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iy6j0r
Why does phone with 18w charger not use all 18w while charging?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6avqhr" ], "text": [ "It depends on how the battery is constructed. With some investment you can build batteries that can be charged very fast without problems. But as most people don't use a full battery charge in a day and then connect their phone to the charger over night that is usually ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
iy7h83
Why is it necessary to leave the door of the oven open when using the grill ?
I never understood this, surely the oven is designed for high temps so why the need to leave the door open?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6b2moi", "g6azzpv", "g6bjn8q", "g6bbcnd" ], "text": [ "You only leave it a little open (~5cm - the door will stay in position) , this is to stop the oven from reaching temp and cycling off the element. This means you get a continuous hot heat on whatever you're grilling. If you'r...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
iy8bsz
Why some streaming services restrict which content you can access by country?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6b3ou8" ], "text": [ "I’m pretty certain this just falls down to licensing. Perhaps the content is licensed to one provider n one country, and so other providers can’t stream that content in that country, but may be able to stream it in others." ], "score": [ 8 ], "text_urls": [ ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
iyby0y
How does an actual strip of celluloid film get digitized to be released on, for example, Netflix?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6bqbjx" ], "text": [ "1) Place frame between light and photosensor. 2) Turn on light. 3) Record data from photo sensor. 4) Repeat steps 1-3 until you run out of frames." ], "score": [ 8 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
iyd5m9
how do those phone chargers with magnets work without damaging the phone?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6c27hg", "g6c333b", "g6bxojm", "g6c56qy" ], "text": [ "Magnets don't wreck electronics like you may have been lead to believe. Older electronics had some components sensitive to magnets, like their magnetic tape data storage, and magnets made wonky things happen to the monitor, b...
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[ "url" ]
iydug3
why is necessary to keep water running when running disposal?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6c6cyd", "g6c0t21", "g6c0mt3", "g6cpbrb" ], "text": [ "To cool and lubricate the grinder, and to wash off the screen inside. A garbage disposal basically grinds stuff up until it can pass through a sieve so anything that hinders that process will wear the system.", "Burns up ...
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iyeoky
How do the "I had my computer watch x number of hours of ...... and here's the script it wrote" work?
Is it some sort of program that was written? How does it process those words and scenes sensibly and then reproduce them semi coherently? Is this some inside joke that I missed?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6c5yf7", "g6c8bqd" ], "text": [ "The majority of the \"I had my computer watch X hours of Y and here's what it wrote\" are parodies written by actual humans. There was a \"I had a computer read Harry Potter and try and generate a new story based on that\" effort a few years ago, which wa...
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iyfkqd
Nvidia's RT and Tensor Cores.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6cigsa", "g6ddxao" ], "text": [ "[Matrices]( URL_0 ) are a mathematical tool that can be used for a bunch of stuff. They are everywhere in machine learning/AI, and quite common in 3D rendering (most transforms in 3D space can be reprensented using a 4x4 matrix). FP 16 and FP 32 are types...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
iyfvzx
Why is the PS5 digital $100 cheaper than the PS5 w/ disc drive? Surely a disc drive doesn't cost $100 to produce, right?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6cd6f9", "g6cdabl", "g6ce2no", "g6cdvih" ], "text": [ "A lot of it is that digital sales mean way more money for Sony. If you buy a physical disk for $60, some of that money has to go to the retailer, some has to go to the company that physically makes the disks. That's less over...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
iynz8y
why are the Pirate Bay and other torrent sites able to still exist?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6dmye3", "g6dnrx8", "g6dnpvv", "g6dnekm" ], "text": [ "International law is complicated and the sites are careful to not break local laws - the users share the data, not the site.", "Sites like the ThePirateBay are based in countries other than the US so your have to cross in...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
iyuyby
How exactly do people who upload pirated content (suppose from Netflix) benefit from it?
I'm pretty much amazed at how prevelant piracy is and I'm shocked to see at how lengths people will go to upload pirated content. Almost every show/movie is uploaded on some torrent site as soon as within a week of release. This just made me wonder whether people who upload such content earn anything or have any benefi...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6etp98", "g6euzv0", "g6etwjo", "g6fgm7l" ], "text": [ "Some do it simply because they want to share the stuff. There is a whole political movement that disagrees with the copyright altogether. Some do it for fame. Game cracking is basically a race between different competing team...
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[ "url" ]
iyyte2
What makes an USB so versatile?
I know that inside a data USB there are 4 wires but I don't understand how those 4 wires allow it to do su much, from file transfer to 7.1 audio and much more
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6fjxvx" ], "text": [ "Electronics is all about using voltage/current and time to generate on/off signals (0s and 1s). How that stream of data is interpreted is completely up to the application that is using it. So you may plug a USB into your computer to transfer a file, it's going to send e...
[ "url" ]
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iz0fjf
Why did old GPUs not need as big heatsinks?
If you look at pictures of pretty old GPUs you will see that they barely had any cooling onboard. Now the best GPUs all have massive coolers and multiple fans. What made the power consumption go up so much? (Even old CPUs like a Pentium needed a big heatsink, why not the first GPUs as well?)
