There is a form called whitepaper that is a kind of neutrally worded technical spec with a hint of advertising. I haven't seen many, but the ones that I saw I liked!
A good example, especially if you are interested in any facet of video imaging, is [0] and here is why: 1) it provides standards references, 2) it provides usable first approximations you can execute right away to verify them, 3) its examples are well-selected. Since my company supports about the most conservative industry on Earth, we have to convince layers of bureaucrats we know what we are doing and the concepts therein helped us do it. We will not necessarily buy the company's products, but they certainly gave us some ability to attach numbers to what was a bit hand-wavy. In return the company is now 'of interest'.
