- boost converter
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A boost converter is a switching power circuit that raises a lower input voltage to a higher output voltage. It is used when a device needs more voltage than its power source provides, for example running a 5 V sensor from a 3.3 V supply.
- Colour depth
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Colour depth describes how many different colours a display can show. A 65K-colour display can show about 65,000 colours, which is useful for icons, graphs, and simple full-colour interfaces but is less detailed than modern phone or computer screens.
- HMI
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HMI stands for Human-Machine Interface, meaning the screen, buttons or controls a person uses to interact with a device. Describing something as suited to HMI use suggests it is intended for user-facing applications such as control panels, dashboards or instrument displays.
- LED
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A light-emitting diode (LED) is a small electronic component that emits light when current flows through it in the correct direction. Because it only conducts one way, its polarity matters, and a through-hole LED must be soldered the correct way around to light up.
- RAM
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RAM (random-access memory) is fast, temporary memory a device uses for working data while it is running; in its common volatile form, its contents are lost when power is removed. Some devices offer a mode that applies settings to RAM only, which is handy for testing changes temporarily because they are not stored permanently and disappear at power-off.
- RGB
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Short for red, green and blue, the three primary colours of light that are mixed in varying amounts to make a wide range of colours. In electronics RGB can refer to an LED or pixel that blends these three colours, or to a colour signal or interface that carries separate red, green and blue channels.
- SPI
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A fast serial communication bus often used for displays, memory cards, and sensors. It matters because SPI devices need specific pins for clock and data, plus a separate chip-select line for each device.
- TFT
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A thin-film transistor display is a common type of colour LCD used for graphics screens. Knowing a product is for TFTs helps you check that the driver board matches the display’s connector, resolution, backlight, and signalling method.
