Editing 4DTV (section)

== History ==
4DTV technology was originally developed in 1997 (the same year that DigiCipher was developed) by [[General Instrument]]/NextLevel and Motorola, now a division of ARRIS. The 4DTV format is contemporary to the [[DVB]]-based digital [[television]] broadcast standard but its completion came before that of DVB and thus it is similar but incompatible with the DVB standard. The [[DigiCipher 2]] encryption system is used in digital channels much like the [[VideoCipher]] and [[VideoCipher II]] systems were used for analog encrypted transmissions. By the time when analogue VideoCipher II channels are switched to digital, all of the remaining VCII-encrypted channels (excluding in the clear) are transitioned to DigiCipher II on all satellites that carries either in the clear or VideoCipher II/II+/RS-encrypted channels. On December 31, 2010, Motorola abandoned support for 4DTV after 13 years when it was developed. This made all of the receivers to redirect to AMC-18 (also known as W5/X4 on the 4DTV system) instead of its other satellites that carried analog/VCII channels.

On August 24, 2016, at 9:18 AM EST, Headend In The Sky (the provider for 4DTV/DigiCipher II programming) transitioned to DVB-S2 (MPEG-2/256 QAM), meaning that support for 4DTV ended on that date.[https://www.comcastwholesale.com/satellite-transition-information]