In web dev parlance client side rendering refers to dynamically generating HTML from some data format (eg, serving a template and having the JS render it and ad

In web dev parlance client side rendering refers to dynamically generating HTML from some data format (eg, serving a template and having the JS render it and add it to the DOM, instead of applying the template on the server and sending the resulting HTML). You're right that the browser's rendering engine ultimately does all the work of generating the images that get displayed, but that has to happen anyway and isn't a distinction that gets talked about (much) in web dev land.