Does FiOS-TV require an set-top device?
STB (set-top-box), is required if you subscribe to anything beyond the basic analog package. Unlike Cable or Satellite, FIOS-TV broadcasts channels on a needed basis which allows for the ability to increase picture quality due to the extra bandwidth available. Cable and Satellite broadcasts’ all available channels but have limitations just like fiber-optics. These limits require them to compress each channel down so they all can fit across the medium it’s transmitted on. On FiOS-TV, the analog channels are all transmitted at once thus no requirement for a STB. The digital channels require a STB to request and receive the channels you wish to watch. [**]Since one channel is being sent directly to your location, it has far more bandwidth available to it and thus have better picture quality. [**]Actual information on picture quality has yet been confirmed. Claims of better picture quality are based on knowledge of the technology being used to broadcast the channels.
