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DTH is no new a technology and it has matured to its full potential in
other parts of the world. There are many applications found everyday for
exploitation of benefits of DTH? The word µDTH¶ is synonymous with
transmission of digital video channel to home subscriber using a small
dish antenna. The DTH utilizes a technology which enables a home to
receive high speed internet broadband access data communication, voice
over internet protocol (IP) telephony and much more using an open
standard Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) technology. The video
channels are received with a suitable set top box capable of
demodulating Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG-2) standard
videos. Hardware compatible with DVB-RCS technology is readily
available in the market in both Ku-band and C-band. DVB-RCS is
an international open standard for multimedia satellite network
where the return data rates in access of 2 Mbps are possible using
low cost user terminals. The forward ink is usually at 40 Mbps.
 
!
DTH stands for Direct-To-Home television. DTH is defined as the
reception of satellite programmes with a personal dish in an
individual home.
DTH does away with the need for the local cable operator and puts
the broadcaster directly in touch with the consumer. Only cable
operators can receive satellite programmes and they then distribute
them to individual homes.
How does DTH work?
A DTH network consists of a broadcasting centre, satellites,
encoders, multiplexers, modulators and DTH receivers.
A DTH service provider has to lease Ku-band transponders from
the satellite. The encoder converts the audio, video and data signals
into the digital format and the multiplexer mixes these signals. At
the user end, there will be a small dish antenna and set-top boxes to
decode and view numerous channels. On the user's end, receiving
dishes can be as small as 45 cm in diametre.
DTH is an encrypted transmission that travels to the consumer
directly through a satellite. DTH transmission is received directly
by the consumer at his end through the small dish antenna. A settop
box, unlike the regular cable connection, decodes the encrypted
transmission.
How does DTH really differ from cable TV?
The way DTH reaches a consumer's home is different from the
way cable TV does. In DTH, TV channels would be transmitted
from the satellite to a small dish antenna mounted on the window
available at the rooftop of the subscriber's home. So the broadcaster
directly connects to the user. The middlemen like local cable operators
are not there in the picture.
DTH can also reach the remotest of areas since it does away with
the intermediate step of a cable operator and the wires (cables) that
come from the cable operator to your house. As we explained
above, in DTH signals directly come from the satellite to your
DTH dish.
Also, with DTH, a user can scan nearly 700 channels!
Does one need to put two dish antennae and pay double
subscription per month if one has two TVs?
For multiple connections in the same premises, one can use the
same connection. However, every television set will need to have
an individual STB.
Also, DTH is a national service and the STBs enable a viewer to
change service providers without changing the STB, even if one
moves from one city to another.
Can a CAS set-top box be used for DTH?
No, these are different set-top boxes.
Why is DTH is being discussed now?
Doordarshan plans to launch its DTH telecast from April 1. The
government has said it will provide 10,000 dishes free across eight
states for increased community viewing of the DTH service. The
government is estimated to be investing over Rs 300 crore (Rs 3
billion) in this DTH venture.
Is DTH superior to cable TV?
Yes. DTH offers better quality picture than cable TV. This is
because cable TV in India is analog. Despite digital transmission
and reception, the cable transmission is still analog. DTH offers
stereophonic sound effects. It can also reach remote areas where
terrestrial transmission and cable TV have failed to penetrate.
Apart from enhanced picture quality, DTH has also allows for
interactive TV services such as movie-on-demand, Internet access,
video conferencing and e-mail. But the thing that DTH has going
for it is that the powerful broadcasting companies like Star,
Zee,Airtel,Tata,Videocon,etc are pushing for it.
So why are broadcasters pushing for DTH?
In DTH, the payments will be made directly by the subscriber to
the satellite company offering the service.
A big problem that broadcasters face in India is the issue of
underreporting of subscribers by cable operators.
Consider the cable operators pyramid. Right at the top is the
broadcaster. Next comes the Multi Service Cable Operator (MSOs)
like Siticable, InCable, etc. Below them are the Access Cable
Operators (ACOs) or your local cable guy who actually lays the
wires to your house.
