Technology glossary

📚 Technology glossary – Gigabyte and modern technology made simple

When choosing a laptop, monitor or PC components, you come across lots of terms: OLED, MiniLED, DLSS, GDDR7, PCIe 5.0, NPU, AORUS, Q-Flash Plus… In this Gigabyteshop.lt glossary we explain them simply and briefly.

🖥️ What is an IPS display?

IPS (In-Plane Switching) is one of the most popular display technologies. It is used in both monitors and laptops.

IPS displays are valued for accurate colours and wide viewing angles – the picture changes little when viewed from the side. Most Gigabyte laptops also have IPS displays: the GAMING A16, AERO X16 and AORUS ELITE series.

Who is an IPS display for?

Office work, studies, photo editing and most games. It is the most versatile choice if you don't want to pay for OLED or MiniLED.

⚫ What are OLED and QD-OLED displays?

In an OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) display each pixel lights itself, so no backlight is needed. A switched-off pixel is completely black – hence the famous OLED contrast.

QD-OLED is OLED technology with a quantum dot layer for brighter, richer colours. You will find it, for example, in the Gigabyte GO27Q24A monitor. AORUS MASTER 16 laptops also have OLED displays.

OLED or IPS?

If picture quality, films and games with dark scenes matter most – choose OLED. If you keep the same static image on screen for long periods (e.g. office applications all day) and want to save money – IPS is often the more practical choice.

💡 What is a MiniLED display?

MiniLED is an LCD display whose backlight uses a very large number of tiny LEDs divided into zones. Each zone can be brightened or dimmed separately.

As a result, MiniLED displays achieve high brightness and good contrast. The Gigabyte AORUS MASTER 18 laptop has a MiniLED display.

⚡ What is refresh rate (Hz)?

The refresh rate shows how many times per second the screen updates the image. A 60 Hz screen does this 60 times, 165 Hz – 165 times, 240 Hz – 240 times per second.

The higher the refresh rate, the smoother the motion: in games, when scrolling pages, when moving the mouse. Gigabyte laptops have 165 Hz (GAMING, AERO, AORUS ELITE) or 240 Hz (AORUS MASTER) displays.

Do you need a powerful computer?

Yes. To make full use of a 165 or 240 Hz screen in games, the graphics card must produce a similar frame rate. That's why it's worth matching the screen's refresh rate with the graphics card.

⏱️ What is response time (ms)?

Response time shows how quickly a screen pixel changes colour. It is measured in milliseconds (ms).

The shorter the response time, the less "ghosting" and blur in fast-moving images. Gaming monitors are often rated at 1 ms response time.

How is it different from refresh rate?

Refresh rate shows how many times per second a new image is displayed, while response time shows how quickly a pixel changes colour. Both parameters matter for a good gaming screen.

🌈 What are HDR and DisplayHDR?

HDR (High Dynamic Range) is a technology that allows the screen to display brighter highlights and deeper shadows at the same time. The picture becomes more lifelike.

DisplayHDR is a VESA certification showing what HDR level a screen actually achieves: DisplayHDR 400, 600, 1000, etc. OLED displays get DisplayHDR True Black certifications.

🔍 Display resolutions: Full HD, WUXGA, QHD, WQXGA, 4K

Resolution indicates how many dots (pixels) make up the image. The more pixels, the sharper the picture and the more workspace on screen.

What is 16:10?

A 16:10 screen is slightly taller than 16:9, so more lines of text or a document fit on it. Gigabyte laptops have such screens.

🔌 What are USB-C and Thunderbolt?

USB-C is a universal connector that can be plugged in either way round. Depending on the device, it can carry data, video and power.

Thunderbolt is a fast interface that uses a USB-C shaped connector. Not every USB-C port supports Thunderbolt, video output or charging – it depends on the specific model.

🎮 What is NVIDIA DLSS 4?

DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) is NVIDIA technology that uses artificial intelligence to increase the frame rate in games while maintaining good picture quality.

DLSS 4 is supported by NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 series graphics cards – both in Gigabyte graphics cardsand in Gigabyte laptops. The technology only works in games that support it.

🧠 What are VRAM and GDDR7?

VRAM is graphics card memory that stores textures and other graphics data. The higher the resolution and the higher the settings, the more VRAM you need.

GDDR7 is the latest generation of video memory, used in NVIDIA RTX 50 series cards. The previous generation, GDDR6, is still widely used, for example in AMD Radeon and some NVIDIA cards.

🚀 What is PCI Express 5.0?

PCI Express (PCIe) is the interface used to connect graphics cards and NVMe SSDs to the motherboard. Each new generation roughly doubles the bandwidth.

PCIe 5.0 is the latest widely used generation. PCIe devices are backward compatible: a PCIe 5.0 graphics card will also work in a PCIe 4.0 slot, just limited by the older interface's capabilities.

🤖 What are NPU, Copilot+ PC and Ryzen AI?

An NPU (Neural Processing Unit) is a special block inside the processor designed for AI tasks. It performs them more efficiently than a regular CPU core and saves battery.

