consumer-grade

[TitoBr]

Hi there!

In the sentence below, what does "consumer-grade hardware" mean?

The rise of cloud-based signage systems (such as ScreenCloud) is changing the market, meaning that with a TV, some consumer-grade hardware such as one of the media players below and an app, you could get an impressive looking digital signage display up and running.

[probus]

Consumer-grade is a sort of antonym to professional-grade or industrial-grade. The latter two are the kinds of resources that professionals, corporations and governments have access to. Consumer-grade indicates resources that ordinary people can obtain. It can apply to computer hardware, software, or any other kind of technology.

To take an example, it is generally believed that the Stuxnet worm could not have been created by an ordinary person. It was so sophisticated for its time that it could not have been created by a lone hacker. Therefore it was definitely not consumer-grade.

[GoesStation]

Consumer-grade hardware is equipment you can buy from a retailer. In the United States, you can find such equipment at stores like Best Buy or the Micro Center.