Direct-to-home (DTH) TV television is growing throughout India, with its easy setup, interactive services, and competitive offerings. But with its growth there has been an explosion in marketing messages and noise, making it harder to figure out the best services available. So to help you figure it out, we decided to 'decode DTH' and do a side-by-side comparison of the DTH TV offerings today.
There are six major DTH service providers today, all competing for your attention and business: Airtel Digital TV, Dish TV, Sun Direct, Reliance Digital TV, Videocon d2h, and Tata Sky. Dish TV was the first major DTH service provider and has benefited from the early mover advantage. But while Videocon d2h matured late, it also offers better technology and more channels. Videocon d2h is more aggressive and flexible and offers the consumers value for money.
Compression Technology:
Better Compression technology enables platforms to be more effective and carry more channels without compromising on quality. Today's DTH TV providers on DTH technology to get more subscribers. Tata Sky and Dish TV promise MPEG-2 compression for their standard television boxes, but new operators like Videocon d2h has brought new DTH technology MPEG-4. Videocon also has access to DVB S-2 DTH technology which gives more interactive services.
HD and 3D:
Almost every provider offers some level of high-definition services. Reliance Digital TV HD leads the race, offering 250 HD-like channels, though Videocon offers the most 'real HD' channels (12 channels). Reliance's DTH Set Top box has the ability to upgrade content to 1080 p(a higher resolution), higher than competitors' 1080 i functionality. Reliance, Airtel, and Videocon are the only ones with 3D ready option. Videocon d2h's DTH set top Box has the capacity to record more than 200 hours of live content. It is important for a DTH service provider in India to offer a good quality DTH Set Top Box
OVERALL TECH RANK:
Overall, Videocon d2h takes the cake as the most future ready, tech savvy DTH operator.
CHANNEL SELECTION
Number of Channels:
It's probably the most important factor for any user: What channels are offered? In the digital world, the offerings have increased, with offerings covering entertainment, news, infotainment, Saas Bahu sagas, spectacular sporting events, and classic Hindi and English movies. DTH Pioneer Dish TV offers more than 280 + plus channels, the recent operators Reliance, Airtel offer more than 225+ channels while Tata Sky and Sun lag behind with just over 189 + and 178 + channels.Whereas Videocon d2h tops the List with the highest number of DTH channels on its DTH platform.
In the end, your choice should be based on what you care about.If you want the most technically advanced service (along with speedy customer care), go with Videocon d2h. Dish TV is the most experienced player with a lot of content variety and has always been the steadiest contender.Sun TV is dominant in the south, but has yet to leave its mark in the rest of the country.
And for your bang-to-buck needs, Videocon has the best entry level packages. The game is far from over, with new channels and new technologies entering the market every day. Tata Sky needs to offer its viewers more variety by picking up new channels. Meanwhile, newer entrants are gaining share from the traditional players with compelling technology and more channel selection.
Videocon d2h - India's best digital DTH services in India offers HD set top box and DTH online service across all cities in India. Having many unique features like 12 Picture in Picture Mosaic, 5x picture clarity, HDD Surround sound and many more Unique features