The local cable operators or the ACOs then allegedly under-report
the number of subscribers they have bagged because they have to
pay the MSOs something like Rs 30-45 per household. Showing a
lesser number of households benefits ACOs.
With no way to actually cross check, the MSOs and the
broadcasters lose a lot. Broadcasters do not earn much in
subscription fees and are mostly dependent on advertisement
revenue to cover their costs, which is not sustainable and does not
offer high growth in revenues for broadcasters.
The way out of this is to use a set-top box so that it will be clear
how many households are actually using cable or going for DTH
where broadcasters directly connect to consumers and can actually
grow revenues with a growth in the subscriber base.
Why do DTH broadcasters think DTH will work in India?
Today, broadcasters believe that the market is ripe for DTH. The
prices of the dish and the set-top box have come down
significantly. Overall investments required in putting up a DTH
infrastructure has dropped and customers are also reaping the
benefits of more attractive tariffs.
The major thing that DTH operators are betting on is that the
service is coming at a time when the government is pushing for
CAS (conditional access system), which will make cable television
more expensive, narrowing the tariff gap between DTH and cable.
Will DTH be cheaper than cable or more expensive?
DTH will be definitely more expensive than cable as it exists
today.
A set-top box is a must for DTH. Earlier, when CAS made set-top
box mandatory for households, the costs between DTH and cable
would not have been too wide.
But CAS on the backburner now -- which means no set-top box (a
must for DTH), the price gap between DTH and cable will be
wide.
In Oct 2002, Siticable, which is owned by Zee, said that the cost of
the installation equipment, which includes the receiver dish and the
set-top box, would be priced at around Rs 3,900. Siticable is
looking to rope in 1 million subscribers in 15 months.
Other estimates say that digital cable set-top box may cost Rs
4,000, a DTH decoder dish is unlikely to cost less than Rs 7,000.
DTH's minimum subscription could be priced around Rs 500 per
month.
Some reports say that an entry level DTH STB will cost about Rs
7,000 (including taxes and installation cost at consumers end). A
more advanced STB with value added features like PVR (Personal
Video Recorder), PSTN connectivity, Gamming console, channel
management system, etc. may cost as much as Rs 15,000.
What is the history of DTH in India?
DTH services were first proposed in India in 1996. But they did
not pass approval because there were concerns over national
security and a cultural invasion. In 1997, the government even
imposed a ban when the Rupert Murdoch-owned Indian Sky
Broadcasting (ISkyB) was about to launch its DTH services in
India.
Finally in 2000, DTH was allowed. The new policy requires all
operators to set up earth stations in India within 12 months of
getting a license. DTH licenses in India will cost $2.14 million and
will be valid for 10 years. The companies offering DTH service
will have to have an Indian chief and foreign equity has been
capped at 49 per cent. There is no limit on the number of
companies that can apply for the DTH license.
So, what's the buzz? Will DTH finally be the one that rules?
The cable system is well entrenched in India and is showing quite
rapid growth. If DTH had come to India in 1996-97 (like Star had
originally attempted), then it could have made a significant
breakthrough.
Europe is an example of this. DTH developed there before cable
and now controls nearly 80 per cent of the total satellite television
subscriber base. But in US, cable rules because it came before
DTH.
DTH will definitely cut into the existing cable user base. It will
make the local cable operator less important and take business
away from him. It will give consumers greater choice.
But it is likely to be an up market premium product and most
middle class households will stick to cab
available at www.mindstien.net
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Dth is a fast emerging in this part of the globe . the
technology would be well suited to the need of the Indian people.
This technology will help reach to those part of the country which
is difficult to reach.
The dth network consists of two parts :
â Transmission station
â Receive terminal
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The transmission station also known as earth
station is used to uplink the contents. The base analog or digital
video-audio are converted to the DVB standard using the encoder
and multiplexer. V

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The terminal can be placed outside the window of
a high rise building, on the ground or a roof mount. The
terminals can be used as per the contents being beam by the
transmission stations. V   



 

 



 









  


  



 
  




    


