Today satellite television is available to a wide range of consumers. For a relatively low fee, you can install a satellite system at home, sit comfortably in front of the TV screen and watch any of the channels included in the service package. But even a few decades ago, satellite broadcasting was exotic.
Satellite TV: a window to the big world
The principle of operation of satellite television is quite simple and straightforward: a television picture from a special space satellite is transmitted to a receiving antenna, most often in the form of a "dish". The antenna receives the signal, a special technical device decodes and converts it. After that, the moving image appears on the screen of a conventional television receiver.
The benefits of satellite TV are obvious. It does not require the laying of special cables, and therefore is available even to residents of very remote regions, including those who live in rural areas. If the viewer does not need a huge number of channels, he can watch several programs included in the basic package for free. No subscription fee is required for this.
Satellite TV, if properly configured, guarantees exceptionally high picture quality.
How did satellite TV appear?
The founder of the satellite broadcasting system is considered Stanford University professor Henry Taylor Howard. Back in 1976, he invented, designed and built the world's first satellite television system called SBCA. Howard's brainchild marked the beginning of a new era in the development of television and was the first stage in the development of an entire information industry.
Howard's system was intended for home use.
At the end of the 70s of the last century, satellite television became especially widespread in the United States and other countries of the world. At this time, traditional cable television stations began to be equipped with satellite dishes. They received the signal from the satellite and then broadcast it over the cable network to their customers. By the mid-1980s, about half a million satellite television sets were in use around the world.
On the territory of the former Soviet Union, satellite television systems that broadcast for a fee appeared in 1996. Russia became the pioneer of such technologies here. The first package included only four broadcast channels. A few years later, Russian satellite television went digital.
Today, in almost every developed country, you can find satellite "dishes". They are installed on private houses and on multi-storey buildings. This type of television provides the viewer with freedom of choice. Here everyone can find a program to their liking. World economy news, feature films, sports reports, children's programs - all this is available anywhere in the world.
