Satellite TV System Guide :: The Science Behind it

The satellite TV system that you have may give you the best of TV viewing and digitalized programs. What about its insides? Have you ever wondered about the intricacies involved? What about the number of minute things that help transmit the digital signals to you? There are a whole lot of infinite things that make up this wonder! Read on to get an inside view of your satellite system.

First of all, the channel selection begins with the programming source. Popular companies like Showtime, HBO and Starz all create their own respective programming. The channel providers then purchase the rights of a particular programming to broadcast the shows through satellite. Then their attention is turned towards the broadcast centre to 'compress' and 'convert' the programming for satellite broadcast.

The original programming is a digital stream of video, which is then compressed and converted through an encoder, typically using the MPEG 2 format. This format reduces the overall size of the video, thereby making it possible for a satellite to broadcast hundreds of channels at the same time.

Once the encoding has been done, the video will then be encrypted making it possible only for the subscribers to view it. This encryption "scrambles" the signal so that those without the proper receivers get distorted and unintelligible video. After the video has been encrypted, it is sent to the provider's satellite. The satellite uses a dish similar to our satellite dish, to receive the video and send it back to the provider's subscribers. The satellite contains numerous components that allow it to pick up the broadcast signal, amplify it and resend at a specific frequency. Normally satellites have several other onboard components, including a power source such as solar panels or rechargeable batteries and a computer system to monitor the satellite's various functions and conditions.

The signals sent from the satellite are picked up by our dish, small round antennas that receive the satellite's broadcast and send the video on to our satellite TV receiver.

The little black box that is inside your home and the one that allows you to choose which channel you want to watch is the 'receiver'. The receiver actually performs several crucial functions in the satellite viewing process, including the decoding of the signal itself. The receiver "de-scrambles" the scrambled signals and converts this signal into a format that your television can handle, such as analog or HDTV.

All these put together enables us to get digitalized TV programming at its best!!