4DTV is a proprietary broadcasting standard and technology for digital cable broadcasting and C-band/Ku-band satellite dishes from
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. () was an American Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent p ...
, using General Instrument's DigiCipher II for encryption. It can tune in both analog
VideoCipher 2
VideoCipher is a brand name of analog scrambling and de-scrambling equipment for cable and satellite television invented primarily to enforce Television receive-only (TVRO) satellite equipment to only receive TV programming on a subscription basis ...
and digital
DCII satellite channels.
History
4DTV technology was originally developed in 1997 (the same year that DigiCipher was developed) by
General Instrument
General Instrument (GI) was an American electronics manufacturer based in Horsham, Pennsylvania, specializing in semiconductors and cable television equipment. They formed in New York City in 1923 as an electronics manufacturer. During the 1950s, ...
/NextLevel and Motorola, now a division of ARRIS. The 4DTV format is contemporary to the
DVB
Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) is a set of international open standards for digital television. DVB standards are maintained by the DVB Project, an international industry consortium, and are published by a Joint Technical Committee (JTC) o ...
-based digital
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
broadcast standard but its completion came before that of DVB and thus it is similar but incompatible with the DVB standard. The
DigiCipher 2
DigiCipher 2, or simply DCII, is a proprietary standard format of digital signal transmission and it doubles as an encryption standard with MPEG-2/MPEG-4 signal video compression used on many communications satellite television and audio signals. T ...
encryption system is used in digital channels much like the
VideoCipher
VideoCipher is a brand name of analog scrambling and de-scrambling equipment for cable and satellite television invented primarily to enforce Television receive-only (TVRO) satellite equipment to only receive TV programming on a subscription basis. ...
and
VideoCipher II
VideoCipher is a brand name of analog scrambling and de-scrambling equipment for cable and satellite television invented primarily to enforce Television receive-only (TVRO) satellite equipment to only receive TV programming on a subscription basis. ...
systems were used for analog encrypted transmissions. By the time when analogue VideoCipher II channels are switched to digital, all of the remaining VCII-encrypted channels (excluding in the clear) are transitioned to DigiCipher II on all satellites that carries either in the clear or VideoCipher II/II+/RS-encrypted channels. On December 31, 2010, Motorola abandoned support for 4DTV after 13 years when it was developed. This made all of the receivers to redirect to AMC-18 (also known as W5/X4 on the 4DTV system) instead of its of other satellites that carries analog/VCII channels.
On August 24, 2016, at 9:18 AM EST, Headend In The Sky (the provider for 4DTV/DigiCipher II programming) transitioned to DVB-S2 (MPEG-2/256 QAM), meaning that support for 4DTV ended on that dat
Technical specifications
Usage
4DTV is designed for C-band/Ku-band based satellite dishes (both TVRO/direct-broadcast) in conjunction with the DigiCipher II system (for digital standard definition/high definition signals) and the VideoCipher II system (for analog signals). It is also used on Canada's Shaw Direct (previously known as Star Choice) until 2017 when standard definition broadcasting ended in favour of HDTV exclusively, making the receivers obsolete.
Receiver/Decoders
4DTV receivers were designed to receive analog NTSC (except the DSR-905) in the clear or VideoCipherII channels and feeds, as well as digital Digicipher 2 channels as a TVRO satellite system on both C and Ku band-powered satellite dishes.
Four models are available, either new or refurbished:
*DSR-920 (discontinued as of 2003)
*DSR-921 (discontinued as of 2003)
*DSR-922 (made available in Fall 2000, discontinued)
*DSR-905 (designed to work with analog 4DTV receivers and it can only receive DigiCipher II channels) (discontinued)
High definition access
The HDD-200 is a peripheral for 4DTV, it is used to access high definition channels via the Mult-Media Access Port. This peripheral is no longer in production.
Programming providers
In the United States,
National Programming Service, National Programming Service, LLC (NPS) was the primary provider of subscription programming to 4DTV and C band/K
u band users. They ceased operations as of December 26, 2010 after making a controversial attempt of converting all of their customers over to Dish Network which failed. The largest providers are no
Satellite Receivers, Ltd. (SRL)an
Skyvisionwho sell programming from the
Headend In The Sky (HITS) service by Comcast and will continue to do so in 2011 and beyond. The HITS services use the
Comcast
Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
Subscription Authorization Center (SAC) for the channels being broadcast on the AMC 18 satellite located at 105 degrees West (W5 or X4 tile on 4DTV). In Canada
Dr. Satis now the primary provider for HITS subscription services offered on C-Band after Satellite Communications Source ceased operations.
Due to the removal of 4DTV/DigiCipher II channels on August 24, 2016, there are no more programming providers for the 4DTV in the United States and Canada. However, Shaw Direct still offers DigiCipher II programming in Canada, but not HITS programming.
Advantages
The 4DTV makes use of first-generation
digital master {{For, the Sony product line called DigitalMaster, DVCAM
A digital master is an image, PDF file, digital recording or another digital asset preserved as the "original" for the purpose of archival storage, reuse and re-expression. For images, it is ...
feeds on several satellites and hundreds of channels. Therefore, a high quality signal is received, compared to other programming options that are typically compressed and re-uplinked. Being a C-band system, the 4DTV has the advantage of signal stability, great satellite footprint and no rainfade. This is a problem with services such as Dish Network and DirecTV satellite providers since they re-uplink on Ku and Ka bands.
Disadvantages
The master feeds for the many channels available can be scattered amongst multiple satellites. The actuator must slowly rotate the large dish into the desired satellite's signal path, and then a further short delay for signal acquisition and lock. This procedure makes rapid "
channel surfing
Channel surfing (also known as channel hopping or zapping) is the practice of quickly scanning through different television channels or radio frequencies to find something interesting to watch or listen to. Modern viewers, who may have cable or ...
" impossible outside the HITS provided channels.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:4dtv
Digital television
Motorola products