CanalDigitaal is a provider of digital television via satellite for the Dutch market, using the Astra satellites at 23.5° east.
The Netherlands is a country located mainly in Northwestern Europe. The European portion of the Netherlands consists of twelve separate provinces that border Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, with maritime borders in the North Sea with Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. Together with three island territories in the Caribbean Sea—Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba— it forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The official language is Dutch, but a secondary official language in the province of Friesland is West Frisian.
SES Astra SA was a corporate subsidiary of SES, based in Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg, that maintained and operated the Astra series of geostationary communication satellites between 2001 and 2011.
Astra 23.5°E is a group of Astra communications satellites co-located at the 23.5° east position in the Clarke Belt owned and operated by SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg. 23.5° east is one of the major TV satellite positions serving Europe.
Initially customers were mainly Dutch citizens in the countryside who did not have cable access. But in the meantime the company also managed to expand into the cities. This is sometimes complicated in the Netherlands due to local building codes restricting the placement of satellite dishes.
A building code is a set of rules that specify the standards for constructed objects such as buildings and nonbuilding structures. Buildings must conform to the code to obtain planning permission, usually from a local council. The main purpose of building codes is to protect public health, safety and general welfare as they relate to the construction and occupancy of buildings and structures. The building code becomes law of a particular jurisdiction when formally enacted by the appropriate governmental or private authority.
A satellite dish is a dish-shaped type of parabolic antenna designed to receive or transmit information by radio waves to or from a communication satellite. The term most commonly means a dish used by consumers to receive direct-broadcast satellite television from a direct broadcast satellite in geostationary orbit.
Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a small landlocked country in western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France to the south. Its capital, Luxembourg City, is one of the three official capitals of the European Union and the seat of the European Court of Justice, the highest judicial authority in the EU. Its culture, people, and languages are highly intertwined with its neighbours, making it essentially a mixture of French and German cultures, as evident by the nation's three official languages: French, German, and the national language, Luxembourgish. The repeated invasions by Germany, especially in World War II, resulted in the country's strong will for mediation between France and Germany and, among other things, led to the foundation of the European Union.
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Western Europe. It is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of 30,688 square kilometres (11,849 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.4 million. The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi and Liège.
Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in Central Europe comprising 9 federated states. Its capital, largest city and one of nine states is Vienna. Austria has an area of 83,879 km2 (32,386 sq mi), a population of nearly 9 million people and a nominal GDP of $477 billion. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The terrain is highly mountainous, lying within the Alps; only 32% of the country is below 500 m (1,640 ft), and its highest point is 3,798 m (12,461 ft). The majority of the population speaks local Bavarian dialects as their native language, and German in its standard form is the country's official language. Other regional languages are Hungarian, Burgenland Croatian, and Slovene.
Smartcard
Unlike many German and British broadcasters, the Dutch public and commercial broadcasts are not freely available via satellite. To receive the Dutch broadcasts a smartcard is required to decrypt the Mediaguard signal. CanalDigitaal has recently switched from Mediaguard 2 to Mediaguard 3.
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central and Western Europe, lying between the Baltic and North Seas to the north, and the Alps to the south. It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, France to the southwest, and Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands to the west.
The United Kingdom, officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland but more commonly known as the UK or Britain, is a sovereign country lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland. With an area of 242,500 square kilometres (93,600 sq mi), the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world. It is also the 22nd-most populous country, with an estimated 66.0 million inhabitants in 2017.
MediaGuard is a conditional access system for digital television developed by SECA, company renamed to Canal+ Technologies SA, a subsidiary of Canal+ Group, sold to Thomson. Then Canal+ Technologies SA was broken in two pieces by Thomson in 2003, the MediaGuard sold to Nagra France and the MediaHighway to NDS France.
A standard DVB-S or DVB-S2 receiver is used, which can also receive other free-to-air broadcasts.
Digital Video Broadcasting – Satellite (DVB-S) is the original DVB standard for Satellite Television and dates from 1995, in its first release, while development lasted from 1993 to 1997. The first commercial application was by Galaxy in Australia, enabling digitally broadcast, satellite-delivered Television to the public.
Digital Video Broadcasting - Satellite - Second Generation (DVB-S2) is a digital television broadcast standard that has been designed as a successor for the popular DVB-S system. It was developed in 2003 by the DVB Project, an international industry consortium, and ratified by ETSI in March 2005. The standard is based on, and improves upon DVB-S and the electronic news-gathering system, used by mobile units for sending sounds and images from remote locations worldwide back to their home television stations.
Free-to-air (FTA) are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in clear (unencrypted) form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscription, other ongoing cost or one-off fee. In the traditional sense, this is carried on terrestrial radio signals and received with an antenna.
Fastscan channel list
The CanalDigitaal Fastscan lists all channels carried on the CanalDigitaal platform and almost all free-to-air channels on the 19.2° east, 23.5° east and 28.2° east satellites. Many channels are free, others are available only with a subscription.
