On December 20, after months of reorganization of frequencies, they will come turn off the remaining channels encoded in Mpeg2those placed in slots from 501 onwards. They are already redundant at the moment, in the sense that since last March 8 they are simultaneously transmitted with the new Mpeg4 coding in the initial numbers of the remote control, from position 1 to 9 and from 20.
What are we talking about? Of the long march to the transition to the new digital terrestrial, DVB-T2which will have to be completed by 2023. What happens on 20 December is that the troubled preparatory phase ends: from that day Rai, Mediaset, La7 and the other broadcasters will definitively switch off the last channels broadcast in Mpeg-2 and standard definition, precisely those parked from 500 onwards. From December 21st we will only have broadcasts in Mpeg-4 at the initial numbers: if we already see those now, we’re done. At least for now.
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Who is affected by the switch-off
There are not many people who will have to do something or be alarmed. All televisions on the market since at least 2010 support high definition. And if they were even older, to decode the signal just a few euro decoder. This first update will therefore only leave the oldest devices in the dark, the very first HD Ready televisions with integrated SD decoder. The others, from HD Ready onwards and marketed for at least 12 years, are still doing well. Some time ago someone spoke of about 10 million TVs involved, but it is much more likely that it is at most a couple of million devices.
As for next year, those who have bought a new TV at least starting from 2018 are safe. But models prior to that date are not suitable for the definitive transition: threshold of 22 December 2018 it was placed somewhat arbitrarily by the then Ministry of Economic Development as a distinction for the scrapping of the television which gave access to the 100 euro bonus. A bonus expireddue to lack of resources just like the other one (the TV and decoder bonus), last November 12th.
Who sees only Mpeg-2 and who may not see DVB-T2
I there are therefore two problems: the first, residual and relating to the first switch-off of 20 December, is for those who are able to see Rai and Mediaset channels only from positions 501 (in the first case) and from 104 onwards (in the second) and not in the new positions : means that the television does not support Mpeg-4 and you need to replace it or use a decoder.
The second concerns those who bought a smart TV before 2018: these are relatively recent devices and will easily overcome the mini switch-off of these days but may not be adequate for what will be consumed in 2023. The reason? A technicality: they could be equipped with DVB-T2 decoders but without obligation to support the Hevc format (H265) with Main 10 profile.
How to test TVs
If you can already see the programs for numbers from 1 onwards, there won’t be any difficulties for the next few months. From this point of view, it should be remembered that i test channels 100 or 200 instead they were created to test the 2023 switch-off to the Dvb-T2 standard with Hevc coding (H265). In this phase they are especially useful for those who have an old television set to realize whether, after having overcome the obstacle of 2022, they will be destined to change it and for those who own a more recent but pre-2018 one: if at least in one of those channels the writing Test HeVC Main 10 appears, then there is nothing to worry about. Otherwise you can try retuning the TV. For any doubts, a telephone number (0687800262) or a WhatsApp chat (3401206348) is also available.
What are the two switch-offs for?
Come on Italian Tech we had explained more than a year agoin addition to a technological update and a significant leap in quality, DVB-T2 will finally free up the frequencies of the 700 MHz band, as foreseen by the ministerial decree of 8 August 2018, in favor of 5G telephony. But what will happen from 20 December is only the first stage of this march: only next year will the new generation of digital terrestrial television take place. For now, all channels change encoding, switching the video format to the most efficient Mpeg4 with H264 encoding. An encoding that supports (but does not necessarily guarantee) high definition.
In fact, Mpeg-4 allows you to reach Full HD 1080i resolution but it’s not for sure now that all broadcasters broadcast at that resolution: Mpeg4, by itself, is not synonymous with high definition. In other words, it’s the encoding that supports HD but saves bandwidth even at normal resolution. As we had seenit remains to be seen whether all the channels will really decide on a qualitative leap of this type. The changeover which ends on 20 December was therefore a major move with the aim of both improving the television offer and freeing up space in the radioelectric spectrum.
