- DirecTV programming starts where most television programs do, the broadcasting station. DirecTV has two separate broadcasting stations. One is located in Los Angeles, California, the other in Castle Rock, Colorado. These broadcasting stations receive their programming from feeds coming from all of the networks across the nation, and in some cases the world. These feeds are digitalized, encrypted, and then sent to the DirecTV satellites.
- DirecTV has six photovoltaic satellites that orbit around the earth's equator as well as ground satellites at each of its broadcasting stations. Once the broadcasting signal is encrypted and ready, it is sent from the ground satellites to the DirecTV orbiting satellites. The broadcast is then relayed off the orbiting satellites and back down to home satellite dishes across the United States.
- Transmissions from DirecTV are made using the MPEG-2 compression Format. This is the standard across the board for quality images no matter what satellite or TV company you buy your television services from. You may already be accustomed to the term MPEG-2, since much of the video you see on the Internet is also compressed using the same system.
- Once the broadcasted MPEG-2 reaches your home satellite, the signal is sent through an integrated receiver. This receiver separates the channel feeds and decodes the encryption used to send the signals from the broadcasting stations. You can then use your remote control to communicate with the receiver, and tell it what you would like to watch on your television set.
