diff --git a/include/libcamera/controls.h b/include/libcamera/controls.h
index d3065c0f3f16..174bc92732aa 100644
--- a/include/libcamera/controls.h
+++ b/include/libcamera/controls.h
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ namespace libcamera {

 class Camera;

-struct ControlIdentifier {
+struct ControlMetadata {
 	ControlId id;
 	const char *name;
 	DataType type;
@@ -37,21 +37,22 @@ public:
 	std::string toString() const;

 private:
-	const struct ControlIdentifier *ident_;
+	const struct ControlMetadata *ident_;
 };

 using ControlInfoMap = std::unordered_map<ControlId, ControlInfo>;

+using Control = DataValue;
 class ControlList
 {
 private:
-	using ControlListMap = std::unordered_map<const ControlInfo *, DataValue>;
+	using ControlMap = std::unordered_map<const ControlInfo *, Control>;

 public:
 	ControlList(const ControlInfoMap &infoMap);

-	using iterator = ControlListMap::iterator;
-	using const_iterator = ControlListMap::const_iterator;
+	using iterator = ControlMap::iterator;
+	using const_iterator = ControlMap::const_iterator;

 	iterator begin() { return controls_.begin(); }
 	iterator end() { return controls_.end(); }
@@ -64,14 +65,14 @@ public:
 	std::size_t size() const { return controls_.size(); }
 	void clear() { controls_.clear(); }

-	DataValue &operator[](ControlId id);
-	DataValue &operator[](const ControlInfo *info) { return controls_[info]; }
+	Control &operator[](ControlId id);
+	Control &operator[](const ControlInfo *info) { return controls_[info]; }

-	void update(const ControlList &list);
+	bool merge(const ControlList &list);

 private:
 	const ControlInfoMap &infoMap_;
-	ControlListMap controls_;
+	ControlMap controls_;
 };

 } /* namespace libcamera */
diff --git a/src/libcamera/controls.cpp b/src/libcamera/controls.cpp
index 184d544c05bc..028ffc1e80b9 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/controls.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/controls.cpp
@@ -7,9 +7,6 @@

 #include <libcamera/controls.h>

-#include <sstream>
-#include <string>
-
 #include <libcamera/camera.h>

 #include "log.h"
@@ -17,7 +14,7 @@

 /**
  * \file controls.h
- * \brief Describes control framework and controls supported by a camera
+ * \brief Control framework implementation
  */

 namespace libcamera {
@@ -72,38 +69,50 @@ LOG_DEFINE_CATEGORY(Controls)
  */

 /**
- * \struct ControlIdentifier
- * \brief Describe a ControlId with control specific constant meta-data
+ * \struct ControlMetadata
+ * \brief Describe the control static meta-data
+ *
+ * Defines the Control static meta-data information, auto-generated from the
+ * ControlId documentation.
+ *
+ * The control information are defined in the control_id.h file, parsed by
+ * the gen-controls.awk script to produce a control_metadata.cpp file that
+ * provides a static list of control id with an associated type and name. The
+ * file is not for public use, and so no suitable header exists as
+ * its sole usage is for the ControlMetadata definition.
  *
- * Defines a Control with a unique ID, a name, and a type.
- * This structure is used as static part of the auto-generated control
- * definitions, which are generated from the ControlId documentation.
+ * \todo Expand the control meta-data definition to support more complex
+ * control types and describe their characteristics (ie. Number of deta elements
+ * for compound control types, versioning etc).
  *
- * \var ControlIdentifier::id
+ * \var ControlMetadata::id
  * The unique ID for a control
- * \var ControlIdentifier::name
+ * \var ControlMetadata::name
  * The string representation of the control
- * \var ControlIdentifier::type
+ * \var ControlMetadata::type
  * The ValueType required to represent the control value
  */

 /*
- * The controlTypes are automatically generated to produce a control_types.cpp
- * output. This file is not for public use, and so no suitable header exists
- * for this sole usage of the controlTypes reference. As such the extern is
- * only defined here for use during the ControlInfo constructor and should not
+ * The ControlTypes map is defined by the generated control_metadata.cpp file
+ * and only used here during the ControlInfo construction and should not
  * be referenced directly elsewhere.
  */
-extern const std::unordered_map<ControlId, ControlIdentifier> controlTypes;
+extern const std::unordered_map<ControlId, ControlMetadata> controlTypes;

 /**
  * \class ControlInfo
  * \brief Describe the information and capabilities of a Control
  *
- * The ControlInfo represents control specific meta-data which is constant on a
- * per camera basis. ControlInfo classes are constructed by pipeline handlers
- * to expose the controls they support and the metadata needed to utilise those
- * controls.
+ * The ControlInfo class associates the control's constant metadata defined by
+ * libcamera and collected in the ControlMetadata class, with its static
+ * information, such the range of supported values and the control size,
+ * described by the DataInfo base class and defined by the capabilities of
+ * the Camera device that implements the control.
+ *
+ * ControlInfo instances are constructed by pipeline handlers and associated
+ * with the Camera devices they register to expose the list of controls they
+ * support and the static information required to use those controls.
  */

