Television has become part and parcel of daily life today. Over the years, it has come a long way from its early restricted technology domain of a TV station feeding programmes to the nearby homes, with severe distance limitations.

With the advent of Cable TV, the scenario got changed drastically, enabling TV homes to receive tens of channels, in the place of one or two through rooftop antennas.

Subsequently, more technologies came in. Here we present the emerging technology trends in the delivery of TV programmes to homes and institutions - Terrestrial TV, Cable TV, DTH, HITS, IPTV, Internet TV…

Terrestrial or Conventional TV
The TV era started with this some 75 years back. A local TV transmitting station broadcasts the signal “over the air” to conventional TV antennas.

The antenna picks up this signal and sends it to the TV set in the room for viewing. This method of delivery had its severe limitations like the picture quality was very much dependent on the television set, type of antenna and distance from TV station transmitter.

And, above all, the number of programmes was decided by the TV stations serving the locality – one, two or three, depending upon the affluence of the country.

Cable TV
Cable TV or community antenna television (CATV) system provides TV channels to consumers through radio frequency signals transmitted via fixed optical fibers or coaxial cables. It distributes TV channels, FM radio, data services and telephony over a single wire which was not possible otherwise.

With Cable TV, many channel frequencies are multiplexed and modulated on a single cable medium with higher bandwidth and distributed direct to home with the help of amplifiers.

This method of TV delivery offers a clearer and cheaper alternative to Satellite TV channels which need more expensive coding and decoding equipments. With the help of Cable TV, it is now possible to embed and integrate different services into one single channel and distribute over a large population.

The high cable bandwidth allows the delivery of Internet and data services along with TV channels. Now, it is also possible to provide telephony services on the same medium.

Direct To Home (DTH)
DTH system enables reception of satellite television programmes with a personal dish antenna. The TV Programmes reach every home direct from the Broadcaster: no one in-between Broadcaster and Subscriber except the satellite.

Here, the Broadcaster receives TV Channels from different Programming sources and modulate these received signals and transmit to the satellite in KU Band (8 – 18 Hz). Subscriber receives TV signals direct from satellite through one small dish antenna placed in a direction facing the satellite.

By connecting one Set Top Box (STB) to the Dish antenna and to the Television one can enjoy TV programmes with various interactive features channel and distribute over a large population.

The high cable bandwidth allows the delivery of Internet and data services along with TV channels. Now, it is also possible to provide telephony services on the same medium.

DTH system enables reception of satellite television programmes with a personal dish antenna. The TV Programmes reach every home direct from the Broadcaster: no one in-between Broadcaster and Subscriber except the satellite. Here, the Broadcaster receives TV Channels from different Programming sources and modulate these received signals and transmit to the satellite in KU Band (8 – 18 GHz).

Subscriber receives TV signals direct from satellite through one small dish antenna placed in a direction facing the satellite. By connecting one Set Top Box (STB) to the Dish antenna and to the Television one can enjoy TV programmes with various interactive features.To select the content, the subscriber calls up a toll free number, which connects him to the Subscriber Management System (SMS) and logs in his request.

The SMS centre gives the message to the earth station, which executes the request through a data controller and also generates the monthly bills of the subscriber, which are then distributed by the local cable operators.

The difference between HITS and other digital formats such as CAS and DTH is that it is an interactive system where the viewer can use the same infrastructure to watch the programmes of his choice and to watch the same at a convenient time. With HITS, one can also access other facilities such as running searches, pay-per view and blocking programming by title, channel or rating.

IPTV
Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) system enables the delivery of digital television programmes over an Internet Protocol (IP) based computer network infrastructure, using a broadband connection.

Internet TV
Internet TV enables distribution of television programmes via the Internet. It has become very common to find television content accessible freely and legally over the Internet with the increase in Internet connection speeds, advances in technology, the increase of total number of people online, and the decrease in connection costs. Now, new Internet-only programmes are available which are not distributed via cable, satellite, or terrestrial systems.

Internet TV utilises Internet connection to deliver video from a source to a target computer, to a mobile phone or to a TV through a set-top box. Streaming technique is used as the main delivery method in Internet TV.

Free Internet Television is available from the Web, and is accessible without the need for either a set-top-box, a specific carrier or an operator. It is easily viewed by connecting the television set to the video output of the computer and accessing the streaming video.

Those that create valued and interesting video products have now the opportunity to distribute them directly to a large audience - something impossible with the previous television distributing methods.

The evolution of the TV medium from delivery angle is mind boggling. The journey from the simple terrestrial TV to the Internet TV of the present times, is typical of disruptive technologies in play in all sectors. Internet which intrudes every conceivable area of human activity, is not sparing TV also. Probably, the emerging TV era may be dominated by Internet - in a wired or wireless way - sidestepping conventional Cable TV or DTH. Only time will show who emerges the winner.

Article Courtesy » Executive Knowledge Lines