Sky Digital TV UK
Sky Digital TV UK is the full name of a British satellite television service that came to replace the analogue broadcast in 2001. With a ten-year history in television broadcasting, Sky Digital TV UK uses two Astra satellites and provides services for the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland exclusively. With the introduction of the digital signal, the sound and video quality improved and the number of channels offered by the network increased too. Initially, Sky Digital TV UK launched only the Sky digiboxes for the reception of the satellite transmission, but then other upgraded models were released in the coming years among which Sky+ and Sky+HD.
The channels broadcast by Sky Digital TV UK received new numbering at the beginning of 2006 when the company also started a new market approach with different campaigns and special offers. They are aiming at quality entertainment and good movie channels, but any user should be aware of the fact that the best channels also require superior technologies, such as a minimum Sky+ box if not a Sky+HD model. Interactive services are also available with the OpenTV system; for such variants Sky Digital TV UK relies on set top boxes that incorporate the modems for the return path.
For a general picture on what Sky Digital TV UK offers, it suffices to say that a digital receiver gives you access to their free to air channels that include both encrypted and unencrypted broadcasts. According to these specifications, users may have to pay a monthly subscription or not depending on the free-to-view or pay-to view variants. An intermediary case here is the possibility to select pay-per-view services that are also available with Sky Digital TV UK. Last but not least, the receiver has to be equipped with the Videoguard UK in order to decipher the encrypted mode.
This Videoguard is solely used for Sky Digital TV UK without any possibility to apply it for the decryption of other services. Breeches in the system do exist and there have been cases when the unofficial CAMs were used as a means to get access to the service; yet, you should keep in mind that for such cases the user's contract with Sky Digital TV UK becomes invalid and the user loses all the rights to benefit from the card applications. Another limitation you should know about is the regional one as Sky Digital TV UK operates only for Wales, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.