| and choices of FTA Receivers | | | | FTA receivers are particularly helpful for rural areas |
| Satellite television has been entertaining us for over | | | | where cable TV providers cannot reach and logistics |
| twenty years now. It is no wonder that the business | | | | of paid satellite broadcast is either unavailable or |
| involving satellite TV broadcast is constantly growing. | | | | difficult. FTA receivers are also used extensively to |
| Newer technologies in this arena have flooded the | | | | see local, ethic or religious broadcast designed for |
| market with latest gadgets and equipment, some of | | | | special segment of people. |
| them being quite expensive. In the world of | | | | Amongst the top FTA receiver brands, Viewsat, |
| entertainment, particularly in case of satellite TV | | | | Pansat, Nfusion and SonicView are some that you |
| broadcast, there are many brand names attached | | | | may take a look if you plan to buy a receiver. You |
| with FTA receivers. Some of these names are | | | | may ask which one is the best. In fact there is no |
| SonicView, Viewsat, Pansat, Coolsat, Fortec, | | | | simple solution to this common question. FTA |
| BlackBird, UltraStar, Ariza, MultiStar, Digiwave, and | | | | receivers are basically of two types: standard |
| Twinhan, CaptiveWorks, and Nfusion. | | | | definition and high definition. Receivers from these |
| You must be familiar with what is called an FTA | | | | two broad categories may have different model |
| Receiver. If that does not ring anything, FTA | | | | basing on recording option. |
| stands for Free-to-air and FTA receivers are | | | | Pansat receivers have been doing good business for |
| the receivers that are able to show you the FTA | | | | years. Their popular receiver models include Pansat |
| satellite broadcast either on your TV or PC. They can | | | | 2700A($150), Pansat 2800A($160), Pansat |
| decode only the unencrypted satellite broadcast. | | | | 3500SD($180), Pansat 6000HXC($390), Pansat |
| Most FTA transmissions use the popular MPEG-2 | | | | 250SM($190), Pansat 9200HD($430). |
| compression protocol and FTA receivers’ basic | | | | Some top notch SonicView branded receivers include, |
| function is to decode this compression and produce | | | | SonicView SV4000($140), SonicView |
| broadcasts on TV or computer. | | | | SV8000HD($420), SonicView 360 Elite($200) and |
| Usually FTA receivers look like normal hardware | | | | SonicView 360 Premier($150). |
| boxes of DirecTV or Dish Networks but will not be | | | | There are also favorite Viewsat FTA models like |
| able to decode their transmission. They are designed | | | | Viewsat 9000HD V2($420), Viewsat Ultra ($160), |
| to receive and show only FTA transmissions. FTA | | | | Viewsat Extreme($420 — production |
| receivers allow you to save money on TV | | | | discontinued but you may find some in retail shops), |
| entertainment purpose since you do not have to | | | | Viewsat Lite($130), Viewsat PVR 7000 ($320) and |
| subscribe to a paid cable/satellite broadcast package. | | | | Viewsat Pro($190). |