Digital Satellite Service

Digital satellite service has three major advantages that make up the fabric of the system. These advantages are what take it beyond and above cable television; even digital cable. Digital satellite service is of course digital, it is of a high-quality video, and it is extremely powerful.

The original satellite receivers that you see across the country are those gigantic metal satellites. Do you know which ones I am talking about? They are the satellites that look like the ones from a James Bond movie at a missile launching station. These satellites are not high powered at all. In fact, they are only 16 watts and send an analog signal.

The reason satellite dishes today are much smaller than their original counterparts is because of the wattage. The satellites today can send a very high powered watt signal to our receivers which in turn allow us to use a much smaller dish diameter. The normal dish diameter of today is 18 inches and 20 inches. Size does vary a little bit but for the most part that is what it is.

The satellite subscription service is really a first of its kind. They are the first ones to really have a mass audience sign up to be delivered information by a digital signal. Just like the internet, all of the information sent to our homes via satellite is sent in number code. The numbers are made up of nothing but combinations of zeros and ones.

Information is compressed and decompressed when being sent and received. This is also similar to the internet in the way data packets are sent. Compression is a little confusing to most people so here is a somewhat small lesson on compression and how digital satellite service works.

Before the information is sent, it must be encoded. Encoded is just another name for compression really. When the information is compressed it allows it to be sent at a much faster rate. The rate we are aiming for here is real time since that is what television works on. Television is not actually moving images either. Video is made up of 30 still images per second. This allows us or rather makes us think it is moving.

When viewing the image on our screen, an MPEG chip decodes the information and displays it accordingly on the television. Most of the decoding process is done right within the receiver. This kind of viewing was really a breakthrough because up until this point in history, nothing of this nature ever really existed.

Digital satellite is an interactive system. You can pick and choose what types of channels you want to watch whether it is sports, news, history, education, or movies. You can also pay to watch extra features that are not carried on the standard broadcast system. The whole concept is very much interactive compared to the analog cable counterpart.

Satellite systems track your usage and whether or not you have ordered any extra features, such as pay-per-view. They have gadgets called smartcards which track your requests sent to the service provider and help manage your monthly billing. You can record programs and watch them later at your convenience as well. Satellite is here to stay, the question is, are you ready?