Scientific Atlanta is part of the Cisco Company. Scientific Atlanta was founded in 1951 by a group of engineers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, while Cisco's founders were computer scientists from Stanford University who started the company in 1984.

The set-top box (STB) describes a device that connects to a television and some external source of signal, and turns the signal into content then displayed on the television screen. A set-top box does not necessarily contain a tuner of its own. A digital set-top box is needed for receiving digital TV broadcasts, because the vast majority of TV sets do not yet have such a tuner. The set-top is used for decoding Pay TV.

Scientific Atlanta's Explorer 3250HD High-Definition Interactive set-top box combines high-quality video capability and broadband digital video services to distribute a broad range of entertainment, information, and communications services. The Explorer 3250 is the upgraded version of the Explorer 3200, and has twice the memory of its forerunner at 8MB. It includes a 32-bit, 166 MHz processor and a reverse-path DAVIC transmitter capable of sending and receiving data at speeds up to 1.544 Mbps. With its high-speed response time, the Explorer 3250 set-top provides instant, real-time feedback to remote control 'clicks' or requests for on-demand content. Total available memory is 28 MB, providing ample support for video-on-demand (VOD), subscription VOD (SVOD), e-mail, chat services, Internet access, and other applications such as games.