Set-top box emulators

Not to be confused with smart media players, TVs or media boxes, and DVR, etc., Android consoles, or home media players. See media players category.

A set-top box (STB), also known as a TV box, cable box, receiver, or simply box, and historically television decoder or a converter, is an information appliance device that generally contains a TV tuner input and displays output to a television set, turning the source signal into content in a form that can then be displayed on the television screen or other display device. It is designed to be placed alongside or "on top" (hence the name) of a television set.

Set-top boxes are used in various broadcast and cable communication systems such as cable television, satellite television, over-the-air television. Some of them even could be considered as "smart" devices due to use of Internet Protocol television systems (IPTV), as well as other capabilities such as media playback similarly to digital media players ("streaming boxes"). Alternatives to set-top boxes form factors are the smaller dongles, or television sets with built-in TV tuners that hence won't require a separate device such as a dedicated box device.[1]

Simulators

Name	Platform(s)	IPTV Playlist(s)	Active	Recommended
QiTV		IPTV-org	✓	✓

See also

• Preservation projects
• Active and discontinued online services
• Broadcast and cable communication systems
• Game room simulations
• Copy protection

Home media or media content playback focused devices

• Home media players
• Portable media players
• Smart TVs, DVRs, smart TV boxes/digital media players/media boxes, smart blu-ray players

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