Rai switches on DVB-T2, the new digital terrestrial. The date to mark on the calendar is tomorrow, August 28. Three channels, Rai Storia, Rai Radio 2 Visual and Rai Scuola, will only be visible in the new format. After years of postponements, we are slowly moving towards the so-called second generation Digital Video Broadcasting, DVB-T2, with the HEVC encoding system, which promises viewers better image and sound quality. After the first transition from MPEG2 to MPEG4 AVC on December 21, 2022, necessary for the new digital, the modernization process of Italian television continues. This means that to continue watching Rai Storia, Rai Radio 2 Visual and Rai Scuola, in digital terrestrial, from August 28, 2024 you will need a receiver compatible with this standard.
How to find out? If your TV can receive the “Rai Sport HD Test HEVC” channel, broadcast until August 28 on position 558 of the remote control, it means that it is compatible with the new DVB-T2 signals. Furthermore, starting from August 28, a sign with the same HEVC [email protected] video coding system will be broadcast on channel 100 to verify the suitability of receivers for receiving UHD/HDR content that could be broadcast on DVB-T2 multiplexes in the near future.
The advice, given these changes, is to do a complete retuning of your television starting tomorrow. For those who discover that their television or decoder is not compatible with the new format, on the website of the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy you can find a list of receivers suitable for DVB-T2 reception. Furthermore, on the same page there are details of the ‘Bonus decoder a casa’ initiative, which until October 31 of this year allows over 70s with a pension of less than 20 thousand euros per year to receive a decoder compatible with the new technology free of charge at home.
But the news doesn’t end there. From the morning of the 28th, both DVB-T and DVB-T2 Rai 1 HD, Rai 2 HD, Rai 3 HD will be broadcast in simulcast (on buttons 501, 502 and 503), but also – in their new high definition version – Rai 4 HD, RaiNews24 HD and Rai Premium HD. The same channels will therefore remain available in the standard version with the old technology. Rai 3 HD, however, on 503 will be in the national version, and therefore includes the broadcast, during the regional information appointments, on a weekly rotation, of the TGR of Lazio, Piedmont, Lombardy or Campania.
According to an Auditel-Censis survey from last year, 8 million and 400 thousand families, 35.2% of those who have a television, in 2023 did not have any TV compatible with the new systems. There is therefore a lot of caution on the part of other television companies in switching to the new standard, probably for fear of losing ratings. Rai had to take a first step towards DVB-T2 also due to the obligations in its service contract, even if, after this initial step, it is not yet clear what the next steps will be for the state television.
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