Selection guide
Coax or LAN: two ways to reach the cabins
Both routes start the same way — antenna, ACU, receiver — and both end at a television in a cabin. What changes in the middle decides the cost, the retrofit risk and what the crew can actually watch.
The shared front end
A working TVRO system is not one box. The outdoor unit tracks the satellite and outputs L-band; the ACU powers and controls the antenna and holds the satellite parameters; a receiver demodulates the transponder you selected; a multiswitch routes the chosen polarizations to the receivers. Everything after that is distribution, and that is the only part where the two routes differ.
This matters when you are comparing quotes: a "CATV system" and an "IPTV system" on the same vessel share most of their bill of materials. The difference is one piece of equipment and the cabling it rides on.
CATV: decode, re-modulate, ride the existing coax
On the CATV route the headend decodes the satellite signal and modulates it back onto the vessel's coaxial network, exactly as a building would distribute terrestrial television. Any television with a tuner that matches the headend can receive it — which is why retrofit projects usually start here: the coax is already in the walls.
The multi-room configuration documented in the manual gives up to 58 different channels by letting the left- and right-hand polarizations carry different channel sets, so services do not interfere with one another. If the vessel already has a coax backbone and a working amplifier chain, a CATV headend is the shortest path to satellite television in the cabins.
IPTV: encode once, stream to anything on the LAN
On the IPTV route the same sources are encoded, stored and streamed as a digital bitstream over the ship LAN. Because everything is a stream, the source list is no longer limited to satellite: satellite TV, CCTV, video on demand and self-produced programming can be mixed in the same menu.
The documented feature set is what separates it operationally: menu customization per vessel, user management, a dynamic boot screen, information insertion and catch-up playback. For a passenger vessel that wants its own welcome screen and its own channel order, that is the reason to choose IPTV rather than fix it later.
Side by side
| Decision point | CATV | IPTV |
|---|---|---|
| Signal path | Decode → re-modulate onto vessel coax | Encode → stream over the ship LAN |
| Channel capacity | Up to 58 channels in the multi-room configuration | Limited by encoder channels and LAN capacity, not by coax spectrum |
| Sources | Satellite television | Satellite TV, CCTV, VOD, in-house programming |
| Cabin equipment | Any TV with a matching tuner | Smart TV with IPTV client, or a set-top decoder |
| Menu and branding | Fixed by the modulator setup | Custom menu, boot screen, information insertion |
| Catch-up playback | Not part of the route | Documented feature |
| Best retrofit case | Existing coax in good condition | Existing LAN with spare capacity |
CATV figures and channel count from the the 2026 manufacturer catalogue, pages 23–24; IPTV feature set from the TVROVSAT Dual TVRO Solution page.
The question that decides it
Ask what is already installed. A vessel with a coax backbone and analogue or DVB tuners in the cabins can be given satellite television by adding a headend; replacing every television and pulling LAN to each cabin is a different project with a different budget.
Ask the opposite question on a newbuild or a vessel that already runs a modern LAN: if the cable is there and the TVs are smart, the marginal cost of the IPTV route is mostly the encoder and the licensing, and you get menus, CCTV integration and catch-up in the same move. On a passenger vessel, the menu is part of the product.
Take CATV when
- The vessel has a working coax network and tuners in the cabins
- The requirement is satellite television, nothing else
- The job is an upgrade on a vessel in service, with a short yard period
- Up to 58 channels covers the requirement
Take IPTV when
- There is a LAN with capacity and spare ports in the cabins
- You want CCTV, VOD and in-house channels in the same list as satellite TV
- Branding matters — per-vessel menus, boot screen, information pages
- Catch-up playback or user management is a requirement, not a nice-to-have
Sources: the 2026 manufacturer catalogue pages 23–24 (CATV system), TVROVSAT Dual TVRO Solution wiring diagram.
Buyer questions
CATV vs IPTV
Can we run both?+−
The two routes are documented separately, so treat a mixed design as an engineering decision rather than a catalogue item: the clean version is CATV for broadcast television and IPTV for on-demand content, sharing the same headend sources.
How many channels can the CATV route carry?+−
Up to 58 in the multi-room configuration, using left- and right-hand polarization for different channel sets so services do not interfere.
Do the cabin TVs need replacing for CATV?+−
No, provided the tuner matches what the headend modulates — that is the practical advantage of the coax route on a vessel already fitted out.
Is IPTV dependent on the internet link?+−
No. IPTV here is distribution inside the ship: the streams come from the vessel's own headend, whether the source is a satellite receiver, a CCTV recorder or stored video.