 /**
@@ -118,7 +127,7 @@ ControlInfo::ControlInfo(ControlId id, const DataValue &min,
 {
 	auto iter = controlTypes.find(id);
 	if (iter == controlTypes.end()) {
-		LOG(Controls, Fatal) << "Attempt to create invalid ControlInfo";
+		LOG(Controls, Fatal) << "Control " << id << " not defined";
 		return;
 	}

@@ -127,19 +136,19 @@ ControlInfo::ControlInfo(ControlId id, const DataValue &min,

 /**
  * \fn ControlInfo::id()
- * \brief Retrieve the control ID
+ * \brief Retrieve the control ID from the control constant metadata
  * \return The control ID
  */

 /**
  * \fn ControlInfo::name()
- * \brief Retrieve the control name string
+ * \brief Retrieve the control name string from the control constant metadata
  * \return The control name string
  */

 /**
  * \fn ControlInfo::type()
- * \brief Retrieve the control designated type
+ * \brief Retrieve the control designated type from the control constant metadata
  * \return The control type
  */

@@ -161,21 +170,37 @@ std::string ControlInfo::toString() const
  * \brief A map of ControlId to ControlInfo
  */

+/**
+ * \typedef Control
+ * \brief Use 'Control' in place of DataValue in the ControlList class
+ *
+ * \todo If more data and operations than the ones defined by DataValue
+ * will need to be implemented for controls, make this typedef a class that
+ * inherits from DataValue.
+ */
+
 /**
  * \class ControlList
- * \brief Associate a list of ControlId with their values for a camera
+ * \brief List of controls values
  *
- * A ControlList wraps a map of ControlId to DataValue and provide
- * additional validation against the control information exposed by a Camera.
+ * A ControlList wraps a map of ControlId to Control instances and provide
+ * additional validation against the control information reported by a Camera.
  *
- * A list is only valid for as long as the camera it refers to is valid. After
- * that calling any method of the ControlList class other than its destructor
- * will cause undefined behaviour.
+ * ControlList instances are initially created empty and should be populated by
+ * assigning a value to each control added to the list. The added control is
+ * validated to verify it is supported by the Camera the list refers to, and
+ * validate the provided value against  the static information provided by the
+ * ControlInfo instance associated with the control.
  */

 /**
- * \brief Construct a ControlList with a reference to the Camera it applies on
+ * \brief Construct a ControlList with a map of control information
  * \param[in] infoMap The ControlInfoMap of the camera the control list refers to
+ *
+ * The provided \a infoMap collects the control id and the associated static
+ * information for each control that can be set on the list. \a infoMap is
+ * provided by the Camera the list of controls refers to and it is used to make
+ * sure only controls supported by the camera can be added to the list.
  */
 ControlList::ControlList(const ControlInfoMap &infoMap)
 	: infoMap_(infoMap)
@@ -221,10 +246,6 @@ ControlList::ControlList(const ControlInfoMap &infoMap)
 /**
  * \brief Check if the list contains a control with the specified \a id
  * \param[in] id The control ID
- *
- * The behaviour is undefined if the control \a id is not supported by the
- * camera that the ControlList refers to.
- *
  * \return True if the list contains a matching control, false otherwise
  */
 bool ControlList::contains(ControlId id) const
@@ -258,7 +279,7 @@ bool ControlList::contains(const ControlInfo *info) const
 /**
  * \fn ControlList::size()
  * \brief Retrieve the number of controls in the list
- * \return The number of DataValue entries stored in the list
+ * \return The number of Control entries stored in the list
  */

 /**
@@ -276,15 +297,16 @@ bool ControlList::contains(const ControlInfo *info) const
  * The behaviour is undefined if the control \a id is not supported by the
  * camera that the ControlList refers to.
  *
- * \return A reference to the value of the control identified by \a id
+ * \return A reference to the value of the control identified by \a id if the
+ * control is supported, an empty control otherwise
  */
-DataValue &ControlList::operator[](ControlId id)
+Control &ControlList::operator[](ControlId id)
 {
 	const auto info = infoMap_.find(id);
 	if (info == infoMap_.end()) {
 		LOG(Controls, Error) << "Control " << id << " not supported";

