Satellite television

Satellite television is television delivered by way of communications satellites in geostationary orbit 37,000 km (22,300 miles) above the earth?s equator. The first satellite television signal was relayed from Europe to the Telstar satellite over North America in 1962. The first domestic North American satellite to carry television was Canada?s Anik 1, which was launched in 1973.

Direct broadcast via satellite

Direct broadcast satellite, (DBS) also known as "direct to home" is a relatively recent development in the world of television distribution. ?Direct broadcast satellite? can either refer to the communications satellites themselves that deliver DBS service or the actual television service. DBS systems are commonly referred to as "minidish" systems. DBS uses the upper portion of the Ku band.

Related Topics:
Direct broadcast satellite - K_u band

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Modified DBS systems can also run on C-band satellites and have been used by some networks in the past to get around legislation by some countries against reception of Ku-band transmissions.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

DBS systems are generally based on open standards such as MPEG-2 DVB-S but may include proprietary encryption and decryption/reception equipment, most often in the form of a television set-top signal descrambling box called an IRD (Integrated Receiver Decoder). This measure assures satellite television providers that only authorised, paying subscribers have access to Pay TV content but at the same time can allow free-to-air (FTA) channels to be viewed even by the people with standard equipment available in the market.

Related Topics:
MPEG-2 - DVB - Encryption - Free-to-air

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~