Among all of the benefits to signing up for satellite TV service with Dish Network is the fact that it provides you with a satellite receiver at no extra cost. While this may seem like a benevolent gesture on Dish Network's part (and it is) there are a lot of other reasons why Dish Network does it. First of all, if you don't have to foot the bill for a satellite receiver, it makes you a lot more likely to subscribe to an entertainment package. It also means that Dish Network can save itself time and money by not having to deal with equipment that it's not familiar with, but subscribers insist on using in an effort to save money. Providing its own receivers also means that Dish Network can provide you with very specific features that are designed to enhance the way you watch TV.
One feature that comes standard on all Dish Network satellite receivers and is probably the most widely used is the Electronic Program Guide. The Electronic Program Guide is an on screen listing of all of the programming offered by Dish Network. It's essentially a table that you can scroll through in order to see what's showing on different channels and what will be showing in the hours or even days to come. Not only will you be able to see what programs are available for you to watch, but you'll also be able to get information about each program so that you can decide if it's something you want to watch. This makes the Electronic Program Guide indispensable when it comes to choosing what to watch because it eliminates the time that you would otherwise be forced to waste on channel surfing which would just be too frustrating with all of the hundreds of channels you might have access to with Dish Network.
Another feature that's common on Dish Network receivers is an ability to send two separate television signals to two separate televisions at the same time. This allows two people to watch different programming in two separate rooms of the house at the same time. It's as if they had two separate satellite receivers. The receiver itself is normally located in the living room with the main television set. Both televisions have their own remote controls, but the remote control that goes with the secondary television emits special UHF signals that can travel through walls.
One optional feature that Dish Network offers is a Digital Video Recorder built into some receiver models. A Digital Video Recorder will record up to two hundred hours of programming, depending on the model, so that you can play it back to watch when you get the time and it's convenient for you. Dish Network's Digital Video Recorders are easy to program with the help of intuitive on screen software, and store all of the video on an internal hard disk. That makes a Digital Video Recorder much easier to use and more versatile than a VCR.
Some Dish Network receivers can also handle HDTV programming. You need a special receiver for HDTV because HDTV features a wider screen and much higher resolution picture than normal programming. These place an extra burden on satellite receivers, and therefore the receivers have to be custom designed to handle it.
