What to Look For In a STB

Cable boxes or satellite boxes are commonly known as a Set Top Box (STB). The quality of your cable/satellite box will vary greatly depending on what kind of box your cable or satellite company offers.

Some attributes to look for in a STB are:

• High Definition TV capable
• DVR capabilities:
• Record shows including HD shows
• Record two shows at once
• Pause, rewind live TV
• How many hours of recording?
• HD video interface
• Digital audio interface
• Dual tuners
• Video upscaling abilities
• TV listing guide capabilities
• Picture–in–picture capabilities
• Telephone input requirement (satellite only)
• Over–the–air antenna input (satellite only)

Example Cable STB

Scientific Atlanta 8300HD has the following attributes:

• HD capable
• DVR capabilities:
• Record up to 90 hours of SD video
• Record up to 20 hours of HD video
• Pause/rewind live TV
• Record 2 shows at once
• Show recording manager
• HDMI output for digital video and audio
• Component video output
• Optical digital audio output
• Digital coaxial audio output
• Dual turners
• SATA input for an additional external hard drive
• Composite video output for a second TV.
• Upconvert/downconvert video capabilities
• Picture–in–picture capabilities
• Firewire port

Example Satellite STB

Dish Player’s DVR 942 has the following attributes:

• HD capable
• DVR capabilities:
• Record up to 180 hours of SD video
• Record up to 25 hours of HD video
• Pause/rewind live TV
• Record 2 shows at once
• Show recording manager
• HDMI output for digital video and audio (TV1 only)
• Component video output (TV1 only)
• Optical digital audio output (TV1 only)
• Two satellite turners
• Dual mode allows viewing on two TVs
• TV 2 standard definition video output only
• Upconvert/downconvert video capabilities
• Over–the–air antenna input
• Picture-in-picture capabilities
• Two USB 2.0 port
• Telephone port

Cable / Satellite Box Tips

1. A STB with a built in DVR saves you from having to connect two boxes.
2. Satellite has lower video quality than cable. However, this can all change when satellite converts to MPEG–4 compression next year.
3. Some satellite STBs require telephone lines to set up the DVR or to order PayPerView shows. Make sure you don’t need a land phone line if you only have a cell phone.
4. The HD channels provided by cable/satellite broadcasters are located on different channels then their regular SD counterparts. For example, NBC’s HD broadcast can be located on channel 508 while the regular SD broadcast is located on channel 8.
5. Check your local cable/satellite provider for how many HD channels they provide. You need HD content to get the full affect of a HDTV.

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