It is something of a battlefield today with satellite TV and cable TV providers competing for better profits. Up until a few years ago, the only television entertainment source other than standard broadcast TV was cable. Then, technology took a tremendous leap ahead with the small satellite dishes and licensed satellite communication became common phenomenon.
Today, satellite television is extremely popular and giving cable operators a run for their money. The compact 18-inch dish performs just as efficiently as the large perforated dishes of years past. With some reception instrument thrown in, anyone can fix the dish to their house and enjoy satellite TV. Moreover, several satellite TV providers have also entered into the business, creating further competition. With Dish Network, Direct TV and many more, the consumer has a number of vendors to select from at present.
Essentially, cable TV operates through radio frequency signals being transmitted over cable wire laid across miles. Conventionally we all have miles of cable stretching from pole to pole through junction boxes. Obviously, the picture and sound quality deteriorates over a distance, especially since other broadcasts might interfere with the cable frequency. Satellite TV works through very high frequency signals transmitted digitally across space. The satellite dish receives these signals and sends them to a receiver and decoder that unscrambles the signals and converts them to analog signals.
Most consumers are looking for high quality video imagery and a matching audio signal and satellite television is capable of providing better quality than cable typically at a lower cost as well. Satellite television provides you better picture and sound quality than cable in most cases. Since, the transmitted signals are digital and scrambled for much of the broadcast they don’t lose their strength. Also, with the high level of encryption, there is no interference possible. The result is high-resolution picture and true Dolby sound.
The biggest concern of any consumer is the financial commitment. Cable TV has become expensive over the years but satellite TV is far more economical. If you were to put together all the subscription charges, you would find the satellite TV bill is much lesser than the monthly cable bill in most cases. Moreover, thanks to all the competition, the dish network installation is also done for free by the service providers.
Many people have lots of misconceptions about satellite television. These are largely created by cable TV operators who claim that satellite TV signals drop constantly and it is prohibitively more expensive. The cable TV lobby tries to put down satellite TV but not much can be said about the truth of their claims especially if you look at the millions of satisfied satellite TV customers.