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6fukn3", "g6fwwgf", "g6fuxfe" ], "text": [ "They didn't need to reject as much heat. Modern microprocessors cram an incredible amount of transistors into a small space, where the path of individual electrons is critical to their function. These structures generate a lot of heat, as t...
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iz0qes
How were we able to broadcast video through the air at reasonable quality for years before we were able to stream video at similar quality via internet?
I'm in my 40s so remember dialup and waiting for videos to load. Always baffled me we could receive multiple TV channels through an aerial instantly but a direct wired connection had to buffer?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6fvnox" ], "text": [ "Broadcast video is a single signal that goes to everyone. The internet involves individual communication from one computer to another. An analogy is that broadcasting is like giving a speech to a room with 100 people in it, while the internet is like having 100 simultan...
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[ "url" ]
iz16i1
What can someone do with your IP address? How does it work?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6fyhg5", "g6g2div", "g6fybyf" ], "text": [ "The most common and easiest thing they can get is information about your physical location (city, state, ZIP code), which they can use in some cases to get even more information about you, especially if you're not careful about protecting y...
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izag6x
A current cellular company's commercial is claiming they have 'the fastest 5G in the world'. Isn't that like saying my car travels 55mph faster than anyone else's car does? How does the cellular network speed measurement system work?
Edit: Wow, thanks for the information everyone! It seems like this question uncovered a lot of industry trickery. So what questions should I be asking the next time I buy a cell phone and they try to sell me on their shiny 5G, and what are acceptable answers? I live in upstate NY, outside of any major cities, if that m...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6hpuvp", "g6hz98o" ], "text": [ "5g is a type of connection, not necessarily a speed. So saying \"we have the fastest 5g\" like saying \"I have the fastest *sports car*.\" Not all 5g speeds will be the same. I believe some company was testing its 5g and it was slower than current cellula...
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izazoq
Why is Nvidia buying ARM? Why is ARM so important, and why aren't other companies interested?
Like the title, I've heard a lot about Nvidia's purchase of ARM. Why is ARM so important and what does it do? Why aren't other, larger companies trying to buy ARM?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6hu2es", "g6hua1h", "g6i5isx", "g6i2uqs" ], "text": [ "ARM licenses the intellectual property for a line of small, low power microprocessor cores. They are used in most cell phones and tablets today. They are also starting to be used in server farms, because heat is a big deal in...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
izctnj
How do puzzle designers create puzzles without making them impossible?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6i9hjx" ], "text": [ "Very, very carefully. It’s much easier to design a puzzle as someone with experience, than it would be to solve a puzzle you are unfamiliar with, at least depending on how you want to look at it. Sure, there’s a LOT of time that would go into something like that, but it...
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[ "url" ]
ize7tj
How does Netflix's Night on Earth shoot in lowlight color, and why do some of the scenes seem so computer generated?
Are these just hyper-sensitive cameras, or is there a lot of post-processing. Also, why do some of the scenes (particularly first episode cheetahs) feature such fluid, unnatural motion?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6ieleo" ], "text": [ "I haven't seen the show but I looked it up because I'm somewhat of a video nerd and now I'm interested. Here's an article I found on it. They don't go into too much details about what cameras or lenses but it's pretty detailed. [ARS link]( URL_0 )" ], "score": [ ...
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[ "url" ]
izjx28
why do we have to install a specific Android OS for a specific phone when we can install Windows or Linux on any machine(x86) and expect it to work without too much problems?
Like, If want to install a custom rom(LineageOS) for my Galaxy s9, I have to use a build specifically built for the s9. But when I go to install Windows10 or a Linux distro on my laptop, I can use one version of to install on any x86 machine. Why do we need to make specific versions of android operating systems per and...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6jcmg0", "g6jejp1", "g6kf7wg", "g6jhxw3", "g6kggxj" ], "text": [ "In comparison to phones, computers are very standardized in terms of their software architecture. Computers also enjoy an advantage in that an OS manufacturer (like Microsoft) can include a whole host of driver...
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[ "url" ]
izl7a5
How does Memtest survive RAM errors?
My computer has been crashing a lot, and I suspect hardware, so I'm running Memtest86+ right now to see if it's RAM. But since RAM is the swap space that a computer uses for running programs, where does Memtest 'live'? How does it test the memory when it has to use that same memory to store the test results? If there's...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6jj8i7", "g6jvapo", "g6k418g" ], "text": [ "Even when RAM is having issues, there are usually some good sectors that can be used to reliably run a program. The application itself is quite small, so you don't need a lot of good, useable space to run it. From there, it'll be able to te...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
iztdv0
In programming, what are Compliers, Interpreters, Assemblers, and Linkers?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6kwi8m", "g6ky8c2" ], "text": [ "Computer codes are written in \"people\" language. If I'm writing a code in Python and I want it to display \"Hello World,\" I write print('Hello World') That means something to me and it means something to you, but it doesn't mean a thing to a computer. ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
iztk8z
Why are films shot in 24 FPS/ 23.97 fps, but video games are in 60 Frames-Per Second.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6kxmti" ], "text": [ "Films were originally shot at 24 frames per second because it was a good balance of cost and fluidity. 24 still looks fine to the human eye, but it is a lot cheaper, especially in the days where every frame was precious storage space. Even today, with special effects an...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
izzy9f
Why do most devices get fixed more than half the times by simply switching it off and on?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6mhnqb", "g6mw29q" ], "text": [ "Sometimes all a device needs is to have all of it's RAM reset to 0. This is easiest to get from just restarting, since that *usually* clears the on-board memory and gives it a fresh start from a cleared state. It's the equivalent of giving your computer a...
