A set-top box ( STB ) or set-top unit ( STU ) -day known as a cable box) is an information tool device that generally contains TV-tuner input and displays output to the television and an external signal source, converting the source signal into content in a form which is then displayed on a television screen or other screen device. They are used in cable television, satellite television, and over-the-air television systems, as well as other uses.
Video Set-top box
Sumber sinyal TV
Signal sources may be Ethernet cables, satellite dish, coaxial cable (see cable television), telephone lines (including DSL connections), broadband over power lines (BPL), or even regular VHF or UHF antennas. Content, in this context, can mean any or all video, audio, internet web pages, interactive video games, or other possibilities. Satellite and microwave-based services also require specific external receiver hardware, so the use of set-top boxes of various formats is never completely lost. Set-top boxes can also improve the quality of the source signal.
UHF Converter
Before the All-Channel Receiver Act of 1962 required the US television receiver to be able to set the entire range of VHF and UHF (which in North America is a NTSC-M 2 through 83 channel at 54 to 890 MHz), a set-top box known as UHF converter will be installed in the receiver to divert a portion of the UHF-TV spectrum to a low VHF channel for viewing. Because some 1960s-era TV set-12 remained in use for many years, and Canada and Mexico slower than the US to request a UHF tuner for factory installed on new TVs, the market for this converter continued to exist for much of the 1970s.
Cable modifier
Cable television represents an alternative possibility for UHF converter spread since broadcasts can be routed to a VHF channel at the head of the cable rather than the final display location. However, most cabling systems can not accommodate the 54-890 MHz VHF/UHF frequency range and the twelve channels of VHF space are quickly depleted on most systems. Adding additional channels is therefore necessary by inserting additional signals into the cable system at nonstandard frequencies, usually either under VHF 7 (midband) or directly above the VHF 13 (superband) channel.
These frequencies relate to non-television services (such as two-way radios) over-the-air and therefore not to standard TV receivers. Before ready-made cable TV became common in the late 1980s, an electronic tuning device called a cable converter box was required to receive additional analog cable TV channels and convert or change selected channels to analog (RF) radio frequencies for viewing on a regular TV channel single, usually VHF 3 or 4 channels. This box allows non-cable analog television to be ready to receive an analogue encrypted cable channel and is a prototype topology for future digital encryption devices. The newer televisions are then converted into cypher cable-ready analogs, with standard built-in converters for selling premium television (aka pay-per-view). A few years later and slowly marketed, the emergence of digital cable continues and increases the need for various forms of this device. Block conversion of all affected frequency bands to UHF, while less common, is used by some models to provide full VCR compatibility and the ability to drive multiple TV sets, albeit with non-standard channel numbering schemes.
A newer television receiver greatly reduces the need for an external set-top box, although the cable converter box continues to be used to decompose premium cable channels according to operator-controlled access restrictions, and to receive digital cable channels, together with using interactive services such as video on demand , pay-per-view, and home shopping on television.
Closed caption text
Set-top boxes were also created to enable closed captions in the old set in North America, before this became a mandated inclusion in the new TV set. Some have also been produced to turn off the audio (or replace it with sound) when profanity is detected in the text, where the offending word is also blocked. Some also include V-chips that allow only programs from multiple television content ratings. A function that limits the time children watch TV or play video games can also be built, although some of them work on primary electricity rather than video signals.
Digital television adapter
The transition to terrestrial digital television after the turn of the millennium has left many existing television receivers unable to tune in and display new signals directly. In the United States, when analog closure is completed in 2009 for a full-service broadcaster, federal subsidies are offered to converter boxes that qualify coupons with limited capabilities that will intentionally return lost signals to digital transitions.
Professional set-top box
A professional set-top box is referred to as an IRD or integrated receiver/decoder in the professional audio/video broadcasting industry. They are designed for stronger field handling and rack mounting environments. IRD is capable of generating uncompressed serial digital interface signals, unlike consumer STBs that typically do not, primarily for copyright reasons.
Hybrid box
Hybrid set-top boxes, such as those used for Smart TV programming, allow viewers to access some of the TV delivery methods (including terrestrial, cable, internet, and satellite); such as IPTV boxes, they include on-demand videos, time-shifting TVs, Internet apps, video telephony, surveillance, games, shopping, TV-centric electronic programming guides, and e-government. By integrating multiple delivery streams, hybrids (sometimes known as "TV-centric") enable pay-TV operators with more flexible applications, which lower the cost of launching new services, increasing speed to market, and limiting disruption to consumers.
For example, Broadband TV Broadband TV (HbbTV) receivers allow traditional TV broadcasts, either from terrestrial providers (DTT), satellites, or cables, to carry along with video delivered over the Internet and personal multimedia content. Advanced Digital Broadcast (ADB) launched its first DTT/IPTV hybrid set-top in 2005, providing TelefÃÆ'³nica with a digital TV platform for Movistar TV service later that year. In 2009, ADB provided Europe's first three-way hybrid digital TV platform for Polish digital satellite operators, enabling customers to view well-integrated content delivered via satellite, terrestrial, or the internet.
