Clear Picture on the small screen
An Analogue cable cannot offer more than 100-120 channels while digitization allow bearing up to 900 to 1000 channels depending on the service and the network quality provider.
As now everyone as a viewer of television is hearing and reading a lot on the news about the governments is moving to shift the entire country to digital cable from analogue which is currently the popular way to deliver channels to your homes. And if you are already a DTH (direct-to-home) customer of companies such as Dish TV, Tata Sky, or others, your life will not change much. But the remaining 126 million cable and satellite homes, a transformations is in offing.
The huge and by the change will be a good even if you may end up paying slightly more for your entertainment. For starters, cable TV customers in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai will have to install a set top-box to make sure an intermittent supply of television channels once analogue signals are turned off on 30 June. Though the governments repeat its intent to meet the sunset date, hectic entrance is currently on in New Delhi to push the deadline by a couple of months over some unresolved issues including shortage of set top boxes.
The cable operator will offer you set-top boxes which will either on rent or sell is coming to you at a huge funding. Some large cable networks are offering the 1500 box for 500 only. The box instantly guarantees better picture quality and more channels.
Today in India there are 831 registered channels are there. Where an analogue cable cannot offering more than 100-120 channels whereas digitalization facilitates to carry up to 900-1000 channels which is depending on the quality of the service provider’s network. Science Digitization has been planned in periods beginning with the four metros; audiences in these cities will have access to 200 channels beginning 1 July. By 1st April 2013, this number has to go up to 500.
It is your legal right that you can choose from the bouquets where you can pick and choose and pay only for those channels which you want to see. The ministry of information and broadcasting has made it fixed for operators to offer a la carte menu. Any digital platform that denies this right will risk losing his license.
The government had asked DTH companies and digital cable operator back in 2010 to offer a la carte menu or channels on a stand alone basis but few of them complied. Now you will have a complaint mechanism at your disposal which your service provider has to put in place.
There are also other benefits too. In such reason you are shifting from your current location and moving to a new resident. There you can surrender the set-top-box and get money back from the service operator. This will be base on the term between you and your service provider has to agree at the time of renting/buying the set top box.
The range of service offered will also improve over a period of time. Your cable operator will be able to offer you video on demand (VOD), that is the content that you may ask for or even digital video recorders that allow you to record television shows for viewing at leisure. Ultimately, digital cable is capable of delivering broadband and hence any service that you can associate with it.
Broadcasters persevere that digitization will help them to improve their programmes and ultimately benefit the viewer. Here is how set-top-boxes work with encrypted signals and make sure the transparency in the number of homes they reach. So under-declaration of subscriber numbers is expected to lighten out, making sure that channel owners make more money. They promise to plough this revenue back in their shows.