airtel digital TV

Airtel digital TV
Subsidiary
Industry Satellite television
Founded 2008
Headquarters Gurgaon, Haryana, India
Area served
 India
Key people
 Sunil Bharti Mittal
Products Direct broadcast satellite
Parent Bharti Airtel[1]
Subsidiaries Bharti Telemedia Ltd.
Website www.airtel.in/digitaltv

Airtel digital TV is an Indian direct-broadcast satellite service provider owned and operated by Bharti Airtel. Its satellite service, launched in 2008, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in India.[2] It uses MPEG-4 digital compression with DVB-S2 technology, transmitting using the satellite SES-7 108.2°E.

As of 28 November 2014, Airtel digital TV has total 383 Channels and Services including 25 HD channels.

Its primary competitors are Dish TV, Tata Sky, Videocon d2h and cable television providers. It has a total subscriber base of 9.54 million as of 30 September 2014.[3]

Airtel Digital TV Recorder

A premium DVR (Digital Video Recorder) allows 150 hours of recording live TV on a 160 GB hard disk with MPEG 4 picture clarity. This product was discontinued after the launch of [HD] Recorder.

Airtel Digital TV [HD]

Airtel Digital TV HD provides channels in their native resolution of 1080i or 720p with 16:9 aspect ratio. The STB is compatible with 7.1 Channel Dolby Digital Plus surround sound as well and is in fact the first HD STB in India to be compliant with Dolby digital Plus.[4]

Airtel Digital TV HD+ is a recorder that records content on an external USB drive/hard disk drive. It is different from the Digital TV [HD] recorder that records content on an in-built hard disk drive. HD+ offers potentially unlimited recording, as the capacity depends on that of the external hard disk drive/ USB drive. However, it only has a single tuner and hence only a single channel can be watched and recorded at the same time. This is in contrast to the [HD] recorder that enables one to watch and record two different channels at a time and to also supports simultaneous multiple channels recording.

Airtel Digital TV [HD] Recorder

On 4 May 2010, Airtel digital TV from bharti airtel announced the launch of its 3D ready High Definition Personal Video Recorder (HD Recorder).[5] Retaining its pioneering Remote Recording feature, airtel digital TV's HD Recorder offers unique features of Automatic Favourites, Search and Genre and Category sort and is 3D ready.

On 24 May 2011, Airtel announced that its digital TV HD and HD-DVR boxes are software-enabled to view standard definition (SD) content upscaled to 1080i HD.[6]

Technical information

Airtel Digital TV's standard definition broadcasts are in MPEG-4 with Interactive Service (ITV) and 7-day EPG (electronic programme guide). Interactive Service (ITV) of Airtel Digital TV includes an add-on service that allows a user to shop, book movie tickets etc. A universal remote is included in the package that can, over IR frequencies, control both the TV and the DTH box. Like other DTH service providers, it also provides a pay per view interactive service that includes a catalogue of movies in Hindi, English and regional languages.

On Demand Entertainment

Airtel Digital TV provides On-Demand services on connected boxes. A customer can view a diverse Video Library of 1600+ titles including Movies, TV Shows, Sitcoms and can Catch-up on missed TV shows of last 6 days for Top 35 channels. Best viewed with newly launched WiFi Plug-in costing Rs.849, available on www.shop.airtel.com

Interactive Services

Airtel Digital TV also contains interactive services apart from tv channels including below:

  1. iDarshan
  2. iKidsworld (Ch.361)
  3. iMusicspace (Ch.379)

Games

A subscriber can make their TV a Gaming Zone. Currently there are 6 Games available on Airtel digital TV in 3 pack variants - Silver (2 Games), Gold (4 Games) and Platinum (6 Games).

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Mobile Prepaid, Broadband, Postpaid Mobile, DTH Services in India: Airtel". Bhartiairtel.in. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  2. ↑ "Bharti Airtel launches DTH service". The Financial Express. 7 October 2008. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  3. ↑ "Quarterly report on the results for the second quarter and six months ended September 30, 2014". Bharti Airtel.
  4. ↑ "Airtel Digital TV to Bring Dolby Digital Plus Surround Sound to Indian Broadcast Television".
  5. ↑ "Now enjoy the magic of HD on airtel digital TV's 3D ready HD Recorder!".
  6. ↑ "Airtel Digital TV HD Users to Get Free Upscaled SD Channels < Televisions, HDTV, Technology < PC World India News < PC World.in". Pcworld.in. 24 May 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2013.

External links