Inview Technology based in the UK has over 8 million STBs used in the UK for Teletext and the original VOD push service for Top Up TV.
IPTV recipient
In an IPTV network, set-top boxes are small computers that provide two-way communication on IP networks and video streaming video decoding. The IP set-top box has a built-in home network interface that can be either Ethernet, Wireless (802.11 g, n, ac), or one of the existing wired home network technologies such as HomePNA or ITU-T G.hn standards, to create a high-speed local area network (up to 1Gbit/s) using existing home wiring (power lines, telephone lines, and coaxial cables).
In the US and Europe, telephone companies use IPTV (often on ADSL or fiber optic networks) as a means to compete with traditional local cable television monopolies.
This type of service is different from Internet television, which involves third party content over the public Internet that is not controlled by the local system operator.
Maps Set-top box
Features
Programming features
Electronic program guide
Electronic program guides and interactive program guides provide users with televisions, radios and other media applications with a continuously updated menu featuring programming broadcasts or scheduling information for current and future programs. Some guides, such as ITV, also feature a scroll back to promote their chase content.
Favorites
This feature allows users to select preferred channels, making it easier and faster to access; this is useful with the variety of digital channels on offer. The concept of a favorite channel is very similar to the "bookmark" functionality offered in many Web browsers.
Timer
The timer allows the user to program and activate the box to switch between channels at certain times: it is useful for recording from more than one channel when the user leaves. Users still need to program the VCR or DVD recorder.
Scart link recording
The user has selected the necessary TV program in the electronic program guide at the right time, the box sends a control signal through a Scart link that notifies a compatible VCR or DVR to start or stop the recording. This means the user only program the set-top box and it will switch to the right channel at the right time and "wake up" the VCR or DVR to record, so no timer is required.
Recommended convenience
Controls on the box
Some models have controls on the box, as well as on the remote control. This is useful if the user loses the remote or if the battery age.
Remote control that works with other TV
Some remote controls can also control some of the basic functions of various TV brands. This allows users to use only one remote to turn the TV on and off, adjust the volume, or switch between digital and analog TV channels or between terrestrial and internet channels.
Parent lock
Parental keys or content filters allow users over 18 to block access to channels that are not suitable for children, using a personal identification number. Some boxes only block all channels, while others allow users to restrict access to the selected channel unsuitable for children under a certain age.
Alternative software
Because of the complexity and potential of set-top box programming errors, software like MythTV, Select-TV, and Microsoft Media Center have developed features that are comparable to set-top boxes, from basic DVR functions-like for DVD copying, home automation, and music or video playback in homes.
Firmware update feature
Most modern set-top boxes feature an automatic firmware update process. Firmware updates are usually provided by the service provider.
Ambiguity in definition
With the advent of flat-screen televisions, the set-top box is now deeper in profile than the tops of most modern TV sets. Because of this, set-top boxes are often placed beneath the television, and the set-top box term has become something wrong, possibly helping the adoption of the term digibox . In addition, new set-top boxes on the edge of an IP-based distribution network are often called net-top boxes or NTBs, to differentiate between IP and RF inputs. The Roku LT is around the pack card size and delivers Smart TV to the conventional set.
The difference between an external tuner or a demodulator box (traditionally regarded as a "set-top box") and storage devices (such as VCRs, DVDs, or disk-based PVR units) are also obscured by a growing spread of satellite tuner boxes and cables with hard disks, network or USB interface in it.
Devices with computer terminal capabilities, such as the WebTV thin client, also fall into a gray area that might invite the term "NTB".
Europe
In Europe, set-top boxes do not have to contain their own tuner. A box connected to the TV SCART connector (or VCR) is signaled by a baseband television from the tuner set, and can display back the processed signal.
This SCART feature has been used for connection to analog decoding equipment by pay-TV operators in Europe, and in the past was used to connect to teletext equipment before the decoder became built-in. The outgoing signal can have the same properties as the incoming signal, or RGB component video, or even "insert" above the original signal, because of the "swift" feature of SCART.
In the case of analog pay TV, this approach avoids the need for a second remote control. The use of digital television signals in a more modern pay-TV scheme requires that decryption take place before digital-to-analog conversion steps, rendering video output from analog SCART connectors is no longer suitable for interconnection to decryption devices. Standards such as DVB's Common Interface and ATCC CableCARD therefore use PCMCIA-like cards that are included as part of the digital signal path as their alternatives to set-top boxes equipped with tuners.
Energy usage
In June 2011, a report from the US National Resources Defense Council paid attention to energy efficiency from decoders, and the US Department of Energy announced plans to consider applying energy efficiency standards for set-top boxes. In November 2011, National Cable & amp; Telecommunications Association announced a new energy efficiency initiative that operates the largest cable operator in the United States for the purchase of a set of Energy Star-compliant set-top boxes and a sleep mode development that will use less energy when set-top boxes are not used for watching or recording video.
See also
- AllVid
- CableCARD
- Comparison of digital media players
- Digital media player
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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