[ "url" ]
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j00uiu
If in the near future Sony decided to stop providing the Playstation Network service for PS3 and PS4, what would happen to the digital video games that we have purchased?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6mvr4s", "g6mxqe5", "g6mqfsy" ], "text": [ "Gone. Reduced to atoms. But seriously that’s the downside of digital games. If they are gone they are gone forever. You don’t own the game you just kind of lease it forever.", "You don't purchase them, you license the copyright. It's di...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j02o7h
how do robot amputee parts connect and listen to the brain?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6nbuzl", "g6nbdvf", "g6nn23c", "g6nr4gx" ], "text": [ "They have electrodes connected to the muscles in the stump. They sense the tiniest movements, and are programmed to move the hand in response to specific movements.", "Usually they connect to muscles into the arm or hand ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j0382o
Why do loading screens always stop at 99%
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6not6c", "g6ninmy", "g6nyz6b", "g6o6fss", "g6nkcz9" ], "text": [ "To simply the complexities involved behind the scenes. Imagine a roadtrip between point A and B in a car where the kid in the back keeps asking \"Are we there yet?\". The best answer any driver could possibly d...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j0a29a
Why can app games use false advertising to show an entirely different kind of gameplay than actually offered? (Personally, I'd rather play the falsely advertised game every time.)
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6pbruu", "g6qic4h", "g6pilam", "g6r7qd8", "g6pcrvl", "g6r9r2e", "g6sid6c", "g6qozq1", "g6reld8", "g6qmga7", "g6pbtc5", "g6r8vfl", "g6rbcio", "g6ro6ky", "g6rjrk2", "g6rasq6", "g6rauqh", "g6qgq38", "g6rdw9m", "g6snljb", "g...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j0dq0i
should UDP be preferred over TCP for increasing bandwidth utilization?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6q6kqu", "g6qg8xe" ], "text": [ "The choice depends on your application. Most traffic is TCP because it makes sure all packets have been received. Like when you read someone the Wifi code, and they'll tell you how much of it they were able to type in so you can read the rest of it to the...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j0gm8l
Why do PCs take so long to start up?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6qyz3f" ], "text": [ "Not sure about your computer, but mine can go from cold off to login/desktop in about 20 or 30 seconds. A big factor here is what hard drive you've got - a solid state hard drive is going to boot up a lot faster than a 7200 RPM magnetic hard drive; just in terms of how ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j0hx9l
How does Bluetooth work?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6rtwf4" ], "text": [ "Each Bluetooth device has a little radio in it. The Bluetooth radios can talk to each other if they are on the same channel. It's kinda like setting the TV to the right channel so you can watch a particular show. TVs stay in the same channel until someone changes the ch...
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[ "url" ]
j0j7s5
Why when you've gotten your password wrong 3 times and you're asked to make a new one, no programs will allow you to use the same password you originally had?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6rrb87" ], "text": [ "It’s a common security “best practice” to maintain password history and disallow reuse of passwords. The idea being that requiring a different password each time the password is reset makes it less likely that your account can be compromised." ], "score": [ 6 ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j0juct
How is it that some really famous illegal streaming sites don’t get shut down or sued?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6rzfdu", "g6rxpwa", "g6sij9q", "g6rxx2j" ], "text": [ "Damn those sites! Which sites are you talking about though? What are the best illegal streaming sites, specifically? Feel free to DM me.", "Many of them are based in other countries where the laws about pirating media are...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j0kjgg
What makes a computer go to sleep when you shut the lid?
Like the question says, what makes a computer sleep when you shut the lid? Is it sensing a lack of light somehow which tells it to sleep or something? How does it tell when the lid is shut vs open just a bit?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6s6dnh", "g6s61tb", "g6s65sf", "g6seu1g" ], "text": [ "There's a sensor in the body of the laptop that senses the lid is closed. Exactly what and how it works depends on the design. One example for Dell and HP is a sensor on the board that detects the metal of the lid, or a tiny ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j0r265
Why do some phone charging cables are lower quality than others?
What I don't understand is what material makes them charge slower than others Please and thank you
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6uiu0c" ], "text": [ "Most of the time is is simply thinner electrical conductors. A thinner wire has higher resistance so the voltage will drop over it at higher current. The resistance is also proportional to the cable length so a cable diameter that work fine on a short cable might not wo...
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[ "url" ]
j0t5pn
How does a torrent file work?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6v0rh4", "g6uw05p" ], "text": [ "A torrent is like a puzzle. It tells you where you can find the pieces, and like a puzzle tells you what it should look like when it's completed. Your computer reaches out to a tracker and says what part of the puzzle you still need. Anyone who already ha...