 
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The selection of the appropriate antenna size helps in keepin
the network up and healthy.
it is decided based on the following:
 Satellite EIRP at the particular location.
 Rain attenuation at the location.
 Adequate Eb/No for reception of excellent picture quality.
 With the 'CAS' issue not yet resolved, there's 'DTH'
coming up to muddle things up for you and me.
#(##$%,# 
The antenna mount can be selected based on the
requirements of the user:
 wall mount
 roof mount
 ground mount
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Certain commercial accounts, like sports bars, won¶t settle
anything less than the based. Can a you imagine a branch of rowdy
guys drinking beer all day then losing the signal in the middle of
the ground?
A DTH service provider has to lease Ku-band transponders from
the satellite. The encoder converts the audio, video and data signals
into the digital format and the multiplexer mixes these signals. At
the user end, there will be a small dish antenna and set-top boxes to
decode and view numerous channels. On the user's end, receiving
dishes can be as small as 45 cm in diameter.
DTH is an encrypted transmission that travels to the consumer
directly through a satellite. DTH transmission is received directly
by the consumer at his end through the small dish antenna. A settop
box, unlike the regular cable connection, decodes the encrypted
transmission.
The way DTH reaches a consumer's home is different from the
way cable TV does. In DTH, TV channels would be transmitted
from the satellite to a small dish antenna mounted on the window
or rooftop of the subscriber's home. So the broadcaster directly
connects to the user. The middlemen like local cable operators are
not there in the picture.
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Polarization is a way to give transmission signals a specific
direction. It makes the beam more concentrated. Signals
transmitted by satellite can be polarized in one or four different
ways: linear (horizontal or vertical) or circular (left-hand or right
available hand). FSS satellites use horizontal or vertical polarization,
DBS satellites used left- and right-hand circular polarization. to use the
channel that are available for broadcast as efficiently as possible,
both horizontal and vertical polarization (and left and right circular
polarization ) can be applied simultaneously per channel or
frequency. In such cases the frequency of one of the two is slightly
altered, to prevent possible interference. DTH can also reach the
remotest of areas since it does away with the intermediate step of a
cable operator and the wires (cables) that come from the cable
operator to your house. As we explained above, in DTH signals
directly come from the satellite to your DTH dish.
Consequently, via one and the same frequency the satellite can
broadcast both the horizontal and vertical polarized signal (H and
V), or a left and right ±hand circular polarized signal (LH and RH).
  
The set top box consists of the tuner, demodulator and
decoder. The output of set top box can be in the RH format of the
A/V format. There are different types of STB.
Performance requirements of a set top box:
Parameter requirements
-(*"*- .(*/*%# 
a) input voltage range : 90-250V AC
b) frequency connectors: 50Hz 5%

%##(*%" 
a. satellite input 75 ohm impedance , female
connectors
b. output video 1*RCA type
c. output audio 2* RCA type
d. RF output 75 ohms impedance , male
connectors
*"*(" * %/
 0#-
a)System DVB-S
b) Modulation QPSK
c) Carrier to noise ratio compliant to DVB-S

NSS 6, Ku-band satellite with Ka band uplink capabilities , will
provide fully interactive access to high speed internet and other
multimedia communications . Additionally, it will provide
direct to home broadcasting services a well AS THE full
compliment of traditional enterprise telecommunications
services across the large coverage area stretching from the
eastern Mediterranean and southern Africa to Australia, Japan
and Korea.
Access Cable Operators (ACOs) or your local cable guy who
actually lays the wires to your house.
The local cable operators or the ACOs then allegedly underreport
the number of subscribers they have bagged because they
have to pay the MSOs something like Rs 30-45 per household.
Showing a lesser number of households benefits ACOs.
With no way to actually cross check, the MSOs and the
broadcasters lose a lot. Broadcasters do not earn much in
subscription fees and are mostly dependent on advertisement
revenue to cover their costs, which is not sustainable and does
not offer high growth in revenues for broadcasters.
The way out of this is to use a set-top box so that it will be clear
how many households are actually using cable or going for
DTH where broadcasters directly connect to consumers and can
actually grow revenues with a growth in the subscriber base.
Why do Doordarshan, Zee, Star think DTH will work in India?
Today, broadcasters believe that the market is ripe for DTH.
The prices of the dish and the set-top box have come down
significantly. Overall investments required in putting up a DTH
available at www.mindstien.net
infrastructure has dropped and customers are also reaping the
benefits of more attractive tariffs.
available at www.mindstien.net

