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Saturday, March 27, 2010

Satellite Tv

Satellite TV refers to the use of communication satellites to receive television waves with the help of a Satellite dish and set-top box. This provides digital audio and video, the quality of which is very good compared to the predeceasing Analog signals received through just an Antenna. Satellite TV first reached our shores in the late 1990’s, when the hardware was very costly. These had huge set top boxes and satellite dishes. The best part of Satellite TV is that even the rural customers can now experience the same quality of service given to urban customers. The cost factor is also comparatively the same as cable, provided you are legally getting the cable connection!
Satellite TV uses satellites to relay the signals. The signals originate from a up-link station which use transmitting antennas which are huge, and measure 30 feet to 40 feet in diameter. The dishes are large because accurate aiming can be achieved all the while getting increased signal strength. The dish is pointed in the direction of the satellite which relays the signals down to earth. This relaying is also called as ‘Re-Transmission’, but uses a different frequency than the one received from the originating station. At the customers side, the receiving dish takes in the weak signal from the satellite and amplifies it making it strong enough to be shown clearly on the television. Satellites transmit signals which are scrambled, which means only authorized boxes will be able to de-scramble it with the decoder chips inside. But people do have ways to bypass it with certain high tech devices. The signals sent are of MPEG standards, particularly MPEG-2 and newer MPEG-4 technology. Certain satellites also have the capability to transmit High Definition Television(HDTV) signals which are required by larger LCD and Plasma TVs. The set-up boxes lets the Satellite TV companies to allow only the channels that the customer pays for.
In Satellite television both the transmitting station and the satellite transmits via radio signals. The Broadcast stations though, use a larger dish while the customer uses a smaller dish. Unlike Broadcast TV, Satellite TV is not affected by obstacles like trees or buildings. For this reason they say that if the earth was flat, satellite tv could be broadcasted thousands of miles more than what is being done at the moment. So, a Satellite TV doesn’t require broadcasting stations at every area, instead satellites in the earth’s orbit do the work. This way the satellites can maintain a bigger range of Line Of Sight with the customer dishes.
But nowadays, Satellite Television is facing stiff competition from the cable and internet television technologies. Cable TV has a lot of advancements with respect to quality, and lower costs. Also, Cable TV can be split and viewed in different rooms of your house, something that cant be done with Satellite TV because of the existence of the Set-Top boxes. But Cable TV does have a disadvantage of reach and access, particularly in the rural areas.


Source : Aajkideals









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