|
|
|
|
All About
DIRECTV
History
The Digital Satellite System (DSS) was developed by Hughes Electronics Corporation under the DIRECTV name. Hughes has long been a major manufacturer and operator of communications satellites, and established DIRECTV in 1990.
At that time, DBS (digital broadcast satellite) orbital frequencies at 101 degrees were owned by DIRECTV and USSB (United States Broadcasting, Inc.)
In 1991, these two companies formed an agreement to market their combined channels under the DSS name using the Hughes DBS satellites and the DSS equipment. DIRECTV has since bought out USSB and discontinued using DSS as a trade name.
Launching thier first satellite in 1993, DIRECTV was the first entertainment service in the U.S. to deliver all digital-quality, multi-channel TV programming to an 18-inch satellite dish. The launch of DIRECTV service, with its national reach, offered people across the continental U.S. with a much desired alternative to cable. And for the first time, consumers in rural areas who weren't being served by cable now could access programming like their urban and suburban counterparts.
DIRECTV also pioneered technological breakthroughs, including the first national system with interactive on-screen programming guide and ordering pay per view by remote control. DIRECTV innovations and awards for digital broadcast satellite technology have set a new standard for broadcast entertainment.
DIRECTV officially launched its service in the summer of 1994. According to industry statistics, the DIRECTV System became one of the fastest selling products ever to enter the consumer electronics market — faster than the color TV, CD player or VCR!
Today, DIRECTV is the nation's leading digital multi-channel satellite TV service provider. They offer access to hundreds of channels of quality programming in homes, condos, apartments and more. DIRECTV also provides television entertainment to tens of thousands of commercial operations such as airports, hotels, bars, restaurants, hospitals and offices.
DIRECTV continues to redefine the world of television with technological advances that give DIRECTV viewers greater control over their viewing, and services like digital video recording (DVR), high-definition TV (HDTV), expanded multi-cultural broadcasts, and interactive programming.
How They Do It....
The DIRECTV System includes a small satellite dish (the antenna for receiving a satellite broadcast signal), a digital integrated receiver-decoder or IRD (the receiver that separates each channel, decompresses and translates the digital satellite signal for the television), and a remote control.
The 18 inch dish and the digital satellite receivers are manufactured under license by several manufacturers and sold under the popular consumer names such as RCA, Sony, Hughes, and others. Yet the superior technology remains constant.
DIRECTV programming is distributed by several high-power satellites at stationary orbital locations at 22,300 miles above the Earth. Each satellite has multiple transponders that relay the DIRECTV signal from the broadcast centers to home satellite dishes. Since the satellites remain in the same location in the sky, no adjustment is necessary to change programming. When your DIRECTV System is installed, the dish is aimed at the satellites. The dish never has to track the satellites, so there's no waiting for the picture to come in and very little maintenance is required.
To gather programming content and transmit digital signals up to the satellites, DIRECTV has created digital broadcast centers that are among the most sophisticated in the world. Programming comes to the broadcast center from content providers (CNN, ESPN, etc.) via satellite, fiber optic cable and/or special digital tape. Programming is then digitized, encrypted and uplinked to the orbiting satellites. Some programs are copied to professional video servers by the broadcast centers' state-of-the-art automation equipment to be broadcast later.
Before recorded programs are viewed by customers, technicians use sophisticated post-production equipment to view and analyze each tape to ensure quality of audio and video. Professional video layout servers have playback of a program triggered by a computerized signal sent from the broadcast automation system. Back-up video servers ensure that transmissions remain uninterrupted at all times.
Finally, the satellites then transmit the signal back down to each customer's DIRECTV satellite dish.
If you know computers, you probably know about MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group). MPEG technology compresses a moving image so it takes a tiny fraction of the space it would normally require for transmission. Digital images can be very large. Just a few seconds would fill up the hard drive of the average home computer.
The DIRECTV satellites can send about 30,000,000 bps (bits per second) to a DIRECTV System - more than 500 times the speed of a 56k modem. This data transmission rate enables DIRECTV to retransmit digital video signals to subscribers with incredible speed and detail.
To learn more about DIRECTV systems and services, click below...
|
Authorized DIRECTV
Satellite TV Dealers
|
|
|
American Satellite
DirecTV, DirecWay, XM, Sirius, A/V
visit site
new window
Expert Satellite
DirecTV, DirectWay, XM Satellite Radio, Sirius Satellite Radio, Audio/Video Equipment and Accessories
visit site
new window
iSatellite
DirecTV, DirecWay
visit site
new window
Nationwide Satellite
DirecTV, DirecWay
visit site
new window
Rapid Satellite
DirecTV, DirectWay, Sirius Satellite Radio, Audio/Video Equipment and Accessories
visit site
new window
Sadoun Satellite
DirecTV, Voom, DirecWay, Sirius, XM, Audio/Video Equipment and Accesories
visit site
new window
|
|
|
© DirecTV and DirecWay copyright The
DirecTV Group, Inc., Dish Network copyright Echostar Communications Corp., Voom and VaVaVoom copyright Rainbow DBS, Inc., TiVo copyright TiVo, Inc., UltimateTV copyright Microsoft, Inc., Sirius and Sirius Satellite Radio copyright Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc., XM and XM Satellite Radio copyright XM Satellite Radio Inc, StarBand copyright StarBand Communications Inc.VIEW ALL COPYRIGHT NOTICES
|
|
