This past February 14th was more than just Valentine’s Day: it was the deadline for the DTT blackout. However This wasn’t the first ‘blackout’ nor will it be the last.. In fact, this is a result of the Second Digital Dividend, which started in 2020 and whose reasons include the launch of the 700 MHz band for 5G. Previously, the first DTT outage occurred in 2010, when analogue broadcasts said goodbye in favor of DTT, and the official switch to DTT came in 2005. Previously, there was a switch from black and white channels to color in 1972.

And then? TV broadcasts will continue to change. Considering that this is not a state matter, but at the European level (2017 European directive), there is a Third Digital Dividend on the horizon and a date when everything will remain the same: at least until 2031.

Welcome to the post-second digital dividend era

This is what television broadcasts are like today. After the second dividend, the minimum requirement to enjoy content is to have a television that can play in high definition and integrates the standard tuner. It works over DVB-T, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC. The terms may not be very familiar to you, but according to central government data 98% of televisions already comply with these requirements (it became a standard in 2008). If you’re in that 2%, you should always buy an external tuner, use a Chromecast type set-top box, or better yet, consider upgrading your TV, because you’re definitely missing out on a lot with your old TV.

This power outage doesn’t mean new technology, just quality improvement Retransmission following those set by the Government announced in the BOE. Legacy retransmission at standard quality had a cost in both resources and frequency usage, thus freeing up space in the radio spectrum.

For this reason Minimum is HD channelsBut there are already those who are one step ahead. Before we go any further, La1 has launched its La1 UHD these days, TeleMadrid is experimenting with HDR and 1080p. Since the majority of televisions sold today are Smart TVs and have 4K resolution, it doesn’t hurt to do future testing.

When will there be more changes to DTT?

HE Third Digital DividendThe project, which will change the fate of the band between 470-694 MHz, is still on the table among interested parties such as telephone and TV service operators. However, everything indicates that this band will be directed towards the phone, which will lead to more channels being closed. We know from the European Broadcasting Union that everything will remain the same until at least 2031.

We saw how the standard in this disruption in 2024 is digital video broadcasting or DVB-T, but the next step will be DVB-T2, which is not new either. In fact, this is generally the norm among televisions released after 2015. Beyond the technical details, the results are interesting: It supports more data streams, i.e. 4K broadcasts. Interestingly, according to Cellnex, only 19.3% of televisions in Spain have a panel with this technology, so we will need at least a compatible decoder, if not a new television, to enjoy what is coming in a few years.

Although they are often named simultaneously, they are two different parameters: H.265 codec. An example: without going any further, La1 in UHD is a simple but H.265. It is true that normally TVs with H.265 have DVB-T2 and most 4K TVs natively support this codec, but they are independent.

What does this ‘new’ H.265 encoder do? Most importantly, it reduces by half the bandwidth required to stream video without loss of quality, which is essential for optimizing the most demanding broadcasts. UN agency International Telecommunication Union has been promoting its use for years.

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