"(*1"%+* 2 (--(
Direct broadcast satellite, (DBS) also known as "Direct-To-
Home" is a relatively recent development in the world of television
distribution. ³Direct broadcast satellite´ can either refer to the
communications satellites themselves that deliver DBS service or
the actual television service. DBS systems are commonly referred
to as "mini-dish" systems. DBS uses the upper portion of the Ku
band.
Modified DBS systems can also run on C-band satellites and
have been used by some networks in the past to get around
legislation by some countries against reception of Ku-band
transmissions. DBS systems are generally based on proprietary
transport stream encoding and/or encryption requiring proprietary
reception equipment. Service providers sometimes license several
manufacturers to provide equipment capable of receiving the
proprietary streams. This equipment typically uses a smart card as
part of the decryption system or conditional access. This measure
assures satellite television providers that only authorised; paying
subscribers have access to Pay TV content but at the same time can
available at www.mindstien.net
allow free-to-air (FTA) channels to be viewed even by the people
with standard equipment available in the market.
(-(2 %#"(*(2(%#-3
Television receive-only, or TVRO, refers to satellite
television reception equipment that is based primarily on open
standards equipment. This contrasts sharply with direct broadcast
satellite, which is a completely closed system that uses proprietary
reception equipment. TVRO is often referred to as "big dish"
satellite television. TVRO systems are designed to receive analog
and digital satellite feeds of both television or audio from both Cband
and Ku-band transponders on FSS-type (--( & 
systems tend to use larger rather than smaller satellite dish
antennas, since it is more likely that the owner of a TVRO system
would have a C-band-only setup rather than a Ku band-only setup.
Additional receiver boxes allow for different types of digital
satellite signal reception, such as DVB/MPEG-2 and 4DTV.
The narrow beam width of a normal parabolic satellite
antenna means it can only receive signals from a single satellite at
a time. Simulsat is a quasi-parabolic satellite earthstation antenna
that is capable of receiving satellite transmissions from 35 or more
C- and Ku-band satellites simultaneously.
Direct broadcasting satellites which can be received by what
are known in Chinese as

 
 have had a major role in
breaking the government monopoly of information on Mainland
China. Although met with frequent and generally unsuccessful
efforts to regulate them, these small satellite dishes are fairly
common in urban China. Satellite television has also played an
important role in broadcasting to expatriate communities such as
Arabs, and overseas Chinese.
available at www.mindstien.net

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a) To view pay & free-to-air TV channels of various DTH
platform on your home TV.
b) Doordarshan free-to-air srvices providing 40 TV
channels with no subscription fees is an attractive
preposition to people in urban and rural areas . these
channels comprises of DD channels and popular
channels of news , sports , information , entertainment
etc.
c) One can csan the entire globe with a motorised dish
using a CI set top box with CAM modules and watch
TV channels of several DTH platforms visible to the
dish terminals.
d) A number hasstarted IP broadcast with rturn channel on
PSTN line and this would be for education and other
application.

 c
Benefits of DTH extends to all sections of the
society .since DTH has a reach in all areas whether it is remote
or urban , it provides equal benefits to everyone . benefits of
DTH are listed below:
 Cost effective communication , information and
entertainment to all .
 Small size terminals can provide upto 4000 TV channels
and 2000 radio channels through a click of a button and
thus brings world¶s latest information , news ,
entertainment to your home .
 DTH services bypasses mediators and thus content
provider comes with customer directly.
 DTH services are transparent providing digital quality
video , audio , radio, and IP to all at equal prices and other
benefits with reliability.

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DTH projects in India are just a beginning and we are taking
The advantage of DTH revolution. direct to home connects urban ,
rural and remote areas of the country and provides desire
information , communication, education and entertainment at the
click of a button.
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