Making the Choice - Satellite Or Cable TV?

With the move to Digital TV, right around the corner, many are deciding on upgrading their TV service. The question now is what. Satellite or Cable. We here at Digital Landing try and answer some common question for those ready to make the leap Q: What is a satellite TV service? How much does it cost? Satellite TV service gets its TV signals from satellites in geosynchronous orbit. Because they stay in the same position relative to the earth's surface at all times, once a satellite antenna (usually, a dish of some kind) is properly aimed, it can be left as-is thereafter. Satellite signals are broadcast from a ground station to multiple satellites, which then broadcast those signals back to the earth across huge expanses of territory. Anybody with a satellite dish (the antenna), plus the proper signal processing gear (a set-top box of some kind, usually called a satellite receiver, is required for each TV set on which you want to watch the provider's programming) that can "TV por Assinatura" a satellite can pick up the signal. A single antenna can feed multiple satellite receivers, but a physical cable is routed from the antenna to each receiver (inside the house, both cable and satellite TV require cables for each TV set). Satellite providers control access to their networks by including special encryption and encoding in their signals, and tightly controlling the equipment that can read and playback those signals, to prevent unauthorized users from tuning in and obtaining free TV service. Satellite TV service costs vary, primarily according to the channels that subscribers elect to pay for. That said, both DirecTV and Dish Network (the two primary satellite providers in North America) offer basic packages for $20 to $25 per month. Add-on options for HDTV, sports channels, movie channels, and so forth usually cost anywhere from $8 to $25 per month each (or come in season-long subscriptions for sports such as NFL football, NBA basketball, and so forth). Lots of bundles are available in the $30 to $55 a month range, but it's easy to spend $100 a month or more on satellite TV services, especially if you like sports or movies, or both. Dish Network offers equipment to subscribers at no charge, including DVR (digital video recording) or HDTV (high-definition television) receivers. DirecTV charges $99 for SDTV DVR receivers, and $299 for HDTV DVR receivers (check for rebates). Q: What is cable TV service? How much does it cost? Cable TV service basically entails running a physical broadband cable into your household, usually some kind of high-bandwidth coaxial cable (though some fiber-optic-based offerings are starting to become available in some markets). Cable TV companies operate various types of broadcast equipment that essentially combine hundreds of analog and digital TV channels into a single cable that can be decoded and interpreted when passed into the right kind of set-top box. Cable companies monitor the hardware attached to their networks very closely and permit only devices with known physical hardware addresses to access their signals. Though you can buy your own cable equipment in some markets, you can't use that equipment until the provider reads its hardware address and enables it to work with their signals. As with satellite TV, a set-top box is generally required for each TV set on which you want to watch cable TV signals, and a physical cable hook-up for each such box is also required. Most cable providers also have to ensure that individual hook-ups are "digital ready" before they can accommodate digital set-top boxes and HDTV signals.