-		static DataValue empty;
+		static Control empty;
 		return empty;
 	}

@@ -299,22 +321,29 @@ DataValue &ControlList::operator[](ControlId id)
  * This method returns a reference to the control identified by \a info,
  * inserting it in the list if the info is not already present.
  *
- * \return A reference to the value of the control identified by \a info
+ * The behaviour is undefined if the control \a info is not supported by the
+ * camera that the ControlList refers to.
+ *
+ * \return A reference to the value of the control identified by \a info if the
+ * control is supported, an mpty control otherwise
  */

 /**
- * \brief Update the list with a union of itself and \a other
- * \param other The other list
+ * \brief Merge the control in the list with controls from \a other
+ * \param other The control list to merge with
  *
  * Update the control list to include all values from the \a other list.
- * Elements in the list whose control IDs are contained in \a other are updated
+ * Elements in the list whose control IDs are contained in \a other are merged
  * with the value from \a other. Elements in the \a other list that have no
  * corresponding element in the list are added to the list with their value.
  *
- * The behaviour is undefined if the two lists refer to different Camera
- * instances.
+ * All controls in \a other should be supported by the list, otherwise no
+ * control is updated.
+ *
+ * \return True if control list have been merged, false otherwise
+ *
  */
-void ControlList::update(const ControlList &other)
+bool ControlList::merge(const ControlList &other)
 {
 	/*
 	 * Make sure if all controls in other's list are supported by this
@@ -326,14 +355,16 @@ void ControlList::update(const ControlList &other)

 		if (infoMap_.find(id) == infoMap_.end()) {
 			LOG(Controls, Error)
-				<< "Failed to update control list with control: "
+				<< "Failed to merge control list with control: "
 				<< id;
-			return;
+			return false;
 		}
 	}

 	for (auto &control : other)
 		controls_[control.first] = control.second;
+
+	return true;
 }

 } /* namespace libcamera */
diff --git a/src/libcamera/gen-controls.awk b/src/libcamera/gen-controls.awk
index abeb0218546b..b7f6532dfd43 100755
--- a/src/libcamera/gen-controls.awk
+++ b/src/libcamera/gen-controls.awk
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ function GenerateTable(file) {

 	EnterNameSpace(file)

-	print "extern const std::unordered_map<ControlId, ControlIdentifier>" > file
+	print "extern const std::unordered_map<ControlId, ControlMetadata>" > file
 	print "controlTypes {" > file
 	for (i=1; i <= id; ++i) {
 		printf "\t{ %s, { %s, \"%s\", DataType%s } },\n", names[i], names[i], names[i], types[i] > file
diff --git a/src/libcamera/meson.build b/src/libcamera/meson.build
index c3100a1709e0..c4fcd0569bd7 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/meson.build
+++ b/src/libcamera/meson.build
@@ -60,13 +60,13 @@ endif

 gen_controls = files('gen-controls.awk')

-control_types_cpp = custom_target('control_types_cpp',
+control_metadata_cpp = custom_target('control_metadata_cpp',
                                   input : files('controls.cpp'),
-                                  output : 'control_types.cpp',
+                                  output : 'control_metadata.cpp',
                                   depend_files : gen_controls,
                                   command : [gen_controls, '@INPUT@', '--code', '@OUTPUT@'])

-libcamera_sources += control_types_cpp
+libcamera_sources += control_metadata_cpp

 gen_version = join_paths(meson.source_root(), 'utils', 'gen-version.sh')

diff --git a/src/libcamera/pipeline/uvcvideo.cpp b/src/libcamera/pipeline/uvcvideo.cpp
index dd253f94ca3d..d7f7fb0d6322 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/pipeline/uvcvideo.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/pipeline/uvcvideo.cpp
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ int PipelineHandlerUVC::processControls(UVCCameraData *data, Request *request)

 	for (auto it : request->controls()) {
 		const ControlInfo *ci = it.first;
-		DataValue &value = it.second;
+		Control &value = it.second;

 		switch (ci->id()) {
 		case Brightness:
diff --git a/src/libcamera/pipeline/vimc.cpp b/src/libcamera/pipeline/vimc.cpp
index 3df239bdb277..1d36ec54bc3b 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/pipeline/vimc.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/pipeline/vimc.cpp
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ int PipelineHandlerVimc::processControls(VimcCameraData *data, Request *request)

 	for (auto it : request->controls()) {
 		const ControlInfo *ci = it.first;
-		DataValue &value = it.second;
+		Control &value = it.second;

 		switch (ci->id()) {
 		case Brightness:
diff --git a/test/controls/control_list.cpp b/test/controls/control_list.cpp
index 3c6eb40c091b..2a90cffe5106 100644
--- a/test/controls/control_list.cpp
+++ b/test/controls/control_list.cpp
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ protected:

 		newList[Brightness] = 128;
 		newList[Saturation] = 255;
-		newList.update(list);
+		newList.merge(list);

 		list.clear();