ALSO CALLED: STB, Cable Boxes, and Set Top Boxes DEFINITION: A set-top box is a device that enables a television set to become a user interface to the Internet and also enables a television set to receive and decode digital television (DTV) broadcasts. DTV set-top boxes are sometimes called receivers. A set-top box is necessary to television viewers
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SET-TOP BOXES DEFINITION (continued): … who wish to use their current analog television sets to receive digital broadcasts. It is estimated that 35 million homes will use digital set-top boxes by the end of 2006, the estimated year ending the transition to DTV.
In the Internet realm, a set-top box is really a specialized computer that can "talk to" the Internet - that is, it contains a Web browser (which is really a Hypertext Transfer Protocol client) and the Internet's main program, TCP/IP. The service to which the set-top … Set-Top Boxes definition sponsored by SearchNetworking.com, powered by WhatIs.com an online computer dictionary
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