Information AboutDirectv |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT DIRECTV | |
| direct broadcast satellite services | |
| high-definition television | |
| news corporation subsidiaries | |
| companies based in los angeles county | |
| nascar sponsors | |
with 1 LNB on a roof]] DirecTV (trademarked as "'''DIRECTV'''") is a Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) service based in El Segundo, California , USA , that transmits digital Satellite Television and audio to households in the United States , the Caribbean and Latin America except for Mexico . DirecTV is owned by DirecTV Group , which was controlled by News Corporation . In November 2006, News Corp. has reportedly agreed to transfer its interest in DirecTV Group to John Malone 's Liberty Media . In return it will buy back Liberty's shares in News Corp. GENERAL INFORMATION DirecTV typically uses a fixed 18-inch diameter Dish Antenna to receive its signals. Traditionally an 18×24-inch elliptical was used, however most new installations use an 18x20-inch antenna to receive signals from three Geostationary satellite positions simultaneously. These systems are becoming more common as DirecTV attempts to squeeze more programming onto their growing systems. DTV is now installing a dish that has five LNB s for HDTV Programming and local channels in selected markets. These systems receive signals from up to 5 separate satellites in both the Ku-band and Ka-band . As of 31 December , 2006 , DirecTV had approximately 16 million customers in the U.S., 1.4 million in Latin America through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, 1.3 million through its 74% ownership of Sky Brasil Servicos Ltda., and 1.4 million though its 41% ownership of Innova, S. de R.L. de C.V. of Mexico . 2006 revenues were US$ 14.76 billion. In late July 2006, DirecTV added several channels to their online guide that are apparently not available to viewers — these include UK-based Sky Sports One , Sky One and Sky News . The three are channels that are generally available to satellite television viewers in the United Kingdom, though Sky News has been made available in other countries internationally. HISTORY
MANAGEMENT
ACCESS CARD HISTORY DirecTV transmits programming with Encryption to mitigate Signal Piracy . The receiver (also known as an IRD, or "integrated receiver-decoder") utilizes ISO 7816 Smart Card s which tell the receiver how to decrypt the programming for viewing. In a continuing effort to combat piracy, an access card generation is created approximately every two years, superseding the old set. DirecTV is now utilizing a fifth generation of access cards.
DirecTV has long been a victim of an active signal piracy underground, but has recently begun to crack down on illegal reception of its signals. On its anti-piracy website , DirecTV claims to have sued over 24,000 end users as of March 17 , 2004 , including celebrity O.J. Simpson . HIGH-DEFINITION TELEVISION (HDTV) ]] Like its competitors, DirecTV offers High-definition Television (HDTV) and interactive services. To handle the proliferation of bandwidth-intensive HDTV broadcasting, DirecTV rebroadcasts local HDTV stations using the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Codec while employing a newer transmission protocol ( DVB-S2 ) over the SPACEWAY-1 and SPACEWAY-2 satellites. This allows DirecTV to squeeze much more HD programming over its satellite signal than was previously feasible using the older MPEG-2 compression and DSS protocol it has been using. DirecTV is defending a lawsuit that alleges DirecTV lowered HDTV picture resolution below that of the industry's accepted definition of HDTV. 1080i is generally understood to mean 1920 x 1080i, whereas DirecTV reduces these channels by one third, to 1280 x 1080i. DirecTV counters that its high definition picture quality is comparable to or better than that of any other television service. {Link without Title} Receiving the channels encoded in MPEG-4 requires newer receivers, such as the H20 as well as the 5-LNB Ka/Ku dish. DirecTV has contracted with Britain's Pace Micro Technology Plc , Korea's LG Electronics and France's Thomson to manufacture these new receivers. Pace manufactures the DirecTV Plus HD DVR (Model HR20-700) and LG Electronics offers the Model H20-600 receiver, while Thomson provides the Model H20-100 and HR20-100 DVR receivers. DirecTV has admitted to software issues with some of the H20 receivers and HR20 DVRs, which have been plagued with random problems since they were released in mid-2006. DirecTV regularly released software updates for the HR20 receivers, in an effort to reduce issues to an acceptable level. DirecTV has phased out its TiVo -branded HD DVR, the HR10-250, which can only decode the older MPEG-2 signals. All DirecTV-delivered local HDTV stations (outside of the NYC and LA network stations) are encoded in MPEG-4. The HR10-250 will be not be able to receive these local HDTV stations in these markets but can still receive over-the-air ATSC broadcasts in these markets. On January 9, 2007, DirecTV announced DirecTV to carry 100 National HD Channels in 2007 that they would introduce 100 national HD channels during 2007, all of which are expected to be MPEG-4 encoded. Current HD channels See Also: List of DirecTV channels
Planned HD channels DIRECTV representatives have confirmed a portion of their new HD channels (ranging anywhere from 10-70 channels) will go online some time in September 2007. {Link without Title} Future channels offered in HD by year-end 2007 are: {Link without Title} {Link without Title}
By Early 2008 DirecTV will also have these Disney Networks in HD
LOCAL CHANNELS DirecTV also offers local channels ( CBS , ABC , NBC , Fox , PBS , The CW , MyNetworkTV , ION Television (in markets that carry that network), and some Independent Station s) for many markets. In markets that lack a CW affiliate, DirecTV includes WNUV-TV from Baltimore or KSWB from San Diego . Subscribers located where they cannot receive a decent terrestrial television signal can receive feeds from New York and Los Angeles for CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox, as well as a feed from the Baltimore CW affiliate, though a waiver from the local affilate stations may be required to allow this, approved at their discretion. National PBS and ION channels are also available. In the largest markets, local channels are carried on the satellite at 101°W. In some smaller markets, the local channels are carried on a second satellite located at 119°W which requires a slightly larger dish with two or three LNBs or the newer Ka/Ku 5-LNB dish. In a few smaller markets, local stations are located on a satellite at 72.5°W that requires a second dish to be installed. In late-2005, DirecTV began providing local HDTV channels to the largest markets, requiring newer receivers with a larger dish capable of receiving signals from up to five satellites at once. The Ku-band signals on the newer Ka/Ku dish are received from 101°W, 110°W, and 119°W, while Ka-band signals are from 99°W and 103°W. Local television channels are transmitted over Optical Fiber links, Ku-band satellite uplink, Microwave , and conventional terrestrial transmission to Uplink Centers located throughout the United States. SATELLITE FLEET
''Source: DirecTV.com and Lyngsat.com'' Galaxy 3C is operated by Intelsat . DirecTV leases non-DBS FSS transponders for international programming under the auspices of the DirecTV World Direct package. DirecTV-2 having reached the end of it's useful life span, on April 16, 2007, the FCC granted DirecTV's request to conduct operations to deorbit the satellite, it was subsequently removed from service in May 2007. DirecTV-3 was removed from service in Oct 2002 and sent to a storage orbit as a on-orbit backup. It returned to service in 2003 having been leased to Telesat, which used the satellite as backup for its troubled Nimiq-2 at 82 degrees West under the designation Nimiq-2i. In 2004 the satellite was moved to back up Nimiq-1 and is now operated under the name Nimiq-3. DirecTV-6 went out of service August 15, 2006 and sent to a graveyard orbit having suffered damage from a solar flare in April 1997 as well as other solar array and power fluctuation problems.
REFERENCES
EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|