RonBoyd
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
RB,
Guess that is my point ... they (I used the word box as a former aerospace guy) are morphing, some overlapping purposes.
I understand that tuners tune - also, odd as it is, my "cheap" 70" Vizio does not have a tuner
So, still have two basic options, right?
1. The OTA tuner/DVR/etc box receives OTA and sends signal to the TV via HDMI
2. The OTA tuner/DVR/etc box receives OTA and sends signal to the router via ethernet or perhaps even wirelessly where it can be shared within the field of that router to any device
In my case, I would have an OTA antenna, coax to the OTA box (tuner or enhanced device like Tivo, Silicon Dust, Tablo), HDMI to TV or ethernet to router. Can then select OTA via the HDMI selector, or have the OTA input show on the streaming device (I have Apple TV box). Many folks already have a streaming device, so this latter approach is pretty transparent and doesn't require switching HDMI inputs (not a big deal, but ....).
I guess to get it all straight in my mind, I need to separate all these things.
The Tuner is a separate entity that only converts the signal from the Antenna for use by the TV. It can be combined with another device or a completely separate device. "Built-in" would include any device that needs a TV signal to do it's job -- a TV, TIVO, Tablo.
A DVR (Digital Video Recorder) is exactly what it sounds like -- a device that records programs -- like the ol' VHS. This can be a device specific to that purpose or simply a hard drive on your computer (with needed software). PlayOn, which is purely recording only, is one of my favorites in this category.
A "streaming" device is what is needed to receive programming over the Internet -- ROKU, Shield, etc.
SiliconDust takes some further explanation. They are in business primarily to make and sell tuners. In the past year, they recognized the opportunity in the Cord Cutter area. They developed a program called HDHomeRun. This uses your computer to connect directly to their tuners (wired or wireless) so you can watch local programming on your computer (or mobile device). The DVR portion of HDHomeRun records to your computer or the cloud. They have in the last several weeks added streaming networks on a subscription basis.
Plex (and its parent, KODI) and SageTV are similar to HDHomeRun and is beyond the space here to explain simply. It is best to go to their respective web site or User Forum to fully understand.
Yes, there is a lot of players (or should I say actors?) in this area and it's very easy to become confused. Each of them (including the biggies AT&T and Verizon) each have their own spin on what they say they can do.
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