[ "url" ]
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j0vooz
why there are no photorealistic drawings/paintings from before the last couple of centuries?
Why did the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, romans and all the smaller cultures from throughout history not leave behind any good drawings? I know they have their unique art styles but it can’t be that *nobody* attempted it.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6vd9b6", "g6vdg31", "g6viosu", "g6wy1pb", "g6ve8xl" ], "text": [ "There ***were*** photorealistic paintings and drawings in ancient times. Have a look at the [Fayyum portraits]( URL_0 ). These date to the first century BC - 2000 years ago and yet look like they could have bee...
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j0z4zh
Why does rendering a 4k video take longer than filming a 4k video?
So I made a video today using 4k footage I filmed on my phone. I then edited it in Adobe Rush, on my phone. Why can't my phone use the same processing power it uses to turn the data it's getting from my camera to make the footage, to just render the video? 1m of 4k footage takes 1 minute to make... 1m of 4k video takes...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6w2sl1", "g6wl5z1" ], "text": [ "Because capture and rendering are handled by two separate parts of your phone. Typically capture is handled by a dedicated cmos sensor, while rendering is handled by your central processor, which also does a lot of other stuff and is not optimized for vid...
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j0zk1x
Why do devices need to restart after software updates and is it the same for big servers?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6w5y8l" ], "text": [ "Some of the code is loaded in memory and in use, you cant overwrite the code while in memory, that would crash and cause writes on different areas and maybe damaging user’s data. Imagine you put your pants backward, you need to take out both legs prior being able to swi...
[ "url" ]
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j12xex
How is it possible to remove a spleen using keyhole surgery, presumably without an incision large enough for the spleen to pass through whole?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6ws71e", "g6wyedf", "g6xdvur" ], "text": [ "Because you suck the spleen through the tube. You dont care if you remove the spleen intact or not so you just suck it up all mushed through the tube.", "Is it weird that I don't necessarily want that image out of my head? It's kind of ...
[ "url" ]
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j150zv
Could the internet in the entire world just shut off all at once, like in that episode of South Park?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6x9toj", "g6x6p9l" ], "text": [ "In a word, no. The internet is composed of [multiple independently owned networks]( URL_0 ). It would take a cosmic event to shut *all* of them down at once.", "Very nearly impossible. The internet's original design, with 'distributed control', came f...
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j155x0
How do walkthrough store security things work?
You know the things, the barrier things you walk through going in and out of the store. How the heck do they work??? I understand them picking up on electronic security tags but what about most items that just have barcodes? This has confused me since childhood and I'd love an answer. Do they even work on barcoded item...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6x7liu" ], "text": [ "It's all based around magnets. The product being protected has to be tagged. Sometimes it's really obvious, like the plastic dangly thing on a nice sweater. Sometimes it's a little more hidden, like a little strip hidden between the plastic of a case behind the CD. They...
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[ "url" ]
j15vx7
Where does the bulk of the power we use come from? If not Coal, Solar, or Nuclear, then where do we get most of our power?
I've heard that Coal/Steam power is more uncommon nowadays, and Solar/Nuclear power has not yet become the norm. If not from these two sides of the spectrum, then where do we get the bulk of our power from?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6xdhlp", "g6xbvdw", "g6xbp6k", "g6xc0ij" ], "text": [ "Here's a great map of the United States to get an idea of what powers each region: URL_0", "It depends on where you live and is gradually shifting every year from coal/natural gas to some form of renewable. According to U...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j16sb0
What is RTX? How does it change the lighting in a game? Please be as detailed as possible?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6xk4lm", "g6xh216" ], "text": [ "Imagine an oil painting of a dark room containing only an armchair, and beside it, a lamp. Everything in the picture is just paint, so the lamp is painted bright white to make it look like light, and the chair is painted with dark paint for the shadowed p...
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j170db
How does my TV remote work even though it's pointed the opposite way (not towards the TV)?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6xhtee", "g6xinhr", "g6xhvds" ], "text": [ "Your remote operates via a directional infrared signal. The infrared light combined with a sensitive receiver can allow the infrared light to bounce off of the walls and objects behind you and still hit the television. If there are mirrors ...
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[ "url" ]
j17586
Why do we say that humans see 24 images per second (movies) but games bag about 60 FPS? How can we even see a difference?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6xj9ew", "g6xjd3a", "g6xj0yd" ], "text": [ "Simply because \"humans see only 24 frames per second\" is patently bullshit. The human eye can process information fast enough that it can even get a benefit from 240Hz monitors. The 24FPS thing is a historical remnant of times when techno...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j18cgh
What is HTTP/3, and how different will it be from HTTP/2?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6yk66j", "g6xpz2n" ], "text": [ "In practical terms? Things get faster. You get up to the counter at the local burger join. If it's a 1.0 place this happens: * You: Can I get a burger, fries, and a milkshake? * Them: Whoa, slow down there, I only do one thing at once. * Y: Can I have a b...
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[ "url" ]
j18n4x
With regards to video games, what is the advantage of running a resolution mode over performance mode?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6xunsa" ], "text": [ "You’re pretty much right, there is no direct connection between the resolution of a game and how good it looks. You can run the original Crysis at 8k if you want, it probably won’t look as good as a modern game running at 1080p. All the resolution does is describe how m...
