Nfusion, Viewsat

ree’ are the Free-to-Air programs and theiris really a difficult issue to choose a ‘best’
receivers?receiver. This is because there are many
FTA or Free-to-Air broadcasts are no more unfamiliar‘bests’. All I can do is to give you some
to us. In the world of entertainment, satellite TV ortips.
cable TV literally revolutionized the media. With a lifeSome great receiver brands are as I said, Nfusion,
of almost two decades by now, Satellite TV hasViewsat, Pansat or SonicView. You may shortlist
become something that we can not live without.these brands from other popular brands in the
Satellite TV business is a growing one withmarket like Fortec, CaptiveWorks, Coolsat, BlackBird,
investments pouring in. Thousands of satelliteUltraStar, Ariza, MultiStar, Digiwave, and Twinhan.
channels are spawning everyday. Not all of them areThey all come as ‘stand-alone’ receivers or
paid. There are many broadcasting stations including‘packages’ or ‘systems’.
some of the media giants, that transmitI personally own an Nfusion Nova which gives me all
‘free-to-air’ or FTA programs. The onlythat I want from an FTA receiver. Besides standard
thing you need is a FTA satellite receiver fromfeatures it has Ethernet port (for self-updating), 4000
popular brands like Nfusion, Viewsat, Pansat orchannels, Tele-Text support, plasma friendly and
SonicView and some related accessories.many other options. I paid less than $250 with all
FTA transmissions use MPEG-II data compressionaccessories included.
protocol that is received by the FTA receivers. SomeFrom SonicView the popular models are SonicView
of the receivers today are compliant with DVB orSV4000, SonicView 360 Premier, SonicView
digital video broadcast and high definition or HDSV8000HD and SonicView 360 Elite. Standard format
content. FTA broadcasts are very popular theseSonicView receivers cost under $200 and High
days, and FTA receiver manufacturers have givenDefinition (HD) format receivers cost around $400.
due attention to this by investing a lot to produceModels from Pansat, a much known name for
and develop receivers. FTA programs are popularreceivers, include Pansat 2800A, Pansat 2700A,
because they are ‘FREE’. It does not takePansat 6000HXC, Pansat 3500SD, Pansat 9200HD
a lot of money to own an FTA system. There areand Pansat 250SM. They have almost similar price like
hundreds of FTA channels that show variety ofSonicView.
programs some of which are as good as those ofViewsat, another good brand, comes with Viewsat
pay channels. FTA receivers are particularly usefulExtreme, Viewsat Lite, Viewsat Ultra, Viewsat Pro
beyond urban and suburban areas and remote placeswith prices from $130-$190. The same brand’s
where your cable operators do not have their officesHD format receiver (Viewsat 9000HD Version 2)
services. FTA programs also gained popularitycosts around $420.
because they air some ethnic and religious programsViewsat, Pansat, Nfusion or SonicView, whatever is
for a target population segment.the model, technical specifications are more or less
Now that you know what is FTA and FTA systemsimilar and stand-alone receiver units also have similar
(system includes accessories together with theprice tags. What makes the difference is the
receiver), you sure will ask me, “Which is the bestpackage price.
FTA receiver?”. I have no easy solution for you. It