Technology

Technologies

Here you can learn more about technologies that are still well established in the IT sector, about state-of-the-art technology, about new trends and outlooks.

4K technology

A 4K display offers a razor-sharp picture, as it uses 4x Full HD resolution. The 4K technology is also known as Ultra HD. However, here a further distinction is made between 4K UHD (2160p) and 8K UHD (4320p). The latter represents an additional doubling of the resolution compared to 4K.

Compared to a Full HD display with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, a 4K display offers a picture resolution of 3840x2160, which means twice as many pixels both in height and width. To connect 4K TV sets and monitors and to transfer video files and films appropriately, there are the HDMI® or DisplayPort™ interfaces.

DockingStation with DisplayLink® technology

With DisplayLink®, you can quickly and easily connect multiple monitors to your PC via a simple USB connection if your computer has DisplayLink® driver software installed for communication between the DockingStation and host computer.
All your USB devices from USB 3.0 are fully supported. The DockingStation can also be used with a USB 3.0 Type-C® port using an appropriate adapter. Ensure that you have installed the latest USB drivers and the latest DisplayLink® drivers.
Up to 6 monitors are possible under Windows®. Under macOS® 4 monitors are possible. Attention: Apple devices with the operating system macOS® 10.13.4 are not supported! From macOS® 10.13.5 and higher the operation of the DockingStation is again possible without restrictions!

USB Type-C®

USB Type-C® (also USB-C) is a 24-pole USB plug system which is characterised by its double rotationally symmetrical plug. One of the aims of the introduction of USB Type-C® was to standardise the large number of different structural USB interfaces on computers, tablets and smartphones.
A device with a Type-C® connector does not necessarily implement the full USB protocol with bidirectional data communication and USB power supply. Similarly, it cannot always be assumed that PCs, notebooks or tablets with a USB Type-C® interface also support DisplayPort™ Alt Mode technology. In any case, the specifications of the corresponding manual must be consulted.
For example, if one considers the USB Type-C® 3.2 (Gen 2x2) protocol, a data transfer rate of up to 20 Gbit/s is possible, for example, loading a notebook, connecting two displays or listening to music. Devices with Thunderbolt™ 3 can also be connected, although the data transfer rate is then limited by USB Type-C® 3.2 (Gen 2x2).

Thunderbolt™ 3

Technically, it is a combination of DisplayPort™ and a PCI Express based interface, which as a physical feature connects the rotatable USB Type-C® connector to the maximum version of the USB 3.1 specification and increases the transfer rate up to 40 Gbit/s. The interface is intended to bundle all image, sound, energy and data transmission channels in one interface, and also allows long ranges thanks to the active interfaces with optical transmission.

Multi Stream Transport (MST)

Support for Multi Stream Transport (MST) was added with DisplayPort™ 1.2. It enables the source system to send multiple independent video signals from a single DisplayPort™ 1.2 output. This allows multiple monitors to be used via a single DisplayPort™ connector or output. This feature requires either monitors capable of supporting DisplayPort™ 1.2 daisy chain or use of an DisplayPort™ MST hub.
MST hubs are sometimes called MST splitters or DisplayPort™ splitters.

Multi LUN

When we talk about card readers that support multi-LUN, it means that two cards can be used simultaneously (read and write), whereas with single-LUN support only one card can be used at a time.

RAID

The acronym RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks. A RAID system is used to organise several physical mass storage devices (usually hard disk drives or SSDs) into one logical drive, which allows a higher level of reliability or data throughput than a single physical storage medium.
While most techniques and applications used in computers aim to avoid redundancies (in the form of multiple occurrences of the same data), RAID systems deliberately create redundant information so that if individual storage media fail, the RAID as a whole retains its integrity and functionality and the original state can be restored after replacing the failed component with a rebuild (the process of restoring a RAID array). This redundancy must not be equated with a data backup.

Write protection

Many of our external ICY BOX hard disk enclosures are equipped with a write protection. This is realised in the form of a mechanical switch, which protects data from unauthorised access or deletion in the secured state.

Power supply

Power Delivery is the power supply via the USB interface. Via the cable connections, the USB port supplies power to simple devices such as a mouse or keyboard. Depending on the standard of the interface the power ranges from 500 mW (USB 1.1) over 2.5 W (USB 2.0) to 7.5 W (USB Battery Charging BC). Unfortunately this is usually not enough to supply USB devices with sufficient power. That's why many USB ports are operated outside the permissible power values.

To solve these power supply problems, USB Power Delivery (USB-PD) is a USB power supply specification. This allows a device to be supplied with up to 100 Watts of power via a USB Type-C® connector, for example to charge a notebook. The interesting thing about PD is the protocol in which the electronically marked (active) cables negotiate how much power can be transmitted via the cable. This means that the source provides the receiver with the possible voltage and current values. The receiver selects one of these and requests it from the source. Only then does the source switch the voltage to the corresponding pins. In principle, sources may also supply values other than those specified in the USB-PD specification. But maximum only 5 Ampere at 20 Volt, so maximum 100 Watt (e.g. required for workstations, large notebooks, DockingStations).

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