Set-top Boxes

A set-top box, also known as an indoor unit or decoder, is an essential accessory for any television set that is not capable of receiving digital broadcasting, whether terrestrial digital, cable or satellite, including MindigTV, MindigTV Premium, Digi Cable TV or T-home Cable TV.

Our range includes DVB-T, DVB-T2, DVB-C, DVB-S and DVB-S2 tuner-equipped devices, as well as versions with media players that can be used to watch YouTube videos or play movies on external storage (HDD, thumb drive).

Choose the right set-top box

A set-top box is essentially a signal converter that connects the television to the receiving device and converts the encoded broadcasts and signals into a format suitable for the device. To choose the right indoor TV set for you, you need to know which one is suitable for receiving which broadcast and converting the signal.

What operating system can I use with my set-top box?

To access various streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Disney+, HBO Max on TV, you need a TV set-top box that allows you to connect to the internet with your existing TV set. These indoor units mostly use the Android operating system.

But if you insist on using the iOS operating system, you'll need to get the Apple TV 4K TV remote. It will allow you to access Apple TV and the AppStore on your traditional TV in addition to the above providers. This allows you to download any content you want, including apps and even mobile games, so you can use it as a TV tuner and games console. But in this case, the operating system will be iOS-based, which is something to consider if you only have Android smartphones and other devices at home. Of course, you can also do all this through Android, but then you'll have to go to the PlayStore.

What maximum resolution does the indoor unit support?

Before you decide to buy a set-top box, it's important to know what resolution you want to enjoy the content in. This can be a problem because you might have a TV that can only watch 1920×1080 pixels, which is perfectly fine for TV, but you won't be able to watch 4K content on it. But let's look at the types of TVs with which resolutions we should consider when buying an indoor unit.

HD Ready: 1366 x 768 pixels. For televisions up to 32" (81 cm), this is considered sufficient.
For Full HD: 1920 x 1080 pixels.
For 4K Ultra HD: 3840 x 2160 pixels.
For 8K: 7680 × 4320 pixels.

Does your set-top box support Wi-Fi and Bluetooth?

Yes, today's modern indoor units can now communicate via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Does the indoor unit have a USB port for connecting external devices?

There are already indoor units that have both a hard drive and a USB port. Therefore, these set-top boxes can also function as a hard disk player or media receiver, allowing you to record and play video files. This allows them to replace some of the functions of hard disk devices and Blu-Ray players.

There are already hard drives that can store more than 1 TB of data. This is quite enough to record a variety of movies. However, larger hard disk receivers are also more expensive. Note that the indoor units can also be used to play various video files. In addition to MPEG 2 and MPEG 4, most devices can also play WMV and MP4 files.

What streaming services is the set-top box compatible with?

Almost any. You will need a suitable internet connection. The magic word here is IPTV. This is short for Internet Protocol Television. It refers to digital television broadcasting over the Internet or over a local area network, LAN, using the IP standard. We therefore need so-called IPTV receivers, which give us access to online streaming portals such as Netflix. A WLAN or Wi-Fi interface provides the same services.

Does the indoor unit have built-in security features such as a child lock or parental controls?

Nowadays, parental locking is essential to protect our children. After all, we adults have to find the right channels for our children to watch. This feature allows our children to watch certain programmes only after entering a password. This means that children can only watch the channels that we have allowed them to watch.

What you need to know about the indoor unit for terrestrial broadcasting (DVB-T, DVB-T2)

In general, DVB-T and DVB-T2 set-top boxes are suitable for receiving free-to-air TV broadcasts. This standard has been introduced in Hungary for terrestrial digital free-to-air broadcasting. Among others, the MindigTV and MindigTV Premium services fall into this category. DVB-T2, the more advanced version of the DVB-T standard, will be introduced in Hungary in 2020. On indoor units supporting DVB-T and DVB-T2, this type of broadcasting is also indicated by a special logo.

Our outdoor and indoor antennas for terrestrial digital TV reception are available in the TV antenna category.

What indoor unit will you need for satellite transmission (DVB-S, DVB-S2)?

Indoor units for satellite reception use the DVB-S and DVB-S2 standards, which are suitable for decoding mostly pay-TV or other encrypted broadcasts. In Hungary, the DVB-S standard has been introduced for satellite broadcasting, with DVB-S2 being an improved version.

Want to watch cable TV? Choose DVB-C indoor!

With cable transmission, the signal is usually delivered to a set-top box or TV set with a DVB-C tuner via a TV aerial coax cable.

Set-top box with multiple tuners

An indoor set-top box with multiple tuners. This means, for example, that a set-top box with DVB-S2 and DVB-T2/C tuners can receive both satellite, terrestrial and cable broadcasts.

Benefits of set-top boxes

The biggest advantage of set-top boxes, in addition to receiving satellite, terrestrial or cable broadcasts, is that they are available with a wide range of features, so they can even give your TV the features of a Smart TV, including:

• Support for YouTube videos
• Can record multiple channels to external storage devices (such as USB)
• Playback video, audio and images in a variety of formats (e.g. AVI, MPEG, MP3, JPEG)
• Parental lock for channels and events
• Auto-off timer
• TV and radio channel list
• Program and channel information transfer between two devices
• Transcription etc.

Browse our set-top box range and don't hesitate to contact us if you need expert help.