Popular Products > Electronics > Satellite TV

Before the invention of the satellite TV, terrestrial and cable TV beamed serials, ads and other types of content to TVs worldwide. However, this didn’t mean that once satellite TV was implemented the older types are discarded. Till today, in many countries satellite TV is used in parallel with cable and terrestrial TV, supplementing content and providing a wider range of channels, often on a subscription basis.

The birth of the satellite TV was in 1962 when the first signals from Europe were broadcast by the Telstar satellite to the US. These days, satellite TV is used primarily in three ways. Direct broadcast to the end viewer at home, broadcast via the local companies and broadcast to a central control device known as a headend who then use cable systems to relay the content to the end viewers.

Direct broadcast to the end viewer is known as DBS or Direct Broadcast Satellite or DTH (Direct-To-Home). Homes, hotels and other establishments normally use DTH. DBS has dual meaning as it is used to refer to the TV service as well as the satellites that provide this service. It is also known as a mini dish system. Generally, DBS or DTH use the Ku band but some also use the C band where there are restrictions in some nations against the use of the Ku band. Pay TV is a proprietary technology and it requires the use of encrypted data streams, smart cards and a Conditional Access Module. These ensure that only valid paying subscribers can access Pay TV versus FTA or Free to Air programs that absolutely anyone can see. It is also known as TVRO or Television Receive Only which is the big dish satellite TV.

Different companies offer satellite TV in different continents and countries around the world. In South Africa it is Multichoice’s DStv, in Canada it is Bell Canada’s StarChoice and ExpressVu. In Latin America it is SKY Latin America, in Brazil it is Digital TV and in the US it is DirecTV and Dish Network. Countries like India have their indigenously built satellite TV systems. The only satellite TV operator in Malaysia is Measat Broadcast Network Systems and Japan has SKY PerfecTV which uses JCSAT satellites. Pakistan has seen a boom with PakSat1 and many others providing satellite TV services. One of 4 homes all over the world use DTH or DBS and one of the pioneers is Middle East based MBC. In Australia, one of the first services was from Galaxy which was taken over by Foxtel.