There are 1000's of "normal" people who use/understand all of this.
TV-engine: uses tv card to produce a file
TV-server: passes files to clients
Client: converts file into video/audio
Uses:
TV-server (beta): central computer with TV cards. Clients connected to server watching/timeshifting TV or listening to radio.
or
TV-server (beta): one computer to watch/record with the option to close Media Portal and do something else while recording.
Media Portal Version 0.2.0.0/0.2.1.0: one computer to watch/record. Must leave Media Portal open to record.
The pdf you linked to is an explanation of option #2.
TV-Engine 3 = TV Server & it's made to use the TV Engine as a service so you don't need to open MediaPortal to record a show (when it is setup on same computer). The other good thing it's that you can use a "Server" with 6 (or more) tv cards & stream the programs to different client pc's running MediaPortal with TV Plugin (for now until it is included as a part of MP), I have this successfully to 3 computers.
THANK YOU BOTH!!! Now that really explained it for me. Next week I'll have a little bit of time off of work, I'll try and maybe put something together for the overview section of your wiki.
Thanks again