Set-Top Box

Definition: A catchall term for a device that can be fed a video signal from some source and display it on a TV screen. Many set-top boxes are part of a system for watching content you have to pay for. Many people are familiar with the set-top boxes needed to watch cable or satellite TV, but there are also set-top boxes that can connect to the Internet. There are businesses that will sell or rent you a movie and deliver it over the Internet to a set-top box in your home, and you can watch the movie on your TV screen. A variant of this arrangement is to deliver the movie to your computer, then your computer forwards it over to your set-top box. As the name suggests, a set-top box has traditionally resided on top of the TV set, but nowadays it is often underneath or to the side, particularly for thin television sets.