardware manufacturer founded in 1986, best known for its BIOSTAR-brand motherboards, and also makes graphics cards, SSDs, and industrial PCs.
Blade server
A blade server, also called a computing blade, is a stripped-down server module that slides into a shared chassis, which supplies power, cooling, networking, and management for many blades.
British and American keyboards
British and American keyboards, or US and UK keyboards, are the two main English-language layouts: the UK layout follows the ISO standard with 105 keys and £ on Shift+3, the US follows ANSI with 104.
Buck converter
The buck converter, or step-down converter, is a DC-DC converter that reduces a higher DC voltage to a lower one, efficiently and with little power lost as heat.
Bus (computing)
A bus in computing, also called a computer bus, is a shared communication pathway that transfers data between components, carrying address, data, and control signals.
Bus mastering
Bus mastering is a computer bus capability in which a peripheral device, rather than the CPU, takes control of the bus and initiates data transfers directly, reducing CPU workload.
Calculator
A calculator, or electronic calculating machine, is a small electronic device with a keypad, display, and dedicated processor for arithmetic, persisting in exams where phones are banned.
Chad (paper)
Chad, also known as paper chad, is the small pieces of paper removed when holes are punched in punched cards, paper tape, or ballot cards.
Charles Liang (梁见后)
Charles Liang Chien-Hou (梁见后) is a Taiwanese-American electrical engineer who founded server maker Supermicro in San Jose in 1993, building it from motherboards into AI and data-center systems.
Chipset
A chipset is the support silicon on a motherboard that manages input/output and communication between the processor and the rest of the system, once split into north bridge and south bridge chips.
Chorded keyboard
A chorded keyboard, also called a chording keyboard or keyset, is an input device on which characters are entered by pressing several keys together, used in stenotype machines and wearable computing.
CLIÉ
CLIÉ, also called Sony Clié (クリエ), was a line of Palm OS personal digital assistants sold by Sony from 2000 to 2005, known for multimedia features like built-in cameras and high-resolution screens.
COM Express
COM Express is a computer-on-module standard ratified by PICMG in 2005, where a module carrying CPU, memory, and BIOS plugs into a custom carrier board.
Command key
The Command key (⌘), also known as the Apple key, is a modifier key on Apple keyboards, held with another key to invoke shortcuts like Command-C for copy.
Commodore International
Commodore International, also Commodore Electronics, was an electronics company founded by Jack Tramiel, best known for the Commodore 64 and Amiga computers; it liquidated in 1994.
CompactPCI
CompactPCI (cPCI) is an industrial computer standard, ratified by PICMG in 1995, that places the PCI bus on rugged Eurocard mechanics for industrial, telecom, and defense systems.
Compaq
Compaq Computer Corporation, founded in 1982, was an American PC manufacturer famous for producing early IBM compatible systems and becoming the world's largest PC maker before 2002.
Compose key
The compose key, known in X11 as Multi key, is a keyboard key that starts short keystroke sequences producing characters not on the key caps, such as é or @.
Compute Express Link
Compute Express Link (CXL) is an open interconnect standard, developed by the CXL Consortium and built on PCIe, that lets processors attach accelerators and memory coherently.
Computer case
A computer case, also called a system unit or chassis, is the enclosure that houses and protects a computer's main components, including the motherboard and power supply.
Computer case screws
Computer case screws are the fasteners securing a PC's components, panels, and drives to the chassis, with #6-32 UNC for panels, drives, and power supplies and metric M3 for motherboards.
Computer cooling
Computer cooling is the hardware that moves waste heat from computer chips to the surrounding environment, keeping dies below their 85–125 °C junction limits, spanning heatsinks to immersion cooling.