VW

Data reduction and compression of an analog television signal into a digital stream. It is used on SIRIUS to allow about ten channels to be broadcasted through a single transponder (33MHz).

Films provided to subscribers from a menu of titles. The film starts on the subscriber's request. See Near Video-on-Demand also.

The abbreviation stands for Very Small Aperture Terminal. It is totally independent of existing infrastructure and uses small (1.2 – 2.4m) satellite dishes for sending information between two points, or from one point to several others.

Using the Internet, and the World Wide Web in particular, to broadcast information. Unlike typical surfing, which relies on a pull method of transferring Web pages, webcasting uses push technologies.

A general term for a whole category of products and technologies that enable you to surf the Web on your TV. Most WebTV products today consist of a small box that connects to your telephone line and television. It makes a connection to the Internet via your telephone service and then converts the downloaded Web pages to a format that can be displayed on your TV. These products also come with a remote control device so that you can navigate through the Web