DTH (Direct to Home)

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 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,
programs are sent to the subscriber's
television direct from the satellite, eliminating
the need for cables and any cable
infrastructure.
•This is particularly 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 range.
The radio signals used to broadcast television
shoot out from the broadcast antenna in a
straight line. In order to receive these signals,
you have to be in the direct line of sight of the
antenna.
• The other problem with broadcast TV is that the
signal is often distorted, even in the viewing
area.
 The DTH Solution
• DTH solves the problems of range and
distortion by transmitting broadcast signals
from satellites orbiting the Earth.

• Since satellites are high in the sky, there

are a lot more customers in the line of
sight. DTH systems transmit and receive
radio 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 range.
 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 programs and broadcasts
them to subscribers as a set package. Basically,
the provider's goal is to bring dozens or even
hundreds of channels to your TV.
• Unlike earlier programming, the provider's
broadcast is completely digital, which means it
has much better picture and sound quality .
Early satellite television was broadcast in C-
band radio(3.7-gigahertz (GHz) to 6.4-GHz
frequency range). Digital broadcast satellite
transmits programming in the Ku frequency
range (11.7 GHz to 14.5 GHz ).
 The Components of DTH
• There are five major components involved in a direct to home (DTH) or
direct broadcasting (DBS) satellite system: the programming source, the
broadcast center, the satellite, the satellite dish and the receiver.

1. Programming sources are simply the channels that provide programming for
broadcast. The provider doesn't create original programming 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 programming sources. (Cable TV companies
work on the same principle.)

2. The broadcast center is the central hub of the system. At the broadcast
center, the TV provider receives signals from various programming 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 satellites 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 Programming

• Satellite TV providers get programming from two major

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
programming for cable TV, and the local channels
typically broadcast their programming over the airwaves.

• Turnaround channels usually have a distribution center

that beams their programming to a geosynchronous
satellite. The broadcast center uses large satellite dishes
to pick up these analog and digital signals from several
sources.
 Satellite Programming(contd.)
• The broadcast center converts all of this programming
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 each channel. In
order to transmit 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 favorite TV show. Because
satellite signals contain such high-quality digital data, it would be
impossible to transmit them without compression. Compression
simply means that unnecessary or repetitive information is removed
from the signal before it is transmitted. The signal is reconstructed
after transmission.
• 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 transmit 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 the type of
programming).
• MPEG-4 can encode more efficiently 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 programming to MPEG-4 video of the
correct size and format for the satellite receiver in your house.

• Encoding works in conjunction with compression to analyze each video

frame and eliminate redundant or irrelevant data and extrapolate information
from other frames. This process reduces the overall size of the file. Each
frame can be encoded in one of three ways:

 As an intraframe, which contains the complete image data for that frame.
This method provides the least compression.
 As a predicted frame, which contains just enough information to tell the
satellite receiver how to display the frame based on the most recently
displayed intraframe or predicted frame. A predicted frame contains only
data that explains how the picture has changed from the previous frame.
 As a bidirectional frame, which displays information from the surrounding
intraframe or predicted frames. Using data from the closest surrounding
frames, the receiver interpolates the position and color of each pixel.
 Encryption and Transmission
• After the video is compressed, the provider encrypts it to
keep people from accessing it for free. Encryption
scrambles 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 satellites.
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 parabolic (bowl-shaped)
surface and a central feed
horn. To transmit 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-scrambles the encrypted signal. In order to

unlock the signal, the receiver needs the proper decoder
chip for that programming package. The provider can
communicate with the chip, via the satellite signal, to
make necessary adjustments to its decoding programs.
The provider may occasionally send signals that disrupt
illegal de-scramblers 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-scrambles the encrypted signal. In order to unlock the signal,

the receiver needs the proper decoder chip for that programming
package. The provider can communicate with the chip, via the
satellite signal, to make necessary adjustments to its decoding
programs. The provider may occasionally send signals that disrupt
illegal de-scramblers 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 extracts 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 program and watch
another. You also can't watch two different programs 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 track of pay-per-view programs 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
programming schedule signal from the provider and present this
information in an onscreen programming 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
• With 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 fairly
easily.
• Cable disadvantages: Cable has limited access in rural 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 rural and urban
areas and provides access to more digital and high definition programming.
• 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 extra fees. Also, satellite TV is subject to
weather-related malfunctions.
Thank You