Buyers’

Guide

Which DTH TV for You?

Are you sick of your cable TV operator and considering getting a DTH
connection? Here are some things to know before you get one!

Uma Bansal

N


ot long before Tata Sky

and Dish TV vied for the
satellite TV space in In-
dia. The war has just hot
up with the entries of
Sun Direct, Reliance Big TV and Airtel
Digital TV in this space. And now con-
sumer durables maker Videocon too is
planning DTH foray.
Not surprisingly, the increasing
number of players has driven down
the price of the set-top boxes, ad-
versely impacting the profitability of
the ventures. The beneficiary of this
price war is obviously the consumer.
But, given the too many options,
you are likely to get confused as to
which is better for you. Here is the
way to go.

What is DTH TV?

Before going any further, let me ex-
plain the basics of satellite TV. Satellite
TV, or direct-to-home (DTH) TV, lets
you receive TV signals directly from
the satellite through a set-top box.
That means there is no middleman
(cable operator). So DTH puts an end
to all the problems like unreasonable
charges, cable operators’ strike, power
outages, not getting your favourite
channels and channels shifting their
channel number positions.
In satellite TV, you receive the
signal from a satellite (which the
broadcaster has hired) to a small dish
antenna installed at the rooftop of your
house, or an outer wall of your flat.
This signal is decoded by a set-top box,
which is provided by the broadcaster
and connects to the dish antenna di-
rectly with a cable. The set-top box, in
turn, connects to
your TV.
So you become the
master of your entertain-
ment. Watch the channels you wish.
And pay for only those channels which
you wish to watch; you need not pay
for Sports channels if you don’t like
sports.
Advantages of DTH TV
Digital picture. The picture quality in
DTH TV is much better. The quality of
picture is uniform across all channels,
whereas in cable the quality of picture
is inconsistent—some channels are
clear but the balance are fuzzy and
snowy.
Digital audio. You get the stereo-
phonic sound. So if you’ve got a home
theatre, connect it to your set-top box.
You’ll get better sound effects.
Electronic programme guide (EPG).
It’s an on-screen guide that shows the
programme schedule or listing of
all the channels. So you can find out
what’s playing on any channel. You
can also set reminders for programmes
you wish to watch and get synopses
of the programmes. Set up your fa-
vourite channel list. The list of EPG
features varies from broadcaster to
broadcaster.
Payment modes. You pay only
for what you watch. Payment is in
advance. Recharge is easy with vari-
ous sources like the Internet, mobile
phones, vouchers from vendors, etc.

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These are DD Direct, Sun Direct,
Dish TV, Tata Sky, Reliance Big
TV and Airtel Digital TV.
As mentioned before, one
more, Videocon, will join
them soon.
DD-Direct. This is
government-run and
broadcasts only free-to-
air (FTA) channels. It is
popular in remote areas
and villages of India. Since
most popular channels are
pay channels, an FTA serv-
ice doesn’t have a wide appeal
amongst consumers.
Sun-Direct. Promoted
by Chennai-based Sun TV
Network, Sun Direct oper-
ated only in South India until
recently. Unique bundling of
Dish TV DTH system channels and effective price packaging
MPEG-4 vs MPEG-2
While both Dish TV and Tata Sky use MPEG-2 compression technology, the new DTH
entrants are using MPEG-4 technology. 
Through MPEG-4 technology, the DTH companies can offer more channels per
transponder (a device fitted on the satellite through which DTH transmission takes place)
than those using MPEG-2 technology. Under MPEG-4 compression technology, about
22-25 channels can be hosted per DTH transponder (hosted on-board the satellite) as
compared to 15-17 channels that can be hosted using the MPEG-2 technology.
Although MPEG-4 will make no difference, in terms of picture quality, to customers, it
makes a huge difference to the DTH service provider because MPEG-4 signals eat up far
less bandwidth.
Buyers’
Guide
addition to the introductory offer, Sun
Direct offers the biggest spread of 36
add-on packages ranging from Rs 6 to
Rs 195 per month of the most viewed
channels.
Dish TV. Dish TV was the first
private DTH broadcaster in India. It
started slow but picked up after the
launch of Tata Sky. It offers a large
bouquet of channels and is cost-effec-
tive. The provider is going to augment
channel capacity to 450 from 225 at
present. This is being done with an aim
to boost customer base by giving depth
and width of content.
Though Dish TV has a good
number of subscribers, it runs on
MPEG-2 and offers very few interac-
tive applications.
Tata Sky. Compared to Dish TV,
Tata Sky does offer a range of interac-
tive applications. It has EPG in two lan-
guages: Hindi and English. The EPG is
very intuitive and easy to use. The
newly launched Tata Sky+ digicomp
has MPEG-4 technology, a hard disk
and an in-built personal video recorder
(PVR). The PVR enables you to pause
and rewind live TV as well as record
up to 45 hours of live TV.

