All About TV

TV Prices vary according to the type of Television and the size of its screen. To know more about prices and which type of TV you want to buy it will be good idea to walk you through Television types.

Direct View Tube Televisions

This is the oldest type of TVs that you can still see in some thrift store, or garage sales. It use Cathode ray tube CRT which is up to 40 inches and vacuumed tube to produce the picture. The picture can be seen from all angles. The good thing about it is it can work for long time; however the high power consumption, big size and weight compared to the modern slim TVs make it a less desirable choice.

Plasma TVs

Plasma TV is the more modern and is very popular these days, Plasma TVs have flat panel and their sizes range from 40 to 49 inches. Plasma TVs are priced lower than LCD TVs and they usually weigh more and take more space. The picture quality is fine, and the only cons they have is that they are vulnerable to burn-ins (which rarely happen with newer models) and the screen tends to reflect room lights.

LCD TVs

LCD is the abbreviation of Liquid Crystal Display. These TV panels are slim and light, consumes less power and don’t have burn-in problems. However the picture tends to be less natural than top plasma TVs. Television sizes range from 19 inches to 70 inches. And you can get good to very good picture quality from different angles. LCD TVs are the most popular TVs in today’s market and the highest in terms of prices.

Some other points that you may be thinking of is the life-time of your TV, this is not an issue for all the 3 types, and both plasma and LCD TVs come with a 60000 hours guarantee. Even if you take only one half (30000) this will give you more than 14 years if you use your Television 6 hours daily.

“Free to Air Receivers” also called FTA receivers are satellite TV receivers that are designed to receive unencrypted broadcasts. The older versions depended on analog satellite transmissions and the dishes used to be 20 to 30 feet wide. Now they measure 6 feet. The C Band was first made for satellite television. It operated between 3.4 GHz to 7 GHz. Then, more recently the modern decoders are compliant with MPEG-2/DVB-S (Digital Video Broadcast – Standard). For digital televisions, the MPEG-4/DVB-S2 is the standard one used. Now most of the transmissions are on Ku Band frequency range and Ku band operates. It operates between 12 GHz and 14 GHz. Now the diameter of the dish is between 18 inches to 31 inches.

The main thing that is attractive about this service is that you can legally watch programs on TV without paying any monthly fee. You only have to pay for the equipment and the installation. A satellite is used for receiving the digital programming. You can watch special types of programs that you may be interested in like foreign language programs, ethnics programs and religious programs. There might be geographic restriction, in viewing the programs. Since it is unencrypted, you will receive it in the same language as it is broadcasted. You can view thousands of satellite channels free of charge. There are more than 3000 free to air TV and radio channels throughout the world. If you choose the right size of dish and the FTA receivers you will be able to select any program that you want.

The basic things that you should have would be a MPEG-2 video compatible satellite receiver. You need a FTA receiver and a satellite dish which should be within the specifics required by the satellite one is pointing at. Generally the standard DTV complaint dish is only required. You can find this in any satellite TV or electronic store. K-Band and C-Band dishes will function properly for this purpose. If you want to get channels from more than one satellite, then you need to an antenna motor and a LNBF.

You then need a coaxial cable from the dish to the FTA receiver. The FTA receiver should be connected to the television. The dish should be placed on the roof of the house. An experienced person should be hired so that he will know where the dish should point and he will be able to do it correctly.

There are many FTA support websites that will be able to give you information about the FTA receivers. From them you can get FTA keys, files software, updates and also help in troubleshooting. You should see if they reply promptly as this will give you an idea as to how they will respond in time of need.

The pointing of the dish towards the right satellite has to be done with care. You have to go the options of the FTA receiver and choose the satellite you want to point at. You might have to load some firmware updates. You must get to know the FTA keys and enter them manually. Each satellite receiver will be different and you might have to follow different rules. Generally, to set up FTA keys, you will have to enter the set up of the screen of the receiver and find the key code section of the set up.

FTA satellite television will not replace traditional cable or dish television. You can check the FTA program chart to get an idea of the programs you can watch. The picture quality is good. The FTA dish is larger than any other satellite dish.

You should know what is available and your own needs to shop around and get the best FTA receiver for yourself. The whole set has to be assembled correctly. You should get the supplier to give you file support 24/7, so that you can get help whenever you need it. You should therefore, shop around and browse the internet, gather information about FTA receivers and the equipments required and set it up in your own home to enjoy the programs offered by the FTA receiver system.