Vision Direct

Vision Direct (formerly Vision Sat) is a direct-to-home satellite-based pay television service provider in Siarlabar. It is owned by Vision Communications.

It was launched under the name Vision Sat in 1994.

In order to receive signals from Vision Direct, viewers must subscribe to a particular plan and purchase a satellite dish, set-top box and a viewing card.

Currently as of February 2021, Vision Direct has over 7 million subscribers.

As Vision Sat (1994-2004)
Vision Direct was first launched as Vision Sat on 09 March 1994. It became the first direct-to-home satellite-based pay television provider in Siarlabar. It was an analog satellite service that uses the PAL analog broadcasting standard. Vision Sat originally wanted to use D2-MAC, but they opted to use the PAL transmission standard in order to cut on costs. In order to prevent signal piracy, the analog service used the VideoCrypt II analog encryption system until its discontinuation of the analog service in 2003.

In 1998, Vision Sat launched its digital satellite service using the DVB-S digital satellite standard. It was the first digital television service to be broadcast in Siarlabar, two years before the launch of digital terrestrial television in the country.

By January 1999, Vision Direct reached 100,000 subscribers.

On 01 January 2001, following the switch from 4:3 to the 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio on digital terrestrial television, Vision Sat announced that a select number of channels (including digital terrestrial television channels) will have a 16:9 widescreen version on the service.

On 30 December 2003, analog satellite transmissions were closed down and viewers who weren't able to switch to the digital service at the time received a free upgrade to the digital service.

On the 2nd of January 2004, Vision Sat became the first television platform in Siarlabar to broadcast in high-definition with Euro1080's HD1. A few months later, Vision Sat launched the first set of HDTV-capable DVB-S satellite decoders.

By March 2004, the number of subscribers were increased to 500,000.

As Vision Direct (2004-present)
Vision Sat was rebranded into Vision Direct on 03 November 2004.

On 15 June 2006, Vision Direct launched the Vision+ family of DVR-enabled set-top boxes.

By May 2009, the number of subscribers reached the 1 million mark.

In mid-2016, Vision Direct launched the Vision Play family of Internet-enabled set-top boxes with 4K decoding and DVR functionality. On that same year, Vision Communications launched Vision 4K, the first 4K television channel to be broadcast in Siarlabar.

By July 2018, the number of subscribers were increased to 5,000,000.

Technical information
Vision Direct uses DVB-S2 digital satellite technology for distribution of all channels. All of the channels are encoded in MPEG-2 for standard definition channels, H.264 for high-definition channels and HEVC for ultra HD channels. The service uses Synamedia Ltd.'s VideoGuard encryption technology for all of the channels in order to prevent signal piracy.

Vision Direct receivers

 * Vision - Standard DVB-S/DVB-S2-based set-top boxes that can receive SD/HD channels and interactive/text services.
 * Vision+ - Same as the standard Vision set-top boxes, but with the ability to record from TV channels.
 * Vision Play - A model of the Vision+ set-top box with Internet connectivity and the ability to watch subscription-based streaming services such as Amazon Prime, Disney+ and Netflix.

Both these receivers allow users to watch catch-up/on demand services (except for subscription-based services like Amazon Prime, Disney+ and Netflix).

Manufactures
Currently, ARRIS and Technicolor are the two companies who manufactures set-top boxes for Vision Direct. In addition to these manufactures, there are third-party manufactures who manufacture Vision Direct-compatible set-top boxes. Those third-party STBs are part of the "Vision Direct Certified" program. The program requires third-party set-top box manufactures to follow the minimum technical specifications:


 * Twin DVB-S/DVB-S2/DVB-S2X tuners
 * Support for 1080p and 4K output
 * MPEG-2, H.264 and HEVC video codec support
 * HDMI 2.1 video output
 * TOSLINK optical or coaxial S/PDIF connection
 * Up to 5.1 surround sound
 * Ethernet port supporting 10BASE-T and 100BASE-TX
 * 802.11n wireless network support, integrated, or via a USB adapter
 * 950 MHz central processing unit (CPU)
 * Two Universal Serial Bus USB 2.0 sockets
 * Support for USB mass storage devices
 * Onboard VideoGuard conditional access system

Packages

 * Standard (€10/month)- Access to local channels and some of the best pay-TV channels (including HD versions of those channels)
 * Plus (€25/month) - Access to some additional channels (plus HD versions of those channels)
 * Premium (€35/month or €60/month with access to all streaming services) - Access to all channels (including HD and 4K channels) and subscription-based services (such as Amazon Prime, Disney+ and Netflix)

Additional packages
NOTE: Limited only to Standard and Plus packages.


 * Vision Cinema (Cinevision 1, Cinevision 2, Cinevision Action, Cinevision Family, Cinevision 4K, TeleCinema Premium)
 * Vision Sports (Vision Sports 1, Vision Sports 2, Vision Sports 3, Vision Sports 4, Vision Sports 5, Vision Sports 6, Vision Sports 7, Vision Sports 8)