Cable TV Equipment Key Terms

Get a clear picture by familiarizing yourself with cable TV equipment key terms

The popularity of cable TV has grown by leaps and bounds during the past decade or so, and it continues to grow—especially with the nationwide switch of all broadcasts from analog to digital TV in June of 2009. With the ongoing advances in technology and applications in the cable TV arena comes new equipment and related terminology. Here are some key terms that are good to know on the subject of cable TV equipment whether you're in the market to purchase or beefing up your sales knowledge.

Set-top box

A cable TV set-top box, sometimes referred to as a receiver or tuner, is an electronic device hooked up between a TV and the actual cable company cable (or, less commonly, a phone line) that enables a TV to receive and decode digital television (DTV) broadcasts.

Digital video recorder

A digital video recorder, commonly referred to as a DVR, typically is a stand-alone unit that records video in digital format to be played back at a later date. It functions somewhat like a VCR, except it uses a hard drive rather than a tape to store data.

Coaxial cable

Coaxial cable, also known as coax, is the cable wire most commonly used by the cable TV industry. It has a wire in the center surrounded by insulation and a grounded shield of braided wire around it that minimizes electrical and radio frequency interference.

HDMI cable

High definition multimedia interface, more commonly referred to as HDMI, is the wave of the component-to-component TV cabling future. HDMI cables offer superior audio and video performance while minimizing the number of cables between components.

Splitter

A splitter, as its name implies, splits the cable TV signal to route it to two, four or more destinations from one primary source.

Amplifier

A cable TV amplifier is often used if the cable signal is being split among four or more devices within a given location. The amplifier helps boost the signal and minimize any loss of picture quality that might occur by splitting the signal numerous times.