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DTH Dish TV Options in India |
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What went wrong with old roof top antenna we use to have years back?
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.
How does Cable TV work?
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.
What is Set Top Box (STB) for Cable TV?
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.
What is DTH Dish Television?
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.
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What you need to have to receive Satelite TV signal (DTH Dish)?
You need to have these
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Digicomp set top box.
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Dish Antenna (LNB).
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An account with Service Provider (Smart card).
What is IP TV?
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.
What are the options available in India for DTH Dish TV (Satellite TV)? ---- Comparison Table Revised on 17-Dec-2012
| Features/ Vendors |
Dish TV |
Tata Sky |
Airtel |
Reliance |
Sun DTH |
Videocon D2H |
Apna DTH |
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| Website | http://www.videocond2h.com | ||||||
| Standard Defination (SD) Equipement Cost | Rs. 990 (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 |
Rs. 1390 with 75 days New Diamond pack free or 60 days Platinum free Buy online for |
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. |
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 |
Rs. 1366 for 12 months Value Pack (102 channels) | Rs. 1596 for 12 months Value Pack for India.
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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
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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. |
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 |
Sun Direct HD for Rs. 2940 with 2 month free service (South) |
HD Satelite 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/- |
Not Available | Available for 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 | |
| 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, |
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 |
Comparison Table Revised on 17-Dec-2012
What is DVR ?
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.
What is HD set top box?
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.
HD Captures from Tata SKY HD Box (Click on images to see the full size capture)
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