Copilot+ PC is a Microsoft computer category that requires an NPU with at least 40 TOPS of performance. AMD Ryzen AI processors (e.g. in the Gigabyte AERO X16 series) and Intel Core Ultra processors have an NPU.

🦅 What is AORUS?

AORUS is Gigabyte's top-of-the-range gaming brand. You'll find it on laptops, graphics cards, motherboards and other components.

In Gigabyte's laptop range, the AORUS series includes the AORUS ELITE and AORUS MASTER models – with powerful HX processors and 32 GB of memory.

🎛️ What is GIGABYTE Control Center?

GIGABYTE Control Center (GCC) is a Gigabyte application for managing Gigabyte devices in one place. It is used in Gigabyte laptops and in systems with Gigabyte motherboards.

With GCC you can update drivers and software and change the settings of supported devices. The exact features depend on the device.

🌀 What is WINDFORCE cooling?

WINDFORCE is the name of Gigabyte's graphics card cooling system. You'll see it in Gigabyte graphics card names, for example in WINDFORCE OC models.

A good cooling system helps the graphics card maintain high clock speeds and run more quietly. Gigabyte also offers GAMING OC, EAGLE, AERO and AORUS series graphics cards with their own cooling solutions.

🧩 What is Q-Flash Plus?

Q-Flash Plus is a Gigabyte motherboard feature that lets you update the BIOS from a USB flash drive even without an installed processor, RAM or graphics card (if the motherboard supports this feature).

This is especially useful when a new processor requires a newer BIOS version than the one the board shipped with from the factory.

🖥️ Gigabyte monitor features: KVM, Black Equalizer, Aim Stabilizer

Many Gigabyte monitors offer extra features for gamers and people working with several computers. Whether a feature is available depends on the specific model – it is stated in its specifications.

🔋 What is 80 PLUS certification?

80 PLUS is a power supply efficiency certification. It shows what share of the energy drawn from the mains is converted into the energy the computer needs, rather than being lost as heat.

Certification levels from lowest to highest: 80 PLUS, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Titanium.

🏷️ What do OC, Ti, XT, SFF and Low Profile mean in graphics card names?

OC – factory-overclocked clock speeds. Ti (NVIDIA) and XT (AMD) – more powerful versions of the same model: the RTX 5060 Ti is more powerful than the RTX 5060, the RX 9070 XT than the RX 9070. SFF – a compact card for smaller cases, Low Profile – a low-profile card for slim office cases, ICE – Gigabyte's white-design version.

🔄 What are G-SYNC and FreeSync?

These are adaptive sync technologies that make the monitor adapt to the graphics card's frame rate. This avoids screen "tearing" and stuttering. FreeSync – AMD technology for Radeon cards, G-SYNC – NVIDIA technology for GeForce cards. Monitors labelled G-SYNC Compatiblework with NVIDIA cards.

🧩 What are a socket and a chipset?

Socket – the place on the motherboard where the processor is installed. Each processor fits only its own socket: AMD – AM4 or AM5, Intel – LGA1700 or LGA1851.

Chipset (e.g. B850, X870, B860, Z890) determines the board's capabilities: the number of ports, PCIe generation and whether the processor can be overclocked.

📏 What are ATX, Micro-ATX and Mini-ITX?

These are motherboard size standards. ATX (305 × 244 mm) – the standard size with the most ports, Micro-ATX (244 × 244 mm, letter M in the name) – more compact, Mini-ITX (170 × 170 mm, letter I in the name) – the format for the smallest computers. The case must support the chosen board format.

🚀 What are XMP and EXPO?

These are memory profiles that, once enabled in the BIOS, make the RAM run at the speed specified by the manufacturer. XMP – Intel standard, EXPO – AMD standard. Without enabling the profile, memory often runs slower than it could.

🔌 What are ATX 3.1, 12V-2x6 and a modular power supply?

ATX 3.1 – the latest power supply standard, designed for new-generation graphics cards. 12V-2x6 – a 16-pin graphics card power connector that delivers up to 600 W through a single cable. Modular power supply lets you connect only the cables you need – a tidier case and better airflow.

💾 What are NVMe, SATA and TBW?

SATA SSD – a 2.5-inch drive reading at up to ~550 MB/s. NVMe SSD – an M.2 drive connected via PCIe and several to many times faster. TBW – how many terabytes of data the manufacturer guarantees can be written to the drive over its lifetime.

🤖 What is GiMATE?

GiMATE – Gigabyte's AI agent on laptops. It is based on a large language model and lets you control the computer by voice and natural language: optimise energy use, boost performance, protect the screen from prying eyes and use generative AI tools.

🚀 Technology trends in 2026

In the computer world right now, a few trends stand out:

• 🤖 AI features are becoming standard – processors with an NPU, DLSS 4 in games.
• ⚫ OLED and MiniLED displays are spreading in both monitors and laptops.
• ⚡ High refresh rate displays (165–240 Hz and more) are becoming the standard for gaming.
• 🚀 New-generation interfaces – PCIe 5.0 and GDDR7 – increase component bandwidth.