Interactive services. This is one established it as the leader in the

important point where you can dif-
ferentiate between broadcasters. All
the broadcasters offer interactive TV
services. Whether it is ordering a cook-
ing recipe, booking tickets or watch-
ing details of a match, everything is
controlled by these applications. With
movie-on-demand, you can watch a
movie of your choice.
Signal reception in remote areas.
Another advantage of DTH is the avail-
ability of satellite broadcast in rural
and semi-urban areas where cable is
difficult to install.
Providers in India
In India, there are in all six DTH play-
ers fighting for the DTH TV space.
four southern states. In the sec-
ond phase during September
2008, Sun Direct has launched
its services in Gujarat, Rajas-
than, HP, Punjab, Haryana
and Delhi and NCR as part
of the pan-India expansion
programme.
Sun DTH uses the MPEG-4
technology and will launch HD
services soon. It offers a basic
package of over 130+ channels for
an introductory offer of Rs 499 (5-
month subscription) along with free
dish and set-top box but Rs 1000 to-
wards installation charges. In addition
to the basic package, you can choose a
regional pack of your choice for free. In Tata Sky DTH system

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Buyers’
Guide
Airtel Digital TV DTH system
However, the basic Tata Sky con-
nection runs on MPEG-2 and doesn’t
provide all the channels. The limited
number of channels is its biggest draw-
back. The showcase or movie channels
offered are not too good.
Big TV. It runs on MPEG-4 and of-
fers quite a good number of channels
and interactive applications. A mini
guide lets you know what’s show-
ing on your other favourite channel
while watching Live TV. An interac-
tive mosaic window displays twelve
Big TV DTH system
Live TV channels from one category
per screen. This screen where you can
watch a preview of sets of 12 channels
makes navigation easier. Also, you can
set up a personal programme guide of
the channels you watch the most.
But the EPG is very confusing.
As it is symbol-oriented, you will be
spending a lot of time to find the func-
tionality. Even the remote control keys
are confusing with just symbols being
depicted.
Airtel Digital TV. It also runs on
MPEG-4. It uses 20 per cent larger dish
antenna for better performance during
rain. Other important features include
a universal remote for both set-top
box and TV, large set-top box
memory, content such as World
Space radio and interactive ap-
plications (book cinema tickets,
browse and book travel pack-
ages, and shop on TV for your
favourite brands).
To make its call centres
more customer-friendly,
Airtel is offering 24×7
customer support in
eight languages, in-
cluding Bengali.
How to buy?
First and foremost,
check with your
friends and other us-
Checklist
1. Quality of the customer service and
toll-free helpline for complaints and
inquiries
2. Channel packaging (should include
your favourite channels) and cost
3. Software quality of the set-top box
4. Channel surfing time
5. User-friendliness of the EPG
6. User-friendliness of the remote
7. Language options (if you are not
comfortable with English)
8. Recharge modes (Internet, mobile
phone, voucher and auto-debit)
9. Interactive applications (if you want
more than channel surfing)
10. Hidden costs (maintenance,
installation and other charges)
ers about the quality of the customer
service provided by the broadcaster.
You’ll need to contact customer care
at least once a month, especially if
you wish to change your channels
package often. So a toll-free helpline
for your complaints and inquiries
would be good. Otherwise, it will
be an added cost for you. And if the
customer service is not good, you
might end up missing your favourite
programmes.
Now look for the channel packag-
ing done by the broadcaster. Consider
the channels that you wish to watch
and then compare the package cost.
Beware of packaging ploys: A broad-
caster might be offering you all the
channels free for a certain period,
but once the free period is over you
might end up paying more for the
same number of channels. If your
most favourite channels lie in differ-
ent packages, you’ll end up paying
for all other channels that you never
ever watch.
Check out the software quality of
the set-top box. The set-top box works
with a software running inside it. And
a buggy software will result in crashes
too often. For sure, you would not
like your set-top box getting rebooted
every half an hour or during the climax
of a movie.
Channel surfing should be quite
fast. If changing channels takes long

