Direct TV Cards

Direct TV programming has been implemented with the advent of what are known as Direct TV cards. The Direct TV Cards were first manufactured by this company called the Direct TV.  The Direct TV cards pretty much resemble credit cards, and can be sold to the customer along with the equipment that they have purchased. The cards can also be sent via a mail.

By purchasing a Direct TV Card, the customer simply commits to Direct TV programming. Once the equipment has been purchased and installed, the customer can decide what package they want to go in for. They can also decide on the mode of payment by contacting Direct TV. Direct TV will then activate the customers Direct TV Card which would provide the customer with access to few programming choices. It will also give the customer the ability to order and watch special events in pay-per-view category. However it’s not possible to transfer a DirecTV card between two Direct TV Receivers.

The DirecTV cards are expected to behave like license plates. Encryption is done in the DirecTV cards so that they ensure security. Also, account specific information on payments and billing can be stored in the card itself. A microprocessor is in-built in the Direct TV Card that allows for processing of the satellite receiver system.

Direct Cards can also help you identify your customer electronically. This has been provided by the mobile service providers in Europe, Asia and so on. This is particularly true for the GSM phones.

However, there exists a big hole in the system of Direct TV Cards and that is the problem of reprogramming. Direct TV Cards have been put to abuse by malicious programmers who modify or reprogrammed the copyrighted software found in these cards and remove all blocks of unpaid channels. Direct TV is striving to bring this situation under control by improving the quality of the cards and also by bringing the pirates under the Court of Law. There is one law for example that watches anyone who makes such equipments that could lead to illegal reception of signals from satellites. Severe penalties are imposed under these laws. They include fines of up to couple of hundred thousand dollars per violation and imprisonment of up to a decade.

The different types of Direct TV Cards that have been introduced by Direct TV over the past are as follows:

P1 Direct TV Cards - These cards were in use until 1997. The card featured the picture of a satellite ahead of them.

P2 Direct TV Cards - Introduced in 1996, P2 cards or H cards were in existence till 2002. Appearance wise, they weren’t different from the P1 Cards but had many extra features.

P3 Direct TV Cards - Shortened as HU cards, the P3 cards were brought into the market in the year 1999. One could see the picture of a soccer player. 
In spite of Direct TVs claim of the HU cards being foolproof and crack proof, hacked versions started turning up in the grey markets. Hence this system does not have a backing any longer.

Direct TV P4 Cards - Succeeding the highly pirated P3 Cards, the P4 cards came in in the year 2002. They are also popularly known as Access card#4.

DirecTV is likely to come up with more and more offers in the Direct Cards segments, time for you to go grab them.