VideoGuard is an encryption method that NDS produced. It is used for conditional broadcasting services such as broadband television and the Internet. Since satellites, radio towers, and all other broadcasting equipment broadcast signals without discretion to which subscribers receive them, VideoGuard is necessary in order to distinguish which television channels, Internet features, and other services subscribers are able to receive.   How VideoGuard Works Since broadcasting systems broadcast the same signals to everyone, VideoGuard encryption must be built directly into the programming of the set-top box that is connected to the television. Read More

Cutoff frequency (corner or break frequency) is commonly used in the physics and electrical engineering fields. This frequency causes a device to stop operating in an efficient manner, resulting in it shutting down or being cut off. More technically, the cutoff frequency reduces energy flow through the device and prevents it from working as designed. That is to say, insufficient power prevents the device from operating efficiently. Cutoff Frequency Application Cutoff frequency is most commonly applied in the communications field. The phenomenon is found throughout many frequency ranges. If a Read More

Picture sharpness can be summed up by being defined as the fine details found in an image. Images can be analog, such as a photograph or on a standard TV screen. They can also be digital made out of pixels or small bits of information as in HDTV (high definition TV) or digital photo images. When a picture has lots of fine details, it is said to have good contrast. Contrast is an integral part of picture sharpness, it can be said it is the differentiating information within an image Read More

Ultra HD (Ultra High Definition), also called UHDV (Ultra High Definition Video) and Super Hi-Vision, is a digital video format proposed by the Japanese research group and broadcasting company, NHK Science and Technical Research Laboratories. Ultra HD is a giant leap forward from HDTV. It provides a video resolution that contains 16 times more pixels than a conventional HDTV. That is, against 1,080 lines of resolution of HDTV, Ultra HD offers 4,320. More precisely, Ultra HD provides 7,680 x 4,320 pixels in a widescreen aspect ratio of 16×9, for a Read More

The process of downloading a video from a camcorder to a computer depends on whether the camcorder is digital or analog (old-style camcorder that uses tapes). For an analog camcorder, install a signal digitizer card in the computer, which is fairly common with today’s readily available off-the-shelf TV tuner cards. This card converts the analog camcorder signal to a digital one, and can be purchases for under $100. However, try to bear in mind the availability of space on the hard drive, due to the fact that even short video Read More

MediaGuard is a conditional access system used by television broadcasters such as the Canal+ Group, Orbit, Malaysia’s Astro, and China’s BGCTV. MediaGuard is a product of Nagra France. Nagra France is a division of the Kudelski Group, a Swiss company. The Kudelski Group also owns Nagravision. MediaGuard competitors include Conax, CoreTrust, Cryptoworks, Irdeto Access, Latens, SafeAccess, Verimatrix, Viaccess, VideoGuard, and Nagravision.

An HD Upconverter (High Definition Upconverter) is a device that converts the digital data embedded in DVDs into a format that can be directly viewed on a HDTV (High-Definition Television) without an intermediate conversion to an analog signal. An upconverter also digitally enhances and enlarges the standard lower resolution of some DVDs and ‘upconverts’ it so it can be seen clearly on a HDTV. In addition, some of the modern HD upconverters can even convert the frame rate of 35 mm movies to that of HDTV’s so that flickering is Read More

RCE, Regional Coding Enhancement, is an upgrade to RPC (Regional Playback Control). RCE enables a RPC/RCE protected DVD to refuse to play on a DVD player which is not region protected. Under RPC, the logic flow was “IF this region is allowed, THEN play this disk.” Under RPC/RCE, the logic flow is “IF other regions are allowed, THEN do not play this disk. RCE Adoption Currently, RPC/RCE only exists on a small number of DVD’s and only works on a small percentage of DVD players. RCE Work-Arounds If you have Read More

IPTV is an acronym for Internet Protocol TV. It essentially is a technology that delivers video or TV broadcasts over the Internet. Instead of receiving television or video over the broadcast waves, cable lines or through a satellite TV service, your TV is hooked directly into a broadband Internet router and receives digital signal directly over the Internet. Many analysts have stated that IPTV is definitely the trend for the future of television broadcasts. Many broadband operators, telephone companies and cable companies that already pipe in broadband Internet to homes Read More

Pay per view is usually defined as any TV entertainment that is purchased to be viewed once or for a set period of time. The most popular forms of pay per view programming are usually purchased and shown through cable TV or Satellite TV services. These programs include live sporting events such as boxing matches, football games, the Olympics, baseball games or special wrestling matches. In addition to sporting events, another popular venue for pay per view is first run movies on cable or satellite services. For instance, the normal Read More