Think about it-- the receiver does the decoding. It has to, to save on network bandwidth and server CPU power. This allows many receivers to work smoothly on the same network, without putting much of a dent in the network throughput or the server's CPU power.

Now, as far as "future proof" goes, remember that the receiver gets its software (decoder and all) from the server. When you power-cycle the receiver, it re-downloads its software from the server from scratch. So upgrades of everything except the receiver hardware are possible.

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Tony Fabris