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j18slf
Why is it that 4G plans have a data limit, yet WiFi is usually unlimited? Especially when the speed can be so similar?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6xqzwy", "g6xqy5t", "g6y1nqf" ], "text": [ "Because the cell towers can only handle so much data traffic, depending on the number of users in the area which is why they need to throttle people's speed sometimes. Home internet is routed through cable or fiber optics, and can handle mu...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j19zaa
How do computers keep track of time, even when they're plugged off, and disconnected from the internet?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6xwbvl", "g6xwjvx", "g6xwj1p" ], "text": [ "Many computers will have a small button-cell battery mounted somewhere that provides a small amount electricity solely for maintaining a clock", "Basically they have an internal clock that is on the CMOS (small memory chip) of the mothe...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j1aikn
What source code does and why it is so bad if it gets leaked?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6xzgji", "g6xzik4", "g6yrzqt", "g6xzjd2", "g6xznxf" ], "text": [ "Source code is the text of the program that is written by a human (usually) and human readable. It's not necessary bad (a lot of software is open source, so anyone can read and download the source code) but for...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j1d2aq
How are nano-circuits actually connected to any kind of meaningful logic?
I understand how transistors work, and how logic gates create the actual (at least basic) processor logic, and I understand the basic idea of creating incredibly small transistors. But I can't seem to find anything online that explains how those billions of a few nanometer wide transistors are connected to create those...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6ye22a", "g6ygfig" ], "text": [ "Transistors are connected in the same way that they're created. Manufacturers use a technique known as \"photolithography\", which is basically developing a photograph of the desired circuit layout, except instead of the photograph being developed onto a ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j1d94z
Why did old dial up internet make that screeching sound while connecting?
[dial up screeching sound]( URL_0 )
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6yfshd", "g6yf0e5", "g6yf6lo", "g6zow7o" ], "text": [ "Dial-up connections send/receive data as sounds over the phone line. The \"screeching sound\" you're referring to is the handshake, where both modems were negotiating how to communicate with each other. That part was purposef...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j1esqd
What made old radio sound the way it did?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6ypulz" ], "text": [ "There were of course several reasons why old radio technology degraded the sound. But maybe the most important reason was that the old AM radio bands are limited to 3kHz bandwidth. So high frequency sounds in music can not be transferred over AM radio. This makes the mu...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j1f3np
why do companies take so long to push out 'dark mode' updates to their websites or apps?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6yrs7t", "g6yurrz", "g6znrif" ], "text": [ "Same reason it can take a while to make a web site in the first place. They want it to look good, and it has to go through testing. You gotta make sure there's no obviously place where text is forced to be printed in black, and perhaps most...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j1k5vj
How can something so small ( considering the effect ) like a nuclear bomb make so much damage ?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6zpz5i", "g6zrb6w", "g6zr3vz" ], "text": [ "Because there is a lot and i mean a lot of energy stored in the bonds between particles inside an atom", "It goes back to the age old Einstein equation E=MC^2. What that means is that energy is proportional to mass. C is a physics const...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j1kdmz
So if only thing that can cut through diamonds is a diamond saw. How was the first diamond saw made if there was no diamond saw to saw through a diamond to make the first diamond saw?
Wow that was a lot of "diamond saws" in one sentence...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6zqza0", "g6zrh2l" ], "text": [ "Diamonds are very difficult to cut but can be easily pulverized. You can crush a diamond with a hammer without trying that hard. Diamond saws are just saws with a fine grit of diamond dust on the edge to grind through material.", "You can cut diamonds...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j1kez0
How do companies collect data on their users and what happens to this data?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6zrmim" ], "text": [ "Companies (not just tech companies) collect data on everything you do. Anything they can possibly collect, they collect. Who you are, what you do, and every possible detail about you. The more, the better. What do they do with that information? For the most part compani...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j1klr7
if water doesn't conduct electricity then how does it break electronics, in detail? And why are they called "shorts"?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g6zsjha", "g6zsplj", "g6ztdh0", "g6zuzl3" ], "text": [ "Water is often full of impurities (salts, minerals) that make it better at conducting electricity. Distilled water should be fine on electronics, but the stuff from your tap is a problem.", "It's called a short because it...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j1pbk0
why do some remote controls that use AA or AAA batteries have a little ribbon in them that gets in the way? What is this for?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g70kb8p", "g70kakm", "g70kes3", "g710f4m" ], "text": [ "It's to help remove the batteries because they're so tight. You thread it under the batteries so you can pull the ribbon to pop them out.", "You put the batteries on top of the ribbon. Then when you change the batteries y...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j1raio
How is a mirror made and what is it made of?
I don’t get it.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g710pmv" ], "text": [ "The reflective part of a mirror is an extremely thin layer of a shiny metal, usually either silver or aluminum. Because the layer is so thin it needs to attached to something stronger so it doesn't get scratched or rubbed away when the mirror is handled. Glass is used b...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j1svwc
how does a server work and what’s it purpose?
