What Is A Smart Card?

Have you stumbled upon the term smartcard and want to know what it is? We’ll explain it to you in this article.

You cannot freely receive pay-TV or private TV channels in HD quality. But if you pay for Pay TV and sharper pictures, you can get a card from many providers – the so-called smart card. With this, you can activate the channels that you have booked. This article tells you what precisely the intelligent card is and how it works.

This is a smart card, and this is how it works

A smart card looks similar to an EC card. It is just as big and has a metallic module as SIM cards contain. There is a chip inside. You can use the smart card to decode digital TV or radio channels. To do this, insert the card into your television or receiver (to receive media in HD, an HD receiver). If these devices do not have an interface for smart cards, you can use a so-called CI + module as an adapter.

If the card is inserted into the device, you can, for example, receive private TV channels in HD quality or use Pay TV – provided you have booked this. This is because digital HD channels and pay-TV channels are usually broadcast freely via satellite, antenna or cable, but are encrypted. Only those who pay the provider for it can decrypt the media. The provider will then send you a smart card. As soon as you have activated this, you can use the additional TV offer.

Via the Internet, even without a smart card

Providers here are, for example, pay broadcasters such as Sky or cable providers such as Kabel Deutschland or Vodafone. In some cases, you don’t even need a smart card: Modern intelligent TVs connected to the Internet can activate the paid offers in other ways. Here you can often use a USB stick or an app for it.

Access control smart cards

Smart cards are not only used on televisions. They are also used, for example, to regulate access control in larger companies. Employees have such a card to identify themselves and, for example, to gain access to buildings or rooms.