Brief Technical Glossary
AC 3
Output for Dolby Digital signal
ASTRA
SES (Société Européene des Satellites) satellite system. Analogue and digital transponders in the frequency range
AV programme pos.
Preferred programme slot on TV set for external connections such as Scart and HDMI
CAM – Conditional Access Module
Decryption decoder, which uses a smart card to decrypt the encrypted radio and TV signals.
Channel package
The channel package for a digital transponder normally includes several TV and radio channels. Each channel package has a fixed assignment for the transponder transmission frequency, for polarization (horizontal or vertical), for the symbol rate and for the Viterbi rate or error rate.
CI - Common Interface
Internationally standardised interface for CA modules
Conditional Access (CA) system
Controls user access to services and programmes which are encrypted for reasons of copyright or for commercial reasons.
Data rate
Data bits transmitted per second. Is expressed in kbit/s or Mbit/s. The higher the data rate the better the quality of the transmitted signal.
Data reduction
Compression of video and audio signals. Redundant information is discarded.
DiSEqC™
DiSEqC™ (Digital Satellite Equipment Control) is a communication system between a satellite receiver (master) and the peripheral satellite components (slaves), such as LNBs,
DiSEqC™ components
If DiSEqC™ switching matrices are cascaded, the master receiver must transmit the DiSEqC™ signal several times, so that all DiSEqC™
These days, DiSEqC™ components (slaves) must be downward compatible, i.e. respond to the analogue switching criteria from receivers that are only equipped with H/V and 22 kHz control signals.
A DiSEqC™ switching matrix will work with analogue switching criteria until the DiSEqC™ command from the master is received. All analogue switching criteria are then ignored.
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dolby Digital is a sound transmission that allows digital surround sound to be output on a home cinema system.
DVB - Digital Video Broadcasting
DVB-S2
An enhanced
Eb/No ratio
The Eb/No ratio is a measure of the signal to noise ratio of a digital signal. The value is not identical to the C/N value familiar from analogue reception technology. At Eb/No values below 5 dB no reception is normally possible.
EUTELSAT
European Satellite operator, based in Paris. Many orbit positions and European customers. Transponders in the frequency range
FEC
FEC is the abbreviation for Forward Error Correction. A technique for reducing the error rate of data transmission. Additional bits are inserted into the data stream, so that
HD – Ready
This is a label created by the EICTA (European Information, Communications and Consumer Electronics Industry Technology Association) for equipment that is capable of reproducing HDTV.
HDCP –
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