You know the big things corporations have that people in movies and game hack into to?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g716nwq", "g718bl1" ], "text": [ "A server is essentially just a big, fast computer, and its purpose is to serve. To serve what, you might ask; and the answer is, whatever the corporation wants it to serve. It could be an email server, or a web server, or a database server, or anything, r...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j1wpmg
why is hold music usually a much lower quality than having a phone conversation?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g71p79a" ], "text": [ "[Relevant Tom Scott video]( URL_0 ). In short, phone calls are compressed to allow sending more data and/or multiple calls on the same wire. This compression is optimized for human speech, but not for music. In particular, it commonly discards frequencies that are outsi...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j1xzdp
Why does resetting a router make it magically faster?
What causes it to slow down and seem buggy? And what happens when you reset or turn everything off and back on to make it work better?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g71volx", "g72cynp", "g71vzxv", "g71whpn" ], "text": [ "Software crashes and bugs occur in any reasonably complex program. While good programming will allow you to minimize disruption to the program, the cumulative effect of those bugs can have an overall negative performance impa...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j201km
Why do some online payment processors require the CVV code and others don't?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g72cfaj", "g73cosx", "g72s1l8", "g757xdz" ], "text": [ "Two main reasons. You can process a payment without a CVV but there's a higher degree of fraud. Bigger companies may accept that risk because it's still a small percentage of their overall payments. Smaller companies like mom...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j21c7x
Why are headlights on automobiles pointing more upwards and towards other drivers than towards the road?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g72ilny", "g72j77l" ], "text": [ "You need them pointed high enough to illuminate road signs at night. All those road sign paints are \"retroreflective\", they send light back the same direction it came in from, but you need some illumination on them to see them. A properly aimed headligh...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j25qj3
Why do software updates (such as notable examples iTunes and iOS) now download the entire software every time, rather than just a small patch for the portion updated?
I miss the days of software patches. The program might be 5 gb, but the update patch might be just a fraction of that, and it would apply itself to the installed files. Nowadays it seems more common (or at least increasingly) that the provider just makes you download the entire program in the latest version. So ELI5: w...
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g73gu3u", "g73es40", "g73z33l" ], "text": [ "There are two issues with patches. Either you need a patch from every old version to the current version and every time you release and update to need to regenerate all these patches. Or you just create a patch from the previous version to ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j27i50
Is an 1100 lumen LED bulb on 73% brightness equal to an 800 lumen bulb on 100%?
If not, what would it be and why?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g745mpa" ], "text": [ "I would say, by definition, if the 1100 lumen bulb is outputting 800 lumens, then it is *set* to ~73.5% **brightness**. Theoretically, if you are setting brightness, you are adjusting the light level, not necessarily the power coming in. Thus, you're not concerned with ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j27uyv
What is GitHub?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g73s98d", "g73scuc", "g743fjo", "g73v7rs" ], "text": [ "It's a place where people can share code. A repository holds the code and GitHub let's people create many repositories.", "So it is a place for people to share their work and be able to keep control of different versions ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j2aaab
What is cloud computing and why is becoming more popular?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g747388" ], "text": [ "Cloud computing is simply storing data on a shared server that you don’t physically own. Instead of having a server at your company hold your business files, you pay Microsoft money to do it. On one hand it’s often more cost effective and there’s less risk of destroying...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j2brqi
How does a Software Update improve a Tesla's Acceleration/Top speed?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g74guiq", "g74h82t" ], "text": [ "Acceleration, top speed and range are all somewhat determined by the amount of current being drawn from the batteries in the car. This amount is controlled by software and the hardware already on the vehicle. Tesla will, very likely, only allow initial se...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j2hilc
Why can’t robots tick a box to get through a recaptcha test?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g75hood", "g75jvqt", "g75kn2h", "g75k2um", "g75kuqm" ], "text": [ "The point there is not clicking the box. It's about how you click the box. A robot will do it perfectly, a perfect straight line, in less than a second, without doubts, without having to correct the mouse movem...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j2imjb
Why isn't there a software that can reverse the blur of an image to get the original?
Title.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g75my1q", "g75mshw" ], "text": [ "Digital images are made up of a bunch of numbers that the computer turns into colors on your monitor. When an image is scrambled, it is making unknown changes to those numbers. If you don't know what changes were made you'll never know what the original i...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j2in9o
How do they create huge rectangular wooden planks from tree trunks when almost all tree trunks are circular?
I recently got some construction work done at home and noticed that the huge wooden planks used for making doors or other parts, could not be obtained from cutting any tree I have seen in my life from any angle. How do they make them?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g75mia4", "g75mgz1", "g75n3wh", "g75oacf" ], "text": [ "There are patterns of horizontal and vertical cuts along a log which leave you with planks, beams and very little waste overall. The bigger the log the bigger the planks you can cut out of it- and then there's book-matching w...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j2jimj
Why does a phone screen "dim" out when exposed to sunlight but the screens of Game Boys and calculators brighten up when exposed to said sunlight?
