Last February, SD quality channels were removed from Spanish DTT, which caused many users to televisions and tuners If they wanted to continue watching the channels, the old ones had to be updated. And also came First official channel in UHD‘La 1 UHD’ has made a significant leap forward in image quality.

It seemed that after these relevant changes everything would remain the same, but no, because a few months later we learned that the electromagnetic spectrum was planned to be rearranged to accommodate it. New UHD channels from 2025.

In fact, in September the Government published the new roadmap for the future National Technical Plan for Digital Terrestrial Television. Steps to be taken in the coming years Migrating existing DTT under DVB-T standard to DVB-T2 standard.

So what happens to my old TVs and decoders?I will be prepared at home now to face the new developments that will come from 2025 Otherwise I wouldn’t have to buy new equipment, readjust, etc. Will I need to? Let’s see.

How will changes to DTT affect me?

The upcoming changes will occur gradually, so we will have time to adapt. Specifically, there will be two very different phases:

• first stage It will take place from 2025 and will consist of: rearrangement of the spectrum With the arrival of new channels in UHD and HD. The RGE2 multiplex will be modified to broadcast: DVB-T2 and has space to accommodate 4 thanks to the H.265/HEVC codec UHD channels, Two of these are for RTVE, two for Atresmedia and Mediaset, and Antena 3 and Tele 5 will have the opportunity to start their broadcasts in UHD. There is also a room. new hd channel which will be placed in the MPE5 area under DVB-T standard (currently used) and will be awarded through a call for competition for the issuance of a new licence.
• second stage It will then arrive at a yet-to-be-determined date and all existing multiplexes and channels will be converted to the new DVB-T2 standard.

What is this DVB-T2 standard and what does it offer? This is a telecommunications standard introduced in 2008 that improves codec and spectral efficiency, among other things. HEVC or H265 Up to 30% more capacity is achieved to accommodate TV channels, replacing the previous MPEG-2 and MPEG4.

It is a relatively modern standard used in all countries of Europe, Australia, parts of Asia, much of Africa and Colombia, and has started to reach televisions from some manufacturers over the years, such as LG and Samsung. 2012 and 2013Although there are basic versions that do not offer H.265 support If our television belongs to this age, we will have some limitations as we will see below.

DVB-T2 standard logo. Image: DVB

What will I need if I want to be prepared to watch all DTT in the future? It will be necessary to have a tuner that incorporates the technology to accommodate any and all new channels DVB-T2 and is compatible with the codec HEVC or H265. This tuner could be integrated directly into the TV, so we won’t have to buy more devices or an external decoder that we can connect to an old TV via HDMI.

How do I know if my existing TV or external decoder is compatible with the new standard? There are a few ways to do it, such as looking at the user manual if we have it, searching the equipment brand’s technical support website by model number, looking at the box the TV came with, or even looking at the equipment brand’s technical support website. Devices have stickers with the initials ‘DVB-T2’ or a screen-printed logo and also abbreviation H.265.

This is the logo we need to look for on the TV or external decoder to guarantee that it will be compatible. Image: Giga TV

If I want to continue watching existing DTT channels and not new channels coming in UHD, do I need to buy anything? Not for now. As we mentioned before, the first phase of the changes includes the arrival of new UHD channels with the new standard, but there will only be 4 channels in total. There will also be HD versions as it has been until now on other frequencies. Therefore, initially, we will be able to continue watching existing HD channels in 2025 until the second phase of the changes comes on a date that has not yet been determined.

Then, if we want to watch all the channels, we will either have the option by law to purchase a new Smart TV from 2025 that will be compatible with the new standards and in sizes above 40″, or otherwise buy an external decoder It is compatible if we want to continue using our existing TV. But as we said before, buying a new decoder or TV will only be mandatory when there are definitive changes to DVB-T2, and there is no planned date yet.

Will it be necessary to recalibrate the TV or decoder? Yes, at the first stage of the change, when the first 4 new channels reach UHD and the transition of all currently broadcasting channels to DVB-T2 occurs. If we don’t readjust the screen will remain black on some of them.

Will the new UHD channels with the DVB-T2 standard and the H.265 codec look good on TVs with HD-Ready or Full HD resolution? If our TV already has a tuner that is compatible with both technologies, but it may not be compatible with UHD resolution. In fact, TVs are currently sold in 720p (HD-Ready) and 1080p (Full HD) resolutions, especially in the lower ranges and with diagonals of 32 inches or less.

In these models, we can tune in to the new UHD channels of the first phase and those that will come later, but we will not be able to benefit from the extra resolution as we will be limited to the resolution offered by the panel. It will be the TV electronics or external decoder that will downscale the original signal and we will probably not notice any improvement in image quality.

When will the definitive change to DVB-T2 happen to all DTT? Not sure. To avoid problems with existing homes, the Government has set out a number of conditions that must be met before the start signal is given.

For example 95% of the television fleet in Spain It will need to be compatible with DVB-T2 and 90% of devices should be compatible with H.265/HEVC. As commented on Banda Ancha by Cellnex figures, at the end of 2021 45.4% of televisions in Spain were equipped with a DVB-T2 tuner, but only 30% could decode H.265/HEVC and only 7.5 million affordable televisions would currently be available, compared to an estimated 38.7 million in the country.

Cover Image | Pxhere, Wikipedia, Thomson, Strong, Engel

More information | mineco

In Xataka Smart Home | DTT outage a month away: How to update your old TV so you can keep watching channels in 2024