Importance of Digital Technology: Before my review, let me throw some light on the driving force of this Information Age. 12 years back, I enjoyed listening to Michael Jackson songs in "Digital" recording - to take a CD and record its songs onto a blank T-Series cassette.
The quality of music it gave was spectacular as each and every musical note used to be audible crisply & distinctly. But later came the CD itself which gave even better sound. This made the cassette history and it became almost obsolete. Then came MP3 which made the CD obsolete. The same thing happened to VCRs when VCDs came only to be overthrown by DVDs. 5 yrs back when I did my final Sem. B Tech project on OFDM, a Digital Processin’ technique.
I heard it was used mainly in "DVB - Dig Video Broadcasting" in Europe. Then, I couldn’ t understand exactly it meant. But when I saw the word "DVB" on a Tata Sky Set top box, I understood what exactly it meant. Just like audio & video, TV transmission’s gone digital! Why I am writing this is bcos Digital Technology has changed the way information is communicated in this information age. "Digital" means representing normal signal in terms of "0"s & "1"s. The advantage in this is that when data’s transmitted from one end to other, the data reproduced is much clearer than before. We are enjoying devices like Mobile Phone, LCD TVs, Home Theatres, MP3 players, Laptops, Set Top Boxes in ultimate clarity/quality only due to Digital Technology.
Why Sun Direct STB: Since the quality of cable TV service given by my local cablewala was bad my TV showed more grains than picture. I realized it was time to go digital and finally decided to go for the STB that my cablewala gives. But the probs in this was that if the signal level goes below a certain level, it flashes "No Signal". So, the only choice left out was Dish Set Top Box. The brands considered were Airtel, Sun Direct & BigTV as only these use the MPEG4 transmission. The adv in MPEG4 is that we get DivX clarity compared to Tata Sky/Dish TV’s CD clarity. The comparative statement I made based on features was:
Airtel DTH: Fairly good channel package but slightly expensive ; no DVD Component Output (for DVD quality video);
BIG TV: Has DVD Component Output ; Reasonably priced ; Good channel package but doesn’t have the Christian channel Angel TV (for my family).
Sun Direct: Has DVD Component Output ; Reasonably priced ; Has Angel TV ; Had many channels other than the basic ones.
I narrowed down to Sun Direct based upon MS reviews and dealer feedback. And I think it’s a worthy investment. Why ? Read on....
Channels: The channels available is a decent list suitable for a South Indian average family. We can choose a set of Tamil/Telugu/Kannada/Telugu channels. Along with that we get a healthy list of other music, news, movie & International channels too. For a person like me who hardly watches TV I personally feel this list’s decent. But yes, as any other service provider, we need to spend extra and top up for watching some important channels like Vh1, S-Max, Star Gold, Star Movies, HBO (But yes based on ur choice of channels you can also go for BigTv or Videocon D2H ).
Quality: Video clarity-it’s here that STB gains the upper hand. Since it uses MPEG4 technology, all channels are crisp & crystal clear. No wonder Saif finds his childhood love - I hope you got it. Sound is stereo and if u have a 2.1 channel system, you WILL enjoy it !!
Drawbacks:
1) As I mentioned earlier, we can get some channels only if we pay quite high. For watching Vh1 I HAVE TO topup for Rs 300 ! Music Pack costs 10 bucks but doesn’t include Vh1.
2) When it rains my STB fails to receive any channel for min 15-30 min ! Digital is not all good !!
3) If noticed clearly, we can observe objects highly pixelated as more channels are MPEG4 compressed.... somehow I didn’t like it.
4) Toll Free #s given for Sun Direct customer care hardly gets connected as the no of users is too high.
Conclusion: Drawbacks aside, SunDirect is the "best buy" for every middle class South Indian family.