Roof top antennas are made of aluminium and catch nearby
TV station signal which is free of charge in India. Telecast is done by
Doordarshan. These antennas catch analog signal which is not of good quality.
Many of hilly region, valley houses or remote houses do not get good signal
quality. There are not many channels available with old aluminium pipe
antennas.
Cable TV was invented to solve the problem of the people
who live in valley or remote locations where signals are not strong. Cable
operator use to put antenna up on hill and send amplified signal to multiple
houses in valley.
Nowadays cable operators installs Big dish antennas to receive
TV broadcast from channels and pays on behalf of us to TV channel network.
Cable Operator receives many channels through multiple dish antennas and
puts them into single wire with different frequencies. You can take the
same cable to multiple TV sets in the home and play different channels
by paying minimum charge or no extra charge.
CAS is set top box for conventional cable TV. Years back
Indian Government tried to enforce consumer rights with the help of CAS
(Conditional Access System). With the help of CAS on cable tv it is possible
to offer different set of channels for each consumer. in 2001 Government
attempted to bring Free To Air channels to subscribers for as low as Rs.
80. Because of issues from cable operators, Satellite TV operators, set
top box manufactures & political parties CAS didn't succeed. This
has given great opportunity to Satellite TV operators to increase their
penetration in ever growing Indian Television Market.
DTH stands for Direct To Home service which is terminology
for Satellite Television. Compared to Cable TV here you have your very
personal equipment which allows you to speak to distributor directly through
Satellite. No hassles or chaos of Cablewalas.
IP TV runs on ethernet network. There is better uplink bandwidth
available in IP TV which assures more interactivity. There are limited
vendors offering IP TV. These are MTNL, BSNL & Airtel.
Features/ Vendors |
Dish TV |
Tata Sky |
Airtel |
Reliance |
Sun DTH |
Videocon D2H |
Apna DTH |
Logos |
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Website |
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http://www.videocond2h.com |
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Standard Defination (SD)
Equipement Cost |
Rs. 990
SD Recorder
Rs. 1490
(1 months Any Pack)
|
Rs. 999
or
Rs. 1399 with
No installation cost
1 Month Grand Sports pack and 4 showcase movies Free |
Rs. 1290
(2 month any pack free) |
Rs. 1490
(4 month service free) |
Rs. 1156 with 1 month free service
or
Rs. 1640
with 6 month free service |
Rs. 1390 with 75 days New Diamond pack free or 60 days Platinum free
Buy online for
Rs. 1690 and get Rs. 200 cash back |
Details Not Available |
Installation Cost |
Rs. 200 |
Rs. 400 |
Free Installation |
Free Installation |
Installation charges extra |
Rs. 300 |
Details Not Available |
Radio |
22 Radio Channels |
Not Available |
10 All India Radio channels - FM Gold, FM Rainbow, AIR Punjabi, FM Rainbow-Bangalore, AIR Tamil, AIR Ragam, AIR Telugu, AIR Bengali, AIR Gujarati and AIR Urdu. |
10 Audio Channels |
Available |
20 Active Music Channels for Rs. 20 / Month Extra |
23 Radio Stations Available |
Minimum Plan |
Rs. 200 / Month
with 208+ Channels & Services |
Rs. 165 / Month with 89 Channels & Services |
Rs. 210 / Month for 157 Channels.
or
Rs. 120 / Mon (South Value Pack with 119 Channels) |
Rs. 132 / Month for 102 Channels. |
Rs. 123 / Month
Details Not Available for total number of Channels |
Rs. 150 / Month with 196 Channels & Services |
FREE 59 Channels Available |
Long term Plan |
Rs. 4990 for 12 months (272+9 channels) |
Rs. 1815 for 12 months (89 channels & Service) |
Rs. 2784 for 12 months Economy pack (157 Channels)
45 days extra
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Rs. 1366 for 12 months Value Pack (102 channels) |
Rs. 1596 for 12 months Value Pack for India.
(1 month free)
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Rs. 1650 for 1 year New Gold pack |
Not Applicable |
South Pack |
Available |
Available |
Available |
Available |
Available with classification of Tamil, Telegu, Kannada & Malayalam |
Available |
Not Available |
Active/Interactive Applications |
Available |
Available |
Available |
Available |
Not Available |
Available |
Not Available |
Latest Movie releases with pay
per view
/On Demand
Service |
Available as Movies on Demand |
Available as Tata SKY SHOWCASE |
Available as Airtel Movies |
Available as Pay Per View Movies |
Not Available |
Available as d2h movies |
Not Available |
Unique Selling Points |
Cheap Monthly Plan
All Doordarshan channels available
First company to bring DTH to India.
Maximum number of HD Channels
Traffic Updates and ICICI bank active
Mobile STB for Cars/Vans |
Active Darshan for religious people
Active Games & Festival stories.
Topper channel for 9th to 12th std students.
Tie up with Global leader SKY Network
iPhone/iPad App and Remote Control
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MPEG 4 quality set top box.
Topper channel for 9th to 12th std students.
Worldspace Radio offer is no more offered.
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Cheapest Monthly plan
MPEG 4 quality set top box Universal Remote |
Great channel offerings for Regional Channels South Indians
CINEMA Plus pack where South movies are shown without any break
Tamil and Telegu HD Services. |
Televisions and LCD with inbuilt set top box.
DVD player with inbuilt set top box.
Only set top box options also available
Free Lifetime Warranty.
11 languages user interface
12 Picture in Picture (PIP) |
One time cost
No Monthly burden.
Options available to recevie directly on Computer.
PVR option also Available |
High Defination (HD) Box |
Not available without recorder |
Tata SKY HD for
Rs. 3050.
