Tech Terms Without Jargon

Tech writing leans on shorthand. This glossary collects the terms that turn up most often in our articles and explains each one in a sentence or two, with a pointer to where it matters. If a word you met on the site is missing, the contact page is the place to suggest it.

Television and streaming

• IPTV: television delivered over an internet connection instead of an aerial, satellite dish or cable network. Our explainer on how internet-based TV works goes into detail.
• Bitrate: the amount of data a stream uses each second. Higher usually means a cleaner picture and a heavier load on your connection.
• Codec: the method used to squeeze video into a smaller size for sending and unpack it again for playback.
• Buffering: the pause while a player collects enough data to keep playing smoothly.
• Latency: the delay between something happening and it appearing on your screen.
• EPG: an electronic programme guide, the on-screen schedule of what is on each channel.

Games, graphics and headsets

• Frame rate: how many new images a game draws per second. Steadier is generally more comfortable than higher but uneven.
• Ray tracing: drawing light by simulating the paths of rays through a scene; see our explainer.
• Upscaling: rendering fewer pixels and rebuilding a sharper image for the display.
• Thermal throttling: a processor deliberately slowing itself down to avoid overheating.
• Standalone headset: a virtual reality headset with its own processor and battery, needing no separate computer.
• Snap turning: a VR comfort option that rotates your view in steps rather than a smooth spin.

Computers and networks

• VPN: a virtual private network, which routes your traffic through an encrypted tunnel to another server.
• Router: the box that shares your internet connection between devices at home.
• Markdown: a plain-text way of marking headings and lists that converts neatly into formatted documents.
• Driver: software that lets the operating system talk to a piece of hardware, such as a graphics card.

AI, search and the web

• Retrieval-augmented generation: an AI system that looks up relevant documents before writing an answer.
• Backlink: a link from one website to another, which search engines treat as one of many signals.
• Orphan page: a page on a website that no other page links to, making it hard for visitors and search engines to find.
• Algorithm update: a change to how a search engine ranks pages.

Cars and home

• Tyre pressure: the air pressure inside a tyre, set by the vehicle maker and printed in the handbook or door frame.
• Smart tariff: an energy price plan that changes cost by time of day, often paired with a smart meter.
• Convection: cooking with a fan that moves hot air around the food.

Each entry is brief by design. For anything that affects safety, the manual for your own device or vehicle always has the final word.