DTH (Direct to Home)

 

Presented by:
 

What Is DTH
‡The Direct-To-Home (DTH) service is a digital 
satellite service that provides television
services direct to subscribers anywhere in the
country.
‡Since it makes use of wireless technology,
progr ams are sent to the subscriber's
television direct from the satellite, eliminating
the need for cables and any cable
infr astructure.
‡This is particular ly valuable in remote and
difficult to reach areas where cable and in
many cases, terrestrial television services are
poor or non existent.
 

Problems with Broadcast TV or 

Need for DTH
‡ Conceptually, DTH(satellite TV) is a lot like
broadcast TV
‡ The main limitation of broadcast TV is r ange.
The r adio signals used to broadcast television
shoot out from the broadcast antenna in a 
str aight line. In order to receive t hese signals,
you have to be in t he direct line of sight of the
antenna.
‡ The other problem with broadcast TV is that the
signal is often distorted, even in t he viewing
area.
 

The DTH Solution

‡ DTH solves the problems of r ange and
distortion by tr ansmitting broadcast signals
from satellites orbiting the Earth.

‡ Since satellites are high in the sky, there

are a lot more customers in t he line of 
sight. DTH systems tr ansmit and receive
r adio signals using specialized antennas
called satellite dishes.
 

Satellites are higher in the sky than TV antennas,

so they have a much larger line of sight r ange.
 

Satellites Used by DTH providers

‡ The TV satellites are all in geosynchronous orbit,

meaning that they stay in one place in the sky
relative to the Earth.
‡ The satellite keeps pace with our moving planet
exactly. This way, you only have to direct the
dish at the satellite once, and from then on it
picks up the signal without adjustment,
 

Direct broadcast satellite (DBS)

provider [DishTV,TataSky]
‡ The provider selects progr ams and broadcasts
them to subscribers as a set package. Basically,
the provider's goal is to bring dozens or even
hundreds of c hannels to your TV.
‡ Unlike ear lier progr amming, the provider's
broadcast is completely digital, which means it
has much better picture and sound qu ality .
Ear ly satellite television was broadcast in C-
band r adio(3.7-gig ahertz (GHz) to 6.4-GHz
frequency r ange). Digital broadcast satellite
tr ansmits progr amming in the Ku frequency
r ange (11.7 GHz to 14.5 GHz ).
 

The Components of DTH

‡ There are five ma jor components involved in a direct to home (DTH) or 
direct broadcasting (DBS) satellite system: the progr amming source, the
broadcast center, the satellite, the satellite dish and the receiver.

1. Progr amming sources are simply the channels that provide progr amming for 
broadcast. The provider doesn't create original progr amming itself; it pays
other companies (HBO, for example, or ESPN) for the right to broadcast
their content via satellite. In this way, the provider is kind of like a broker 
between you and the actual progr amming sources. (Cable TV companies
wor k on the same principle.)

2. The broadcast center is the centr al hub of the system. At the broadcast

center, the TV provider receives signals from various progr amming sources
and beams a broadcast signal to satellites in geosynchronous orbit.
 

The Components of DTH(contd.)

3. The satellites receive the signals from the broadcast
station and rebroadcast them to Earth.

4. The viewer's dish picks up the signal from the satellite

(or multiple s atellites in the same part of the sky) and
passes it on to the receiver in the viewer's house.

5. The receiver processes the signal and passes it on to a 

standard TV.
 

Satellite TV Progr amming

‡ Satellite TV providers get progr amming from two ma jor 

sources: national turnaround channels (such as HBO,
ESPN and CNN) and various local channels (the ABC,
CBS, Fox, NBC and PBS affiliates in a particular area).
Most of the turnaround channels also provide
progr amming for cable TV, and the local channels
typically broadcast their progr amming over the airwaves.

‡ Turnaround channels usually have a distribution center 

that beams their progr amming to a geosynchronous
satellite. The broadcast center uses large satellite dishes
to pick up these analog and digital signals from sever al 
sources.
 

Satellite Progr amming(contd.)
‡ The broadcast center converts all of this progr amming
into a high-quality, uncompressed digital stream. At this
point, the stream contains a vast quantity of data -- about
270 megabits per second (Mbps) for e ach channel. In
order to tr ansmit the signal from there, the broadcast
center has to compress it. Otherwise, it would be too big
for the satellite to handle. In the next section, we'll find
out how the signal is compressed.
 

Satellite TV Signal
‡ Satellite signals have a pretty long path to follow before they appear 
on your TV screen in the form of your f avorite TV show. Because
satellite signals contain such high-quality digital data, it would be
impossible to tr ansmit them without compression. Compression
simply means that unnecessary or repetitive information is removed
from the signal before it is tr ansmitted. The signal is reconstructed
after tr ansmission.
‡ Satellite TV uses a special type of video file compression
standardized by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG). With 
MPEG compression, the provider is able to tr ansmit significantly
more channels. There are currently five of these MPEG standards,
each serving a different purpose.
 

Compression used
‡ First MPEG-2, which is still used to store movies on
DVDs and for digital cable television (DTV). With MPEG-
2, the TV provider can reduce the 270-Mbps stream to
about 5 or 10 Mbps (depending on t he type of 
progr amming).
‡ MPEG-4 can encode more efficient ly and provide a 
greater bandwidth than MPEG-2. MPEG-2 remains the
official standard for digital TV compression, but it is
better equipped to analyze static images, like those you
see on a talk show or newscast, than moving, dynamic
images.
 