Pretty dumb question aside, yes I know very well sunlight is much brighter than a phone screen even in its highest brightness setting, but what exactly is happening in **both** cases?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g75q7ht", "g75qbog" ], "text": [ "Screens of calculators have no internal lighting. You can see numbers because external light is reflected from the mirror layer of the screen. Screens of smartphones and computers have internal backlight and no reflective layer.", "Most phones, game b...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j2kt3d
How do fitness trackers know that you actually sleeping but not just laying there resting, being awake ?
Edit: Thanks for all the answers and the awards, I’m shook
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g75xu2y", "g76vnwl", "g7733wf", "g766el5", "g778t1p", "g76k6z9", "g767xgw", "g778xxy", "g76fd57", "g7667h2", "g771izc", "g77t7z4", "g76tetp", "g76ud07", "g76znme", "g77eiw7", "g77ciz6", "g7753co", "g77008t", "g76zagt", "g...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j2o8v2
Do green screens have to be green? Can't they be blue or any other color? What makes the green very usedul and different in video editing?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g76hptv", "g76j4h1" ], "text": [ "No. It can be any color. Often it's blue. The most important part is that nothing else on the screen has the same color. That is easiest to avoid by using green screens. But you'll just as often see blue really. Essentially you have a computer say \"every...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j2o951
When two people are talking at the same time, ears can detect the separate voices. Why can't microphones/speakers do the same?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g76hwn0", "g76lfei", "g76i3e6" ], "text": [ "You have the most complex device in the known universe in your head, and a large portion of it is tasked with deciphering human speech. A microphone just picks up ambient noise and converts it to an electric signal. There’s really no compar...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j2tqku
What Would it Take for Video Games to Get Out of the Uncanny Valley, or Make Realistic Faces?
As the next gen consoles are getting revealed it got me thinking how many generations are we away from playing video games that look mostly indistinguishable from real life. How many years till I can play a game and the face will be able to look like a persons face?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g77qgfv", "g77xcx3" ], "text": [ "Likely many years, or never if your expectation is to have that sort of experience during gameplay. It takes a TON of time and money to create photorealistic models and animation, and a ton of computing resources to render that at an acceptable framerate....
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j2updk
Now that most movies don't use film, how do they distribute movies to theaters?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g77xn2n", "g77xeuq" ], "text": [ "> Because of security issues, proprietary portable hard drives are now the standard. They are shipped in a portable lock-box (similar to a handgun safe) from the film distributor and plugged into a custom closed digital projection system. It’s like a mini...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
j2wfxc
How do microphones record static noise? What is that noise?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "g7894ey" ], "text": [ "To clarify are you asking about static noise you hear on recordings? Or from an open microphone in a live setting?" ], "score": [ 5 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
ko2hhi
why adobe flash is no longer being used? For that matter what does it even do ??
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ghnzgso", "ghnwhkj", "ghoa77o", "gho7rwm", "ghotv1b", "ghois1y", "gho76cl", "gho9ccj", "ghp1tqt", "ghohhfc", "ghos069" ], "text": [ "TLDR: Flash is full of security holes and there are better ways to do what Flash does these days. Flash was invented in ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
ko85ik
how exactly did the mechanism Stephen Hawking used to communicate work? Like what did he input, and how did the machine output it into words?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ghounam", "ghouzq5" ], "text": [ "I don't know the physical input he used, however his voice generator was an iteration of an early voice synthesis made by Dennis Klatt. It consists of three parts: the first takes english text as input and converts it into a string of phonemes. Each phone...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
ko88ty
How does sound become embedded into vinyl records?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ghounrn" ], "text": [ "A vinyl has grooves that go up and down a bit like a rocky road they make the needle vibrate , on the other side of the needle there is a magnet that when the needle vibrate it makes the magnet go up and down past a coil that generates electrical currents that are fed t...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
ko980y
What is making the sound when people are switching on lights in big rooms or hangars in movies?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ghp2acd", "ghp2uey" ], "text": [ "The \"bull switch\" or mains breaker. The main circuit breaker handle between the mains power inlet and the downline distro connections. Has a heavy spring loaded handle that \"Thunks\" satisfyingly when pulled either on or off. - 728 union Gaffer", "...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
koecg7
How do streaming websites like Twitch can handle that much outgoing bandwidth?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ghqbq0m", "ghqalfz" ], "text": [ "It's all about scaling and load balancing. If you're streaming to 10k people, you aren't actually sending your stream straight to those 10k people. You're sending your stream to Twitch, who distributes that stream out across dozens -- if not hundreds or t...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
koh0c4
- “bits” as in 8-bit, 16-bit art and gaming systems
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ghqzyrd", "ghr0lq4", "ghr15ss" ], "text": [ "A bit is a single number: 0 or 1. If you combine several bits together you can write larger numbers, like 00, 01, 10, and 11 are ways to write 0, 1, 2, and 3 respectively. A digital image is really just a series of numbers: a number for how...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
kohcwm
- In programming, what is serialization?
ELI5 In programming, explain what serialization is and what purpose it serves or problem it solves. Please and thank you.
