Direct TV : How Direct TV Works : Satellite Receiver

Satellite Receiver

Once the signals hit the satellite dish they need to be decoded and sent to the TV. This is the job of the Receiver or Decoder as its sometimes known. The receiver must do the following to the signal:

  • First thing that must be done is to de-scramble or decrypt the signal. Decryption is performed by the receiver using an onboard software program and the encryption keys that Direct TV control. This program and the keys are changed from time to time to discourage illegal de-scrambling.
  • Now that the de-scrambling is done, the receiver must also select only the channel you want to watch, so that just that channel is sent to your TV.
  • The receiver now has your selected channel in an MPEG2 signal. It now works exactly like a DVD player and converts this digital MPEG2 signal into an analogue NTSC or AV format that your TV can understand. A HDTV receiver will also create a signal suitable for your HDTV.
  • And finally, your receiver will keep track of any pay-per-view programs you have watched and it will regularly phone Direct TV’s billing center to download your billing information to them.

    • The receiver may also have a number of other features like:

  • Display your Direct TV programming guide
  • Parental lock-out options to keep children from viewing channels that parents would not want them to see.
  • Digital Video Recorders, which use a hard disk, instead of a tape to record the TV signal or even seemingly pause the broadcast and resume some time later.

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