Satellite TV is delivered by communications satellites, as opposed to conventional terrestrial and cable television. In many areas of the world satellite television services supplement older terrestrial signals, providing a wider range of channels and services, including subscription-only services.

Standards

Analogue television is usually sent (scrambled or unscrambled) in PAL, NTSC, or SECAM television satellite broadcast standards. Digital television, including that transmitted via satellites, is generally based upon open standards such as MPEG and DVB-S. Some of the encryption/scrambling methods include BISS, Conax, CryptoWorks, DigiCipher, DreamCrypt, Irdeto, MediaGuard, NagraVision, PowerVu, SHL, Sidsa, Viaccess, Videocipher, VideoGuard and XCrypt.

Satellite Television – A Look At Some Of The Available Services

Canada
In Canada, the two legal DBS services available are Bell Canada’s ExpressVu and StarChoice. Hundreds of thousands (up to a million by some estimates) of Canadians access or have accessed American services – usually these services have to be billed to an American address and are paid for in U.S. dollars.

United States
DirecTV, the first high-powered DBS system, went online in 1994 and was the first North American DBS service; it is now owned by News Corporation.
In 1996, EchoStar’s Dish Network went online in the United States and has gone on to similar success as DirecTV’s primary competitor.
The majority of ethnic-language broadcasts to North America are carried on Ku band free-to-air; the largest concentration of ethnic programming is on Intelsat Americas 5 at 97° W. GlobeCast World TV offers a mix of free and pay-TV ethnic channels in the internationally-standard DVB-S format, as do others. Home2US Communications Inc. also offers ethnic programming, the platform is on AMC-4 at 101° W, with several ethnic channels as well as free and pay-TV. Several U.S.-English language network affiliates (representing CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS, Fox, WB, i and UPN) are available as free-to-air broadcasts, as are the three U.S.-Spanish language networks (Univisión, Telefutura and Telemundo). The number of free-to-air specialty channels is otherwise rather limited…..

Continental Western Europe
In Europe, DBS satellite services are found mainly on Astra satellites and Hotbird (operated by Eutelsat), with Sky Italia, Canal Digitaal and UPC being the main providers in Italy, Western Europe and Central Europe.
BSkyB (known as Sky) also serves Northern Europe and many channels can be received as far away as Cyprus.

United Kingdom
Other than the satellite companies mentioned above, there is Sky Digital – a closed network requiring the companies licensed set top boxes

Well, there are several options available to viewers, depending on your requirements. You have the choice of Sky Digital, Fixed European Satellite & Motorised Satellite Systems. But in this article, were going to cover Sky Digital and the benefits it provides the viewer compared to the old analogue.

So, Why Sky Digital:
As opposed to the old analogue system, where you had to have a 60cm satellite dish installed, Sky Digital is now available through what is called a mini-dish, which is much less of an eyesore as the conventional system.

Furthermore, Sky digital will cater for all audiences, from entertainment channels with comedy and dramas, movies including latest releases, music channels for you to keep up to date with the latest chart releases, or listen to your favourite genre, then theres the radio stations, cartoon channels and news/documentary stations. There is a whole list of channels, available on different packages ranging from 15 to 42.50 (not including additional premium channels) per month.

What else can Sky do? Well, theres

The Interactive Services:
The interactive services provided by Sky (telephone connection required and charged at a per minute rate) give the viewer the option to purchase goods through their Sky Digital Receiver.

By pressing a button on their controller, you will access the interactive services page, and then can choose whether to go shopping for goods, from a range of stores you can find on the high street and online, so youll never have to leave your sofa again!

If your not interested in shopping but after entertainment, there are a range of games available to play, as well as competitions to participate in, a friends & dating section, and also a health and lifestyle section providing information on a wide range of related issues. You can also check availability and whats on at your local cinema!

The Sky+ & Multi Room Systems:
Ever wanted to watch a film when another film you wanted is being shown at the same time on a separate channel? We all have, and it is frustrating, having to choose which of the two your going to watch.

Well, with Sky+, youll have that problem no more. You can keep up-to-date with your favourite soap, and record another programme at the same time, and it will be stored in your Sky+ receivers Hard Drive for viewing later. No more will you and your partner have to argue on who is going to miss their programme this week!

Sky+ also gives the viewer the ability to pause what youre watching. No, not just the recording, but what your watching in real time can be stopped. So, when you receive those annoying sales calls in the middle of the night, and your just getting into your film and dont want to miss any of it, you can now hit pause, answer the call then get back to film and carry on where you left of! Then when the film is ended, switch back to real-time to carry on viewing as normal.

With Sky+, an upgrade to your dish will have to me made, and a new receiver will have to be installed, which will have an integrated hard drive to record your programmes.

With the dish upgraded, you will also be able to have your existing box moved to another room in your property, so if your family want to watch cartoons, and your more interested in a film or the news, you can watch both, at the same time, in separate rooms (additional monthly fees will apply). This is called Sky Multiroom.

This can be extended as much as you want, providing you have the correct equipment installed.

Freesat From Sky:
Not want to pay a subscription, but still want Digital TV channels? Why not opt for the Freesat service available from Sky.

Very similar to a normal Sky system, but you dont have to pay a monthly subscription, and will get a number of free digital channels (approximately 200) for your viewing pleasure.

Sky HD:
Sky HD is High Definition Television broadcast from Sky. Not familiar with HD?

