Without a dish or antenna, today you can still watch satellite TV on your computer. This is a pretty amazing concept, as once upon a time people thought that this could be done only with the use of a television set. A lot of momentum has been gained with space communications, and this is truly what many people would prefer.

Watching satellite TV on your computer is far better than using a television set, as that will need the installation of a dish or antenna. This process could prove to be very lengthly and also complicated. With the computer, all one needs is a card to install the viewing software or PC satellite TV software, and a sound card, with a high-speed broadband connection.

Setting up a dish will also prove to be very expensive for most families, what with the cables and other expenses for equipment. The other drawback with the dishes is that they will have to be placed in the right direction, so that the signals are perfect. It has to be placed so that bad weather conditions will not affect the transmissions and viewing experience.

To watch satellite TV on your computer, you will have two options to do so. First there will be the hardware option, the PCTV cards and the other software option, PC satellite TV software. The satellite TV signals can be decoded and received with the help of the PCTV cards. This has to be installed on the motherboard of the PC. A USB port can be used to connect the external cards. The software option is simpler as it just requires you to run the installation execution file.

A good Internet connection is needed for both options. If you want the TV feeds to be of high quality, then the Internet connection has to be at least 512 kbps. The pictures will be sharper and better if broadband is used, though a dial up connection can be used for this purpose. While shopping for PCTV cards, you will also have to check if the requirements of installation are met by your computer.

It will be specified that there are certain configurations required for the computer such as the memory and RAM. To make the viewing better, you can also set up a good graphics card, sound card and a set of good speakers for a maximum viewing experience. PC satellite TV software can be downloaded instead of the use of the PCTV cards.

With the help of the software, anyone can watch satellite TV on their computers instantly. The last update puts the number of television programs available at more than 3000 TV broadcast stations. This number is expected to increase with time and no additional costs would be charged to existing users. The cost of the software is reasonable too which perhaps explain why viewers are giving up their satellite dishes for the software.