No Installation cost. 2 month state pack and HD GOLD Free |
Airtel HD for
Rs. 2390 |
HD Box for Rs. 2590
or
Rs. 2790
with 3 month HD service Free |
Sun Direct HD for Rs. 2940 with 2 month free service (South)
or
Rs. 3690 with 6 month free service (South)
5 months for non-South pack |
HD Satellite Box with 3D for Rs. 1690 with 3 month New Gold Sports+45 days of HD Globe Free
Installation and Activation charges Rs. 1000 extra
Buy online for Rs. 2590 and get Rs. 400 cash back |
Not Available |
High Defination (HD) Box with Recording facility |
Dish TrueHD for
Rs. 2290.
Installation Charges extra and 1 month HD pack free |
Tata Sky HD+ gives puase, replay, recording option. You can record from Remote, Mobile or Internet. Available for
Rs. 3990/- |
Airtel offers HD DVR Recorder at
Rs. 4390 /-
You can record from TV remote or Mobile. |
Reliance Big HD DVR is available for Rs. 4490/-
or
Rs. 4790/- with 3 month HD service free
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Not Available |
Available for
Rs. 3990/-
Installation Charges Rs.500 extra |
Not Available |
HD Box can Record Programs upto |
Unlimited recording on USB. You have to spend additional money on USB storage. |
625 Hours |
550 Hours |
200 Hours |
Not Applicable |
200 Hours |
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HD Channel Service Charge |
TruHD Royale pack for Rs. 550 per month with 276 + 43 HD Channels/Service
TruHD Premiere Pack for Rs. 450 with 261 + 27 HD Channels/Service |
HD Gold Pack Rs. 75 per month for currently available 8 HD channels. |
Rs. 81 / Month for
HD Plus.
Movies Now, Star PlusHD, Star World HD, Star Movie HD, National Geographic HD, History TV HD, Star Gold HD, Colors HD, Discovery HD, UTV Stars HD.
Choice based per HD channel available. |
Ultra Sharp I for Rs. 55 / Month for Nat Geo and Movies Now HD.
Ultra Sharp II for Rs. 83 / Month for Nat Geo HD, Movies Now HD, Star Movies HD, Star Plus HD, Star Cricket HD, ESPN HD
iConcert HD (Free for limited period) |
Recharge options for HD not available on site. |
Star HD for Rs. 55 / Month for Star Plus HD, Star Movies HD, Star world HD, Star Gold HD
HD World for Rs. 55 / Month for Nat Geo HD, Discovery HD, Movies Now, Travelxp HD, Active HD 3d
HD Globe for Rs. 110 for Nat Geo HD, Discovery HD, Movies Now HD, Travelxp HD, ESPN HD, Star Cricket HD, Star Plus HD, Star World HD, Star Movies HD, Star Gold HD, Colors HD |
Not Available |
HD Channels offered |
Discovery HD, Nat Geo HD, Zee Cinema & Zee TV. Event based sports in HD.
40+ HD Channels
More details about Channels |
Discovery HD, Nat Geo HD, Star Plus HD, Star Movies HD, ESPN HD, Star Cricket HD & Showcase. Event based sports in HD.
Assures there will be more HD services soon. |
Movies Now,
Star PlusHD,
Star World HD,
Star Movie HD, National Geographic HD, History TV HD, Star Gold HD, Colors HD, Discovery HD, UTV Stars HD. |
Nat Geo HD, Movies Now HD, Star Movies HD, Star Plus HD, Star Cricket HD.
Others are not HD but Like HD.
Don't get fooled with 250 HD like Channels. |
Discovery HD, Nat Geo HD, Tamil HD Movies, Telegu HD Movies. Movies Now HD. |
Nat Geo HD, Discovery HD, Movies Now HD, Travelxp HD, ESPN HD, Star Cricket HD, Star Plus HD, Star World HD, Star Movies HD, Star Gold HD, Colors HD, Active HD 3D |
Not Available |
Multiple TV connections |
Yes |
Yes |
Additional TV for Rs. 145. You can use the same Channel package on additional TV. |
Discount of 50% of parent connection or Rs.150 (whichever is higher) |
Details Not Available |
Details Not Available |
FREE |
DVR stands for Digital Video Recorder. This is special set top box, which is also doing recording while you are watching any channel. So you can pause the channel and resume where you left. You can also do recording of some other channel while you are watching different channel. Tata SKY Plus was first to be offered in this category. Each DVR box comes with different quality of content to be stored and limits on hours of recording.
Usual Television set with CRT tube is not capable of producing picture more than 480 lines with limited depth of colors. New Generation LCDs can reproduce image quality upto 1080 lines detailing and beyond. If you have LCD with 1080i or above resolution, this is known as High Defination television. 1080i gives you 5 times clearer picture quality. Unfortunately Cable Transmission or Regular DTH dish tv transmission is not capable of utilizing your LCD capability. Old standard transmission works with 4:3 aspect ratio which is like square where as HD offers you 16:9 aspect ratio which is like rectangle the way LCDs are designed today. Old starndard give mono or stereo sound output. HD offeres you 5.1 audio output. This goes to two rear left+right speakers, two front left+right speakers one center and one to woofer. Giving you realistic natural sound quality. Earlier TVs were connected with RF cable, current set top boxes offer 3 pin AV cables. For HD you need to have HDMI port on television. HDMI port is essential part of HD set top box.
If you do not have LCD with 1080i resolution or 5.1 music system, you wont be able to take advantage of HD channels. Regular CRT television is not made for HD transmission. Currently there are only few channels which are offered with HD broadcast. So if you think you are ready to experiment with this new technology you can go ahead with this.