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The platform or set of platforms supported by the set-top box.

A platform can be described as a basic set of software and hardware that makes games work. Such sets significantly differ in the set of characteristics and, usually, are incompatible with each other. Therefore, any "platform" game is necessarily released for a specific platform (or in several versions for different ones), and for its normal operation it is necessary that the console supports this platform.

Most modern platforms were created by large companies, and their names are directly related to the brands of set-top boxes of these companies: for example, Sony has a PlayStation, Microsoft has an Xbox, etc. Note that one platform can describe several types and generations of game consoles; see details below in the descriptions of the individual items.

The most popular options today:

— Play station. Developed by Sony. Includes multiple generations of PlayStation desktop consoles, as well as portable consoles (see Form Factor) such as the PS Portable and PS Vita. Later desktop models are compatible with games from previous generations (with rare exceptions), and portable consoles can also run games from early desktop PlayStations. Supports the PS Move controller, which works on the principle of motion tracking.

— Xbox. Platform created by Microsoft. Includes only desktop models, is charact...erized by a fairly powerful hardware. One of the interesting features is the original Kinect controller, which is a camera to track the user's movements and control the game through these movements.

— Nintendo. A platform developed by the company of the same name. Within this family, three directions of consoles can be distinguished: desktop Wii, portable DS and combined Switch. One of the most striking features of this platform is that when developing new consoles, Nintendo pays attention not so much to increasing hardware power as to introducing original technical solutions. Thus, the Wii became the first set-top box on the market to use motion controllers (see "Packages"). The DS family is feature-packed, and some of these consoles are even capable of displaying a 3D image that is visible without special glasses. The Switch is the first full-fledged hybrid set-top box that natively allows for both portable and desktop use (see Form Factor for details).

— Android. Unlike all the above names, Android is not a gaming platform, but a full-fledged operating system designed for various mobile devices (primarily smartphones and tablets). Its key difference from the actual platforms is the extensive possibilities for installing additional applications, among which the actual games are just one of many categories (and far from being the main one). Most Android models are gaming tablets (see "Form Factor").

It is worth noting that technical support of one set-top box for several platforms is not excluded. In addition, this list is not exhaustive, there may be other options on the market — most often the original eight- and sixteen-bit platforms.

The diagonal of the set-top box's own display. The display is by definition found in handheld models and game pads (see Form Factor); in desktop models, this element of equipment is quite rare and is usually installed not in the set-top box itself, but on standard controllers (which sometimes can even work as separate devices).

The larger the display size, the larger, respectively, the overall size of the image that the user sees on the screen. However, it is worth considering 2 points. Firstly, an increase in the display size has a corresponding effect on the dimensions of the set-top box itself, and therefore even in advanced tablets it does not exceed 7". Secondly, the image quality depends not only on the size of the display, but also on its resolution (see below). Moreover, at the same resolution, the picture on a larger screen will be less clear and more "grainy" due to the larger pixel size.

Set-top box native display resolution. This parameter largely determines the quality of the image: the higher the resolution (with the same diagonal) — the more even and smoothed the “picture” will be, the less noticeable will be the individual points that make up it. Here, however, it must be borne in mind that the corresponding graphics resolution should be provided for in the games themselves. Ideally, it should match the display values — otherwise the image will look either too rough, "grainy" (if the game resolution is less than that of the screen), or small and cloudy (if the game resolution is higher). However, most platforms for portable models have certain requirements for screens, and manufacturers, even unofficial ones, usually try to follow them.

— DVD/Blu-ray drive. Drive for reading optical discs. This feature is typical mainly for desktop set-top boxes (see "Form factor"); they at least support DVD, but many models are capable of working with Blu-ray. However, there are also portable consoles that support optical discs — full-size DVD / Blu-ray are too bulky for them, so specific formats are usually used in such cases (such as UMD in some PlayStation Portable models). Discs are most often used as media for games, although some models may also provide the ability to play audio and video (that is, in fact, use the set-top box as a media centre).

— HDR support. The ability to output a desktop video signal with the so-called extended dynamic range. In such an image, firstly, the colour depth increases (in other words, more different shades are displayed), and secondly, the contrast is enhanced — light areas look brighter, and dark areas look darker. This improves colour quality, makes the image more realistic and enhances the impression of depth, the picture is perceived as less flat. However you need to keep in mind that to fully use this function, you will also need a TV or other HDR-enabled screen — otherwise, all the advantages of this technology will be nullified by the limitations in the functionality of the screen itself. Also note that HDR technology has several formats (for example, HDR10 and HDR Dolby Vision), and not all of them ar...e compatible with each other. Therefore, to use this feature, you should make sure that the set-top box and TV are compatible with HDR standards.

— UltraHD (4K) support. The ability to work set-top box with the image standard 4K. The standard resolution of such an image is 3840x2160, which is 4 times higher than Full HD in terms of the number of pixels. This feature is mainly found in set-top boxes and allows you to output 4K video to a TV or other external device. Thus, you can get a very high quality, detailed image. However, note that in order to fully view such an image, it must be supported not only by the console, but also by the screen to which it is connected — otherwise all the advantages of ultra-high resolution will be nullified. Also note that not all modern games and other content are available in 4K (although, of course, nothing prevents you from playing videos of lower resolutions on the set-top box).

— Support for video services. Ability to work set-top boxes with various network video services. Usually, pre-installed client programs are responsible for this function, which makes it easy to search and play various content on the Internet. Among the video services supported by modern set-top boxes, there are, in particular, YouTube (the most famous and largest network video site), Netflix (one of the largest producers of TV series distributed over the Internet), Amazon Video (provider of TV series and films on demand) and others. . Note that access to content may be paid and have regional restrictions.

The model of the processor installed in the game console.

The processor is the main computing module of the device; the capabilities of the set-top box as a whole largely depend on its characteristics. However, it is worth noting that information about its model in game consoles is usually of a general reference and promotional nature. The fact is that set-top boxes are usually designed for a specific platform, and this implies certain requirements for the power of the hardware so that the corresponding games work normally. Of course, knowing the name, you can find more detailed information — characteristics, test results, reviews, reviews, etc. — and make the most clear impression of the capabilities of the processor; however, unless you plan to use the prefix in non-standard roles, this information is unlikely to be of real practical value. The only exception is gaming tablets (see "Form Factor"): since they are very versatile and can be equipped with a variety of programs, processor data can be useful in assessing how fast an application will run.

Note that advanced desktop set-top boxes can have multiple processors.

The performance of the graphics card installed in the game console.

Performance is measured in FLOPS, the number of floating point math operations that a graphics card processor can perform in one second. Game consoles traditionally use teraflops, or trillions of operations per second.

Theoretically, higher performance means a more advanced graphics card and corresponding graphics quality. However, in fact, this parameter is often given more for promotional purposes than to describe the actual capabilities of the console. The fact is that the quality of game graphics depends not only on the capabilities of the graphics card, but also on other factors — including the general characteristics of the set-top box (processor, memory, etc.), as well as how well the games are optimized for this platform . Therefore, models similar to each other in this indicator may differ markedly in the actual video capabilities. Moreover, a relatively modest graphics card can also outperform a more performant counterpart. For example, Microsoft's Xbox One S, which has a "only" 1.4 TFLOPS video accelerator, supports 4K resolution and HDR (see "Features"), while its peer PS 4 Slim with a 1.84 TFLOPS graphics card TFLOPS does not have such capabilities. Therefore, it makes sense to compare video performance only on consoles that differ significantly in digital indicators.