There are now a few hours to go switch off of digital terrestrial on 8 March, the day when the way Italians see television will change definitively. Starting from this date, in fact, all the channels of the national broadcasters will transmit with the Mpeg-4 encoding. What does it really mean? That you will finally be able to see your favorite shows in high definition. A substantial change then, which however will not change anything at all for all those who already own a latest generation television or decoder. Conversely, those who own an outdated device will have to replace it to adapt to the change. But let’s see what will really change starting from 8 March, so as not to be caught unprepared and to ensure the vision of the national networks.
Digital terrestrial: what changes with the switch off of 8 March
For some time now we have been hearing about this “phantom” switch off of digital terrestrial on March 8th. But what will it really consist of? First of all, as anticipated, starting from this date all national channels will broadcast with Mpeg-4 encodingalthough some of these will keep un clone in Mpeg-2so as to allow all Italians to adapt to the new digital terrestrial by December 31, 2022. In any case, those who already own a television or a decoder that supports the new transmission technology will not have to worry about anything. If you fall into this category of users, the switch off will simply consist in the transmission in high definition of the programs of the national networks.
Therefore, starting from 8 March, everyone channels 1 to 9 will be broadcast in HD, and they will have a clone that will take advantage of the old Mpeg-2 technology on channels from 501 onwards. As you can imagine, the national networks will broadcast on the first channels, where you will find:
- Rai 1
- Rai 2
- Rai 3
- Rete 4 HD
- Channel 5 HD
- Italia 1 HD
- LA7
- TV8
- NEW
Channels 10 to 19, on the other hand, will broadcast in Mpeg-4 le major local broadcasters, which vary according to the Region and / or the Province to which the spectators belong. From channels 20 onwards, finally, you will find all the smaller national channels, which will broadcast in HD like the better known ones. In short, the programming will remain the same, but the new digital terrestrial will improve the spectator experience. So let’s see how to best prepare for this change.
How to prepare for the switch off on March 8th
As we have already said, if you have a television or a decoder that supports high definition the switch off on March 8th will not change anything for you. Therefore, we suggest you take a test to verify that your devices support the new digital terrestrial. Just make sure that test channels 501, 505 and 507 broadcast in HD to make sure you have all the credentials to overcome the switch off. If this is not the case, then you should consider replacing the television or decoder with a new one, certified to receive the DVB-T2 HEVC Main 10.
In case you find yourself in this situation, we suggest you request the Scrap TV Bonus made available by the Ministry of Economic Development. A support that you can use to buy a new TV if yours is not compatible with the new digital terrestrial. Remember, however, that you will have the opportunity to see national channels in Mpeg-2 at least until the end of 2022, when then you will necessarily have to replace your devices. For all the others, however, the switch off of 8 March will only be an improvement intervention. What can we say then? Enjoy it in HD!