Astra 19.2°E is the name for the group of Astra communications satellites co-located at the 19.2°East orbital position in the Clarke Belt that are owned and operated by SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg.
Astra 28.2°E is the name for the group of Astra communications satellites co-located at the 28.2° East position in the Clarke Belt that are owned and operated by SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg. It is one of the major TV satellite positions serving Europe.
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Related Research Articles
Television in the Netherlands was officially introduced in 1951. In the Netherlands, the television market is divided between a number of commercial networks, such as RTL Nederland, and a system of public broadcasters sharing three channels, NPO 1, NPO 2, and NPO 3. Imported programmes, as well as news interviews with responses in a foreign language, are almost always shown in their original language, with subtitles.
Free-to-view (FTV) is a term used for audio and/or video transmissions that are provided free-of-charge without any form of continual subscription but are nevertheless encrypted. It differs from free-to-air (FTA) where content is not encrypted.
Freesat is a British free-to-air satellite television service, provided by joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008. Freesat offers a satellite alternative to the Freeview service on digital terrestrial television, with a broadly similar selection of channels available without subscription for users purchasing a receiver.
Astra 3A is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES, launched in 2002 to the Astra 23.5°E orbital slot to provide digital television and radio for DTH and cable, multimedia and interactive services, corporate networks, and occasional and other business services to central Europe.
There are four major forms of digital television (DTV) broadcast in the United Kingdom: a direct-to-home satellite service from the Astra 28.2°E satellites provided by Sky UK, a cable television service provided by Virgin Media ; a free-to-air satellite service called Freesat; and a free-to-air digital terrestrial service called Freeview. In addition, an IPTV system known as BT Vision is provided by BT. Individual access methods vary throughout the country. 77% of the United Kingdom has access to HDTV via terrestrial digital television. Satellite is the only source of HDTV broadcast available for the remaining 23%.
TV Vlaanderen is a digital satellite television and terrestrial television service provider for the Flanders region in Belgium.
A free-to-air or FTA Receiver is a satellite television receiver designed to receive unencrypted broadcasts. Modern decoders are typically compliant with the MPEG-2/DVB-S and more recently the MPEG-4/DVB-S2 standard for digital television, while older FTA receivers relied on analog satellite transmissions which have declined rapidly in recent years.
Television in France was introduced in 1931, when the first experimental broadcasts began. Colour television was introduced in October 1967 on La Deuxième Chaîne.
The Netherlands now has three major forms of broadcast digital television. Terrestrial (DVB-T), Cable (DVB-C), and Satellite (DVB-S). In addition IPTV services are available. At the end of the first quarter of 2013 almost 84% of the households in the Netherlands had some form of digital television.
Television in Belgium was introduced in 1953 and began with one channel each in Dutch and French.
Film1 is a Dutch premium television and video on demand service owned by Sony Pictures Television.
A Duo LNB is a double low-noise block downconverter (LNB) developed by SES for the simultaneous reception of satellite television signals from both the Astra 23.5°E and Astra 19.2°E satellite positions.
Film1 Action is a Dutch premium television channel owned by Sony Pictures Television. Its main focus is on thriller, action and horror films. Film1 launched together with its sister service Sport1 on February 1, 2006 and replaced the Canal+ Netherlands television channels. Film1 offers multiple channels with Dutch and international film and television series productions. On October 1, 2008 Film1 launched Film1 Action.
Saorsat is a free-to-air satellite service in Ireland. The service launched on 3 May 2012.
Film1 Premiere is a Dutch premium television channel owned by Sony Pictures Television. It is the flagship channel of the premium television service Film1. Film1 launched with its sister service Sport1 on 1 February 2006 and replaced the Canal+ Netherlands television channels. Film1 offers multiple channels with Dutch and international film and television series productions. Films are first shown on prime time on Film1 Premiere. On 25 February 2011, Film1.1 was rebranded as Film1 Premiere.
Film1 Family is a Dutch premium television channel owned by Sony Pictures Television. Its main focus is on comedy and children films. Film1 launched together with its sister service Sport1 on 1 February 2006 and replaced the Canal+ Netherlands television channels. Film1 offers multiple channels with Dutch and international film and television series productions. Film1.2 rebranded into Film1 Family on 25 February 2011. Film1 Family changed into Film1 Comedy & Kids on 6 September 2013 but on 1 September 2016 it changed back to Film1 Family.
Film1 Festival, formerly known as Film1.3, was a Dutch premium television channel owned by Chellomedia, the European content division of Liberty Global. On 1 March 2012 the channel was replaced by Film1 Sundance. Its main focus was on arthouse films and international productions. Film1 launched together with its sister service Sport1 on 1 February 2006 and replaced the Canal+ Netherlands television channels. Film1 offers multiple channels with Dutch and international film and television series productions. On 25 February 2011 Film1.3 was rebranded into Film1 Festival. On 31 January 2012 Film1 announced that Film1 Festival would be replaced by Film1 Sundance on 1 March 2012.