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 Buyers’
Guide
How to take two connections from a single DTH?
There are three different ways for using a single DTH connection for multiple TVs:
1. In some set-top boxes there is a line-out facility which helps to have another
connection to TV, but you will receive the same channels in both the TVs because the
STB is the controller for both the TVs.
2. Buy second STB and have a splitter hardware (this is a device connected at the low-
noise block converter (LNB) to share the signal for both the STBs) to connect the two
STBs. There is no need of additional dish.
3. Have two STBs and two LNBs with the same dish.

time, don’t buy that DTH connection.
To test how fast you can zap through
channels, press ‘channel up’ key very
fast about ten times, and if the tenth
channel tunes (gets visible on the
screen) after more than five seconds,
it’s not worth buying.
Reminders should work as ex-
pected. Check how easy is it to set re-
minders and favourites, browse chan-
nels and see the programme sched-
ule. The EPG should be user-friendly
and devoid of mistakes in data. Also
check the language options. Also, is
it possible to create your own lists of
channels that you watch most often?
If yes, how many channels can be
added to your favourite list? Check
for the number of days of program-
ming schedule being offered. This
will help you in planning your TV
viewing in advance.
How convenient is it to recharge
your account? Check for the payment
options available—Internet, mobile
phone, voucher and auto-debit. Go
for the broadcaster which has the big-
gest network of vendors and service
centres. This is useful especially if you
are not comfortable with the options
of recharging online or through the
mobile. Just walk-in at the nearest shop
and pay for the bills.
Interactive applications are impor-
tant if you are looking for more than
channel surfing. You can get your
favourite recipe when you want at
the press of a button. Watch a cricket
match with exclusive features like
choice of commentary language,
highlights on-demand and player sta-
tistics. Interact with TV programmes
or other things in real time. If you
love to see movies, you can watch
the latest blockbusters on pay-per-
view basis.
Advertisements or promotional
campaigns generally do not mention
hidden costs. So do inquire the dealer
about hidden costs like maintenance
and installation charges.
Among the things that deserve
not much consideration are MPEG
version, multiple channels per screen
and the number of features. MPEG-4
is an advanced version of MPEG-2
compression technology which allows
for availability of more bandwidth.
So more channels can be sent from
the same transponder. Of course,
MPEG-4 is better for the broadcaster
but as an end user, it doesn’t affect
you much.
Multiple channels per screen
should be your least considera-
tion. These are nothing but mosaic
descriptors. Seeing 8-12 programmes
per screen is only going to confuse
you. In fact, it just helps you to
find quickly about the programmes
o n v a r i o u s channels in visual
format.
Last but not the least, don’t go by
the number of features being pub-
lished by broadcasters. These are used
by DTH service providers to trick the
consumers. All the broadcasters in
the Indian market are offering almost
the same features (EPG, reminders,
favourite lists, multiple channels per
screen, parental control, etc). It’s just
that they are marketing these under
different names.
In a nutshell, go by the perform-
ance of the set-top box and not the
marketing gimmicks. 
The author is a deputy editor at EFY

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