HD or HDTV is the latest generation of digital TV, providing life-like picture quality, at least four times superior to current standards. It will provide extremely clear and fine picture detail with richer colours, improving the visual experience.

At launch, HDTV is thought to be available from Sky. In order to view programmes broadcast in ‘High Definition’, a soon to be released HDTV Sky Receiver with Sky+ technology will be required. In addition, the benefit of High Definition will only be apparent through a HDTV television (ideally plasma or LCD).

Please note, not all Plasma & LCD televisions currently available are HDTV compatible. It is expected to become available in the first quarter of 2006.

About the Author: http://www.aerial-satellites.co.uk One of the UK’s largest independant TV Aerial & Satellite TV Installation Companies.

Written By: Mark Barnes

This article provides useful, detailed information about Free Satellite TV On PC.

Technology is advancing so fast that now one can watch satellite TV or hear radio on a home PC. All you need is special hardware known as PCTV cards that are of two kinds. One kind needs to be installed in the PC while the other kind is an external box that plugs into the PC’s USB port.

There are cards that use the PC\’s infrastructure to decode satellite signals and allow users to enjoy free-to-air digital television and radio programs. There are cards that have built-in processors that allow TV viewing in a separate window while the PC runs other programs. Both kinds of cards can be utilized to receive Broadband Internet via Satellite. Requests are made using a telephone line but data is received at 40MB per second via the satellite dish.

To view satellite TV on your PC you would require a minimum processor that is Pentium II 333 MHz, an operating system like Microsoft Windows 98/ME/2000/XP, as well as hardware consisting of sound card, spare USB slot, and a CD Rom drive. If you are a computer geek you could in addition to the cards have a Windows media player, real player, or quick time player all of which will take you to the next level of viewership.

The options are many. The PC can be directly connected to a satellite dish by using a product like Hauppauge 3000 or through the Internet cable; or via the satellite box (run an aerial lead from the RF output socket of the Shy Digibox to the input aerial socket on a standard PC TV card or USB TV adapter). Direct TV and Dish TV both recommend using a connection via their proprietary satellite TV receiver box as ideal.

With a PC-TV-Radio one can simultaneously or alternately watch regular TV, a movie, or sports, and enjoy crystal clear music while writing, checking mail, telewebbing, or surfing the Internet. The options are astounding one can download and record favorite programs, record music, and be creative.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Free Satellite TV Systems provides detailed information on Free Satellite TV, Free Satellite TV Systems, Free Satellite TV on PC, Free Satellite TV Offers and more. Free Satellite TV Systems is affiliated with Dish Satellite Network.

Written By: Steve Valentino

What is DirecTV satellite TV?

DirecTV satellite TV, technology that enables you to receive more than 225 TV channels, all in 100% digital-quality picture and sound. DirecTV is the leading Satellite TV provider in the U.S.: 9 years after its launch, DirecTV now serves 12 millions households with their free satellite TV deals.

Why DirecTV satellite TV?

DirecTV Satellite TV: Free satellite equipments, Instant installations by DirecTV satellite retailers and NO maintenance is needed for the satellite dish!

DirecTV satellite TV (or often known as Direct TV, DirecTV TV) is so good because it’s equipments are free! DirecTV satellite TV is also simple to be used and instant to be installed! You nearly pay nothing to start up your DirecTV satellite TV services.

A few years ago, you had to install huge satellite dishes in your yard and buy expensive satellite equipment to watch satellite TV shows. Technological changes now make it possible to receive the microwaves coming from satellites using tiny antennas, known as “mini-dishes” (you can see them about everywhere now), a receiver and a remote control.

The programming is distributed by 6 DirecTV satellites – each one of them remain always at the same place in the sky, 22,300 miles above the earth. When you first receive your DirecTV satellie dish, the installer aim it toward one of the DirecTV satellites, and after that no adjustment is necessary. Since the DirecTV satellite never moves, the dish never has to track it, so there’s no waiting for the picture to come in and little maintenance is required.

Besides, DirecTV offers huge satellite TV program choices, crisp digital TV image and sound, HDTV-ready, and monthly fees are cheaper than cable TV!

For a summary of how it compares with cable, go to http://www.satellitetvissue.com/CableTVvsSatelliteTV.htm

Can I control what my children watch in DirecTV?

You can restrict access to movies based on the motion picture rating system, pay per view spending limits, or block the viewing of entire channels in DirecTV satellite programs. A great feature provided by DirecTV satellite TV for parents who wish to control what their children watch.

Are the DirecTV satellite equipment really for free?

Absolutely! The competition is so fierce in the satellite TV business that satellite TV providers are literally fighting to give you all the DirecTV satellite equipments you’ll ever need to receive Direct TV programs.

So what’s the catch?

Okay, you might be wondering how DirecTV dealers make money if they are giving out satellite TV equipments free. Answer: Like cable tv or cell phone companies, monthly subscription fees!

Why order DirecTV online?

Online DirecTV retailers are the most aggressive since their overhead is very low compared to brick and mortar stores. You can only get these superb DirecTV bargains online, order DirecTV now before the deal is over!

About The Author

Teddy L.Cc., a successful freelance internet webmaster/writer. He is currently running 4 internet major websites including http://www.satellitetvissue.com. Frequent writter on issue regarding electronics goods as well as web hosting.

webmaster@satellitetvissue.com

Written By: Teddy Low