I am really not an expert in this area. I "try" to answer your
questions:
what is a "receiver"?
I was referring to a satellite receiver that not only decodes the
encrypted signal from the satellite, but also converts the digital
signal from the satellite into analog format that my old TV can handle.
I have 3 TVs and 1 PC in my house and I want to watch TV in all 4
devices (each tunes to a different channel); therefore, I need 4
satellite receivers.
Say you've got four tv's in the house.
And two dishes -- per earlier post from someone, so that you
can see foreign tv too (if that is true).
The foreign TV channels are also coming from the satellite company --
just like other channels. They are not free. I need to pay a monthly
fee for them. This is not like those people who use a large satellite
dish mounted on their yard to capture free signal. I am not certain
whether you are thinking along that line or not; I just want to point
this out. This DISH Network thing and DirecTV thing are different;
they are more like cable TV.
Now, how do you hook each tv to this system, in a way that
each one can watch whatever channel it wants, plus whether
foreign or not?
Yes, that is as long as each TV has a satellite receiver.
Is there some kind of a network-controller that distributes the
desired signal to the tv that wants it?
Not sure whether there is such a device in the market.
Well, I have sort-of accomplished this by using computer-networking. I
have a PC that runs Beyond-TV 3.5.2 and a hardware TV tuner card. That
PC records TV shows that I want to watch. And then I have two MediaMVP
devices ($90 each) that are connecting to the PC through a home
computer network (100Mbps). I not only can use the MediaMVP to watch
recorded shows, but also can use it to watch live-TV and change channel
and such (with the help of something called "Beyond-TV Skin"). This
means I can watch live-TV from a TV that doesn't have a dedicated
satellite receiver. The catches a (1) The PC only has one receiver
and can only tune to one channel; if someone wants to use the PC to
watch one channel, those two MediaMVP will have to show the same
channel; likewise, if someone changes channel using one of the
MediaMVP, the PC and the second MediaMVP will have to watch that
channel. Personally, I find this to be inconvenient. This is the reason
why I want to switch from DirecTV (that only gave me 2 receivers) to
DISH Network (that will give me 4 receivers with a lower monthly fee).
Then, I don't need this trick to watch live-TV from a TV that doesn't
have a receiver.
Beyond-TV also comes with something called a Beyond-TV-Link that allows
a second PC to change channels in the first PC if the first PC has
multiple receivers and multiple TV tuners. But this requires the cost
of the second PC.
Microsoft has something similar called Media-Center-Extender that works
with their Media-Center-2005-Edition. But this requires the cost of the
Media-Center-Extender (around $275 to $299).
Therefore, paying $5 extra per month for the additional receivers seems
like a better deal. This is especially true that we may get a HDTV by
the end of this year. This doesn't make sense to pay a lot upfront for
devices that area not HDTV-ready. None of the options that I mentioned
above are HDTV ready. Therefore, I choose the lowest cost option that
is to pay $5 extra per month. When the HDTV situation becomes clear, we
can re-visit this issue.
Or just physical connection to each, with a rats-nest of
cables hooked in behind each tv?
Let say I have switched to DISH Network (not yet, will be soon). I
expect to see 4 video cables coming from the satellite dish(s). I will
ask the installer to route those 4 cables to a closet. In the closet, I
have already had a central panel available where I have already run
individual cable to each area in my house. Let say I have 4 bed rooms,
1 living room, and 1 finished basement. I will have 6 individual video
cables coming from each of those 6 areas and all home-run to the
closet. I will connect those 4 cables (from satellite dish) to 4 of the
6 cables. The video cables for the other 2 areas are left unused. You
can see an example of the central panel in
www.lanshack.com that has a
sample-home-network (the link is in the left hand side of the page).
David (totally ignorant on this subject, eager to learn)
You may be interested in a book called "HDTV for Dummies". I read it
and I like it (never mind the title of the book). That book not only
talks about HDTV and also the various way of connection. I find it
useful even though I don't have a HDTV in my house yet.
Jay Chan