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ghr3aev" ], "text": [ "It's the act of taking some data structure - a hashtable, an employee record, a customer's order, a map in a video game - and turning it into a sequence of bytes that can be saved. Maybe to a file on disk, maybe sent out a network to another computer somewhere else in t...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
kois4n
How do Apple Watch and AirPods charge so quick but last so long?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ghre8ck", "ghre8so" ], "text": [ "They have very small batteries so they charge quickly. The watch and pods chips are custom designed for each to have extremely low power consumption, so the charge lasts a long time.", "Think of the battery of your device as a bucket which holds water...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
kokzg1
Why is the color Prussian Blue unable to be accurately displayed on screens?
On Prussian Blue’s Wikipedia page it says: “Like most high-chroma pigments, Prussian blue cannot be accurately displayed on a computer display.” What exactly does this mean, and what is it specifically about the pigment that causes this
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ghrrg28", "ghrunip", "ghtafjq", "ghrpcfr", "ghrx7vc", "ghsbjrd" ], "text": [ "The way computer screens, our eyes and colour work are all very complicated. Essentially, computer screens emit light at 3 wavelengths (red, green, blue, rgb) and mix them to simulate other colou...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
konbju
How do internet cookies work? Example: How is youtube able to know I visit disc golf sites and then give me ads for the sport?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ghs3wqn" ], "text": [ "The cookies themselves tend to be teeny tiny little text files. They almost never store much data. They usually are a couple configurations for some visual settings then the real important thing is an ID number. Like a site will say \"this guy is #214412\" then all the ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
kone3o
why every video- and musicplayer seems to have difficulties loading videos or audio from any point but the very start?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ghs9a16" ], "text": [ "* Most videos use inter-frame compression. To save space, only some frames (called I-frames) are properly stored. For frames in-between (P-frames and B-frames), there is only description on how to move and change chunks of I-frames. So if person who encoded the video wa...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
kop5de
Neuroplasticity and what are the potential applications for artificial neuroplasticity ?
Is neuroplasticity the ability for brain to form new connections ? Is it the ability to alter psychological makeup ? Or both ?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ghsle4r" ], "text": [ "oooooooh i like this question. i got into a conversation about neuroplasticity in regards to mental health on an ask reddit a couple of months ago. its super interesting. & #x200B; in general, neuroplasticty is the brain's ability to form neural pathways. these pathways...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
kor5c2
What does Honey get out of being a free extension and giving me discounts?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ghsslb4", "ghsu0ha", "ghsu1gg", "ghsycld" ], "text": [ "Consider like an exclusive sale. The businesses pay honey to offer their users discounts and in return honey brings in more likely buyers to the business' website.", "In addition to the reciprocal nature of the plugin [se...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
kos4py
how do the standby lights on electronics last so long?
I was looking at my TV and PlayStation 3 And realized that the red standby light has been on a majority of the time for the past so many years. How is this possible? Why wouldn't the light burn out?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ghsypmk" ], "text": [ "LEDs last a very long time and usually burn out from power spikes that would mess up the rest of the system" ], "score": [ 11 ], "text_urls": [ [] ] }
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
kosffh
How much of the new Apple Silicon chips did Apple actually design, given that the chips' ARM architecture is developed by another company?
Per [Wikipedia]( URL_0 ) the ARM architecture is developed by Arm Holdings, a British company. Given that the Apple M1 chip is an ARM-based chip, did Apple simply do minor customization on work mostly done by Arm Holdings or did it actually design substantial elements of the new chip?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ghtfbl5", "ghtwwno", "ghtrckt" ], "text": [ "My understanding is that the particular ARM license being utilized by Apple leaves the actual implementation entirely up to them. An analogy might be as if you licensed the internal combustion engine. This allows you the right to produce yo...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
koup20
What does it mean when kids on video games say “Yeah it’s the new meta”?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ghtbvxh", "ghtbqf5" ], "text": [ "In this context they're referring to the \"metagame\". When playing a video game, there's playing *the game*, the way it was originally intended to be played in a vacuum, using only knowledge about how the game works and devising strategies around that kn...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
kovu5d
why do speakers blow at a high setting
As the tittle says why do speakers blow when you turn them up to the highest setting why would manufacturers make it so that they could reach a setting that it would damage the speaker?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ghthxvk" ], "text": [ "There are several different things you could be referring to when you say 'speakers'. If you mean something like a boombox where everything is put together all in one unit, then there is no way that a manufacturer would make the highest volume damage the speakers, imagi...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
kowyxc
How can a 4K video look clearer on a 1080p display even though there aren't as many pixels on the 1080p display to show more detail in the 4K video?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ghtw2m7", "ghtn4nj", "ghtrdmp", "ghtwq5h", "ghtygb8", "ghtxlk2", "ghttzc8", "ghu3gg8", "ghtw2s2", "ghtxaxs", "ghu9dd3", "ghtzg4h" ], "text": [ "Resolution (how many pixels you see) is not the only factor that determines video quality. Compression (h...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]
koxgsz
Watts, amps, volts and joules whats the difference?
Technology
explainlikeimfive
{ "a_id": [ "ghts4f5", "ghtqfsx" ], "text": [ "Electricity is hard to visualise, so a trick is to visualise it like a fluid. An electric circuit becomes like a system of pipes where generators are like pumps, resistors are like narrow sections, and so on. In this visualisation Volts are like pressure ...
[ "url" ]
[ "url" ]