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Home : Satellite TV related articles Choices in TV entertainment - Cable TV, Digital Cable TV, and Satellite TVEver since late 80s, TV amusement had been expanding in lighting speed. Most people over the age of thirty remember when you needed a good set of “rabbit ears" on top of the TV set just to receive local network TV signals. In contrast, TV entertainment nowadays is much more exciting than it was in the eighties. Hundreds of channels are available to you just about anywhere you live. As technology advanced, consumers can now have more options than they can ever have in the past to obtain TV entertainments. You have a choice between conventional (analog) Cable, Digital Cable, and all-Digital Satellite Television. This entire offer up to hundreds of TV programming – from sports to movies, MTV to documentary programs, News channel to TV shopping: you name it and will get it! But with too many options available in the market, dilemma comes. How do you know which TV system is best for you? Below is a breakdown of each system and how they compare to each other, so you can choose the right signal for your home and budget. Satellite TVSatellite TV is the new comers in TV entertainment business. However they are growing fast and becoming more and more popular in the States. Dish Network and DIRECTV are the major two satellite TV providers that you definitely will not feel stranger with. Satellite TV services offer up to 200 plus programming choices with all digital quality. Their signal is transmit via an 18” satellite dish pointing to the northern sky. Besides the satellite dish, users need to be equipped with satellite decoders as well as Television sets. Conventional cable TV (analogs)Conventional Cable is by far the least advanced of the three and offers you the fewest features. Picture and audio quality comes in analog signal and the quality is much lower when compare to digital cable or satellite TV. Digital cable TVIn an effort to compete with Satellite television providers, most Cable companies are making a strong push to get their customers on their Digital systems. Digital Cable television has many advantages over conventional Cable, including high-speed internet access and video on demand, as well as hundreds of Cable channel choices. Because of the land lines necessary to deliver and receive the Cable TV signal, there is a strong, well-established infrastructure to support the Cable system. However, cable TV companies always face problem in promoting their service in rural area as there might not be enough (or no) access port. If you happened to live in one of these less populate area, your choice is minimum. Comparing satellite TV and cable TVPicture quality As mentioned previously, all of Cable’s basic and expanded services are currently analog. You will enjoy digital picture quality with cables when you upgrade to Digital Cable. However take note that the upgrades do not earns you 100% digitized TV entertainment as the analog channels will remain analog even though you have digital equipment. Satellite TV on the other hand is 100% digital, which in general means better reception and picture quality. Installation Installation of cable TV takes lots of work. Normally what cable companies will do is that they will send their technicians to install and set up the TV sets. Installation jobs might take days depends on the number of TVs the users are going for. In certain cases, you might need to deal with cables lying everywhere in your house for the TV signal transmission. Installation tasks with satellite TV are much easier when compare to the cables. Its simple and you can even install it on your own. In most cases, installing satellite TV takes just a day to be completed. Both Dish Network and DIRECTV are giving out free installation services at the time of writing. Availability Cable TV might not be available in certain rural area, while satellite TV is available anywhere in the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska. Equipment Cable TV requires a set-top box for Digital services (generally at no extra cost) and Satellite TV requires a satellite dish and receivers (which can run you several hundreds of dollars). DIRECTV, unlike Dish Network, does not make you purchase equipment directly from them. Most popular manufacturers make dishes and receivers that are compatible with the DIRECTV system. When purchasing DIRECTV equipment you should weigh the options between manufacturers, the functionality provided by the different systems and overall cost. A note of caution is that the dishes and receivers must work together in order to receive the mix of features you have purchased because this can complicate things considerably so be sure to check that what you are getting matches what you need. When it comes to purchasing a system all prices are subject to promotions and availability and will vary from retailer to retailer. Programming Both cable TV and satellite TV offers up to hundreds of programming channels. Warner Cable TV for example, offers up to 250 channels in their premium package; while DIRECTV offers up to 265 channels. Not much different – except that satellite TV providers normally have more unique TV programs such as International channels (Dish Network is famous of its Dos Latino and Great Wall TV package) and sport channels (DIRECTV with NFL Sunday Tickets). Such condition makes users to choose satellite TV over the cables some times. Services In the past, cable TV users often experience signal outages, but this is usually offset by the fact that they have a fleet of technicians available 24/7. Digital cables nowadays are doing much better but the problem might still occur quite often for certain area. Satellite TV is more stable in contrast. The satellite signal sometimes will be affected by heavy storms but recent reports show that the outage with satellite TV is less than 1% in total. Interactive Services Satellite providers have electronic program guides, parental controls, video on demand and automated timers, as well as more advanced systems that offer a DVR (Digital Video Recorder), which allows programs to be recorded without videotape, PVR (Personal Video Recording), which allows you to pause and even rewind live broadcasts and HDTV (High Definition Television). Although these same features are often offered by Cable companies, availability to the consumer is dependent upon the local provider. Internet connection and bundle services Internet connection is one area where the true advantage goes to cable. 2-way satellite offerings do exist; however, at soonest, Also, cable has much more to offer besides of TV entertainment. As most large cable systems offer telephone, Internet and video services all bundled together, users might go for cable when considering the convenience provided. On the other hand, satellite is still several years away from a price, speed and quality that readily competes with cables. Further more, satellite service has less to offer when it comes to extra features or bundle services like phone. Satellite Internet is available but due to technical constrains, the service is not popular till now. Parental Control Both services come with parental control features which allow you to control what shows your children can watch. More readings on Cables and Satellite consumder topic
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