Since you're obviously shopping for a new TV provider you may be wondering what the difference is between cable, satellite, and fiber optic TV. The truth. Not much!
While satellite TV is self explanatory, cable, and fiber are basically the same beast. The only difference being fiber direct to your home, or fiber to the node. This really makes little difference in TV quality, and is more important in terms of Internet speed.
There's no noticeable difference in picture quality since most live TV broadcasts are in 1080i anyway, and the highest current resolution is 1080p. It doesn't matter if it's cable, fiber, or satellite. The highest HD resolution is the same.
While technologies are different, the basic options are the same. HD channels, DVR, movie channels, music, and sports. They're all available from any digital TV provider, though the channels themselves may vary slightly, and some may be exclusive as is the case with DirecTV®'s NFL Sunday Ticket.
The DVR is where things start to look a lot different. Dish Network's Hopper, DirecTV's Genie, and the U-verse Total Home DVR are some of the most high tech new DVR's to hit the market. Storage space, streaming capabilities, and multi-room recievers top the list for DVR features in 2013 and beyond.
- Connection type: Satellite
- Other services: No
Experience Dish Network's Hopper® DVR, Dish Anywhere™, Blockbuster @Home™, and HD Free For Life* with select packages.
starting at $19.99 /mo for the 1st 12 months
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- Connection type: Fiber-optic / Cable
- Other services: Internet / Digital Voice
Get U-verse TV with Total Home DVR® and up to 130 channels over AT&T's fiber-optic network.
starting at $19 /mofor 12 months if ordered with High Speed Internet with 1-year term
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- Connection type: Cable
- Other services: Internet / Digital Voice
With Xfinity® TV you can enjoy up to 200 digital cable channels, plus Xfinity® On Demand.
starting at $39.99 /mo for 6 months
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- Connection type: Cable
- Other services: Internet / Digital Voice
Enjoy TV with up to 200 channels, and up to 100 in HD.
starting at $49.99 /mo for 12 months
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- Connection type: Fiber-optic / Cable
- Other services: Internet / Digital Voice
FiOS TV offers up to 345+ available digital channels including up to 90+ in HD all over the FiOS fiber optic network.
starting at $49.99 /mo
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- Connection type: Cable
- Other services: Internet / Voice
Free HD included with select Charter® TV packages, plus get up to 200 channels, and access to 10,000+ On Demand choices
starting at $59.99 /mo for 12 months
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- Connection type: Cable
- Other services: Internet / Voice
Get Suddenlink Digital TV with up to 200 channels, and access to Video On Demand & Pay-Per-View with select packages.
starting at $60 /mo
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- Connection type: Satellite
- Other services: No
DirecTV® with Free* Genie™ DVR upgrade with select packages.
starting at $29.99 /mo for 24 months after instant rebate
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- Connection type: Cable
- Other services: Internet / Voice
Enjoy Mediacom boundry-free tv with up to to 165 music and video channels, and up to 10,000 hours of On Demand programming.
starting at $49.95 /mo for 12 months
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- Connection type: Cable
- Other services: Internet / Voice
Insight Digital TV with with up to 150 channels, and access to over 6,500 free On Demand choices per month.
starting at $45 /mo
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- Connection type: Cable
- Other services: Internet / Voice
Get digital cable TV with up to 202 channels, plus Video On Demand with select plans.
starting at $64.95 /mo
learn moreThis page was last modified on 17 June 2013 at 7:38pm