Satellite television is one of the latest and greatest technologies to hit our homes! It is delivered by satellites (of course) high in the sky and provides a signal quality (HiFi). It can deliver many more and a much larger range of channels and services (internet access or satellite radio) than the TV most of us use today. This technology, however, is older than you might think. In fact, the first satellite television signal was relayed in 1962.
How the System Works - A Summary
Satellite TV systems are very complicated when you get into the technology. But when it comes down to it, basically the signal is received by an uplink station that transmits it to a satellite that orbits the earth; the signal is then relayed back to earth and the transmission is received by dishes. It's so basic you're probably asking yourself "why weren't we using this method earlier"!
There are 3 Ways to Utilize a Satellite TV System
1. Directly by each viewer 2. Reception by local television affiliates 3. or reception by headends for distribution across cable systems.
In order to setup your personal satellite TV system, you'll need some equipment. First, a recieving dish. This will pick up the signal and assemble it for you. Next - a receiver. This device decodes the signal and passes it to your television. Most service providers will provide this equipment for you to buy or lease. If they do not, or you simply would rather purchase the equipment yourself you can do that as well.
The Big Players
Satellite TV systems are available many areas around the world. The big satellite TV system providers in the USA are Star, Dish Network and Direct TV. In Canada you'll find that Bell Canada's ExpressVu and StarChoice are the main satellite TV system providers. Latin America uses SKY Television as its main provider. Canal Digital, Sky Italia and UPC are the main satellite TV system service providers in Europe.
What about Cost?
In the past, Satellite TV systems were expensive and considered a luxury service. Today, however, it is very affordable and many TV watchers prefer it. Once more, the cost of the cable television has steadily been rising. The satellite television subscribers receive high quality, digital signal. Plus, service packages come with additional features included such as internet access, satellite radio, and more in their base price. From a users view, one of the best advantages of the satellite TV system is that it offers additional information about shows - something that you could not get with traditional cable television.
There are those people who have concerns about the reliability of the signal. Although there might be signal interruptions due to electrical storms or very bad weather, but these service breaks are rare and this technology is very reliable and enjoyable!
Regardless of which satellite television provider you have there is more to finding differences than what programs they offer and at what prices. To accurately compare satellite TV systems, you will also need to look at the different systems each of the providers offer. Overall, the service rating and picture quality are going to fairly even with digital signals being used by both DirecTV and Dish Network. The much newer and smaller Sky Angel Network is focused on religious and family-oriented programming and has a much smaller audience base.
All in all there will rarely be any visible difference from a television picture from either provider but when you compare satellite TV systems it may the little things that stand out. Small issues like the ease of use of the remote control and how they are marked for easily selection. Both companies offer digital video recording services, both charge about the same for using the service, and how easy each on is to select programs for recording varies only slightly.
DirecTV for example, allows for recording of programs by date, time and title, as does Dish Network, but when you compare satellite TV systems you see that with DirecTV you can what they call the season pass and record the program every time it is broadcast. You have the option of choosing every time it is broadcast or only record the new programs, eliminating the recording of repeats.
Recording Space May Be Vastly Different
How much time is available for recording can be noticeable when you compare satellite TV systems. Since both operate pretty much the same with the capability of playback in slow motion and typical commands such as play, fast-forward, rewind and pause, you will want to compare satellite TV systems to see their recording capabilities. For example, DirecTV can record about 35 hours of programming, usually more than enough for the average viewer. Dish Network's DVT service can store up to 100 hours of digital recording.
Be aware that recording high definition programming requires significantly more space than recording regular programming and the number of hours stored on the unit will vary. To compare satellite TV systems based on how much time they will record may not be altogether fair as both are capable of sending the recorded program to another medium such as a videocassette recorder or to an external digital video recorder for saving indefinitely while freeing up space on the DVR for additional recording.
Both Robert Gravener & Charlie Reese are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Robert Gravener has sinced written about articles on various topics from Online Dating, Aging and Satellite. Robert Gravener is the editor for Free-SatelliteTVGuie.com. It's time you got your own system setup, isn't it? Get the best :. Robert Gravener's top article generates over 12100 views. to your Favourites.
Charlie Reese has sinced written about articles on various topics from Psychic Readings, Wedding Gowns and Wedding Bells. Charlie Reese writes about movies and movies systems. Charlie also enjoys getting readings and he has studied the. Charlie Reese's top article generates over 673000 views. to your Favourites.