Satellite TV Encoding and

Encryption
‡ At the broadcast center, the high-quality digital stream of video goes through 
an MPEG encoder, which converts the progr amming to MPEG-4 video of the
correct size and format for the satellite receiver in your house.

‡ Encoding work  s in conjunction with compression to analyze each video

fr ame and eliminate redundant or irrelevant data and extr apolate information
from other fr ames. This process reduces the over all size of the file. Each 
fr ame can be encoded in one of three ways:

  As an intr afr ame, which contains the complete image data for that fr ame.
This method provides the least compression.
  As a predicted fr ame, which contains just enough information to tell the
satellite receiver how to display the fr ame based on the most recently
displayed intr afr ame or predicted fr ame. A predicted fr ame contains only
data that explains how the picture has changed from the previous fr ame.
  As a bidirectional fr ame, which displays information from the surrounding
intr afr ame or predicted fr ames. Using data from the closest surrounding
fr ames, the receiver interpolates the position and color of each pixel.
 

Encryption and Tr ansmission

‡ After the video is compressed, t he provider encrypts it to
keep people from accessing it for free. Encryption
scr ambles the digital data in such a way that it can only
be decrypted (converted back into usable data) if the
receiver has the correct decryption algorithm and
security keys.

‡ Once the signal is compressed and encrypted, the

broadcast center beams it directly to one of its s atellites.
The satellite picks up the signal with an onboard dish,
amplifies the signal and uses another dish to beam the
signal back to Earth, where viewers can pick it up.
 

Satellite Dish
‡ When the signal reaches the
viewer's house, it is captured
by the satellite dish. A satellite
dish is just a special kind of 
antenna designed to focus on
a specific broadcast source.
The standard dish consists of a 
par abolic (bowl-shaped)
surf ace and a centr al feed
horn. To tr ansmit a signal, a 
controller sends it through the
horn, and the dish focuses the
signal into a relatively narrow
beam.
 

‡ The end component in the entire satellite TV system is

the receiver. The receiver has four essential jobs:

‡ * It de-scra  mbles the encrypted signal. In order to

unlock the signal, the receiver needs the proper decoder 
chip for that progr amming package. The provider can
communicate with the chip, via the satellite signal, to
make necessary adjustments to its decoding progr ams.
The provider may occasionally send signals that disrupt
illegal de-scr amblers as an electronic counter measure
(ECM) against illegal users.
‡ * It takes the digital MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 signal and
converts it into an analog format that a standard
television can recognize.
 

Satellite Receiver 
‡ The end component in the entire satellite TV system is the receiver.
The receiver has four essential jobs:

‡ It de-scra  mbles the encrypted signal. In order to unlock the signal,

the receiver needs the proper decoder chip for that progr amming
package. The provider can communicate with the chip, via the
satellite signal, to make necessary adjustments to its decoding
progr ams. The provider may occasionally send signals that disrupt
illegal de-scr amblers as an electronic counter measure (ECM)
against illegal users.
‡ It takes the digital MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 signal and converts it into an
analog format that a standard television can recognize. In the United
States, receivers convert the digital signal to the analog National 
Television Systems Committee (NTSC) format. Some dish and
receiver setups can also output an HDTV signal.
 

Satellite Receiver (contd.)

‡ It extra  cts the individual channels from the larger satellite signal.
When you change the channel on the receiver, it sends just the
signal for that channel to your TV. Since the receiver spits out only
one channel at a time, you can't tape one progr am and watch 
another. You also can't watch two different progr ams on two TVs
hooked up to the same receiver. In order to do these things, which 
are standard on conventional cable, you need to buy an additional 
receiver.
‡ It keeps tr ack of pay-per-view progr ams and periodically phones a 
computer at the provider's headquarters to communicate billing
information.
‡ Receivers have a number of other features as well. They pick up a 
progr amming schedule signal from the provider and present this
information in an onscreen progr amming guide. Many receivers
have parental lock-out options, and some have built-in digital video
recorders (DVRs), which let you pause live television or record it on
a hard drive.
 

Cable: Satellite's Biggest

Contender 
‡ W ith emerging technologies in each service, the hardest decision in TV
viewing is no longer just what channel to watch -- it's what service to
choose.

‡ Cable advantages: Advancements in digital cable provide improved audio

and picture quality with additional channels at a lower cost than satellite.
You can also access cable channels from multiple rooms in your house
f air ly easily.
‡ Cable disadvantages: Cable has limited access in rur al areas, and you
should prepare for increased service costs as your provider updates its
equipment. Your service costs are also subject to local taxes.
‡ Satellite advantages: Satellite offers movie-quality audio and picture display
with hundreds of channels. This service is readily available in rur al and
urban areas and provides access to more digital and high definition
progr amming.
‡ Satellite disadvantages: It is expensive to purchase all the equipment at the
outset (and you can't typically rent it). If you want to access satellite TV in
multiple rooms, be prepared for extr a fees. Also, satellite TV is subject to
weather-related malfunctions.
 

Thank You