DVB-T2 is an abbreviation for "Digital Video Broadcasting – Second Generation Terrestrial"; it is the extension of the television standard
DVB-T
DVB-T, short for Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial, is the DVB European-based consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television that was first published in 1997 and first broadcast in Singapore in Fe ...
, issued by the consortium
DVB, devised for the broadcast transmission of
digital terrestrial television
Digital terrestrial television (DTTV, DTT, or DTTB) is a technology for terrestrial television, in which television stations broadcast television content in a digital signal, digital format. Digital terrestrial television is a major technologica ...
. DVB has been standardised by
ETSI
The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) is an independent, not-for-profit, standardization organization operating in the field of Information and communications technology, information and communications. ETSI supports the de ...
.
This system transmits compressed digital audio, video, and other data in "physical layer pipes" (PLPs), using
OFDM
In telecommunications, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is a type of digital transmission used in digital modulation for encoding digital (binary) data on multiple carrier frequencies. OFDM has developed into a popular scheme for ...
modulation with concatenated
channel coding
In computing, telecommunication, information theory, and coding theory, forward error correction (FEC) or channel coding is a technique used for error control, controlling errors in data transmission over unreliable or noisy communication channel ...
and interleaving. The higher offered bit rate, with respect to its predecessor DVB-T, makes it a system suited for carrying
HDTV
High-definition television (HDTV) describes a television or video system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since at least 1933; in more recent times, it ref ...
signals on the terrestrial TV channel (though many broadcasters still use plain DVB-T for this purpose). , it was implemented in broadcasts in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
(
Freeview HD, eight channels across two multiplexes, plus an extra multiplex in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
carrying three SD channels),
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
(
Europa 7 HD, twelve channels),
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
(21 channels, five in HD),
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
(six HD (1080p50) channels, with 40 in planning),
the Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
(
Digitenne, 30 HD (1080p50) channels),
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
(five channels),
Thailand
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
(41 SD, 9 HD channels),
Flanders
Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...
(18 SD channels),
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
, national_motto =
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
(three national multiplexes, one covering the national broadcasters, one covering the local broadcasters and one carrying Pay TV),
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
(40 SD and HD channels in five nationwide multiplexes),
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
(all national, local and pay-TV channels),
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
(two pay-TV multiplexes with 20 channels),
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
(8 SD channels, 1 HD channel), and some other countries.
History
Preliminary investigation
In March 2006, DVB decided to study options for an upgraded DVB-T standard. In June 2006, a formal study group named TM-T2 (Technical Module on Next Generation DVB-T) was established by the DVB Group to develop an advanced modulation scheme that could be adopted by a second generation digital terrestrial television standard, to be named DVB-T2.
According to the commercial requirements and call for technologies issued in April 2007, the first phase of DVB-T2 would be devoted to provide optimum reception for stationary (fixed) and portable receivers (i.e., units which can be nomadic, but not fully mobile) using existing aerials, whereas a second and third phase would study methods to deliver higher payloads (with new aerials) and the mobile reception issue. The novel system should provide a minimum 30% increase in payload, under similar channel conditions already used for DVB-T.
The
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
,
ITV,
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
and
Channel 5 agreed with the regulator
Ofcom
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Ofcom has wide-rang ...
to convert one UK multiplex (B, or PSB3) to DVB-T2 to increase capacity for HDTV via DTT. They expected the first TV region to use the new standard would be Granada in November 2009 (with existing switched over regions being changed at the same time). It was expected that over time there would be enough DVB-T2 receivers sold to switch all DTT transmissions to DVB-T2, and
H.264.
Ofcom
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Ofcom has wide-rang ...
published its final decision on 3 April 2008, for HDTV using DVB-T2 and
H.264:
BBC HD
BBC HD was a high-definition television channel owned by the BBC. The channel was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007 before its discontinuation on 25 March 2013. It broadcast only during ...
would have one HD slot after
digital switchover (DSO) at Granada. ITV and C4 had, as expected, applied to Ofcom for the 2 additional HD slots available from 2009 to 2012.
Ofcom indicated that it found an unused channel covering 3.7 million households in London, which could be used to broadcast the DVB-T2 HD multiplex from 2010, i.e., before
DSO in London. Ofcom indicated that they would look for more unused UHF channels in other parts of the UK, that can be used for the DVB-T2 HD multiplex from 2010 until DSO.
The DVB-T2 specification
The DVB-T2 draft standard was ratified by the DVB Steering Board on 26 June 2008, and published on the DVB homepage as ''DVB-T2 standard BlueBook''. It was handed over to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (
ETSI
The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) is an independent, not-for-profit, standardization organization operating in the field of Information and communications technology, information and communications. ETSI supports the de ...
) by DVB.ORG on 20 June 2008.
The ETSI process resulted in the DVB-T2 standard being adopted on 9 September 2009. The ETSI process had several phases, but the only changes were text clarifications.
Since the DVB-T2 physical layer specification was complete, and there would be no further technical enhancements, receiver VLSI chip design started with confidence in stability of specification. A draft PSI/SI (program and system information) specification document was also agreed with the DVB-TM-GBS group.
Tests
Prototype receivers were shown in September IBC 2008 and more recent version at the IBC 2009 in Amsterdam. A number of other manufacturers demonstrated DVB-T2 at IBC 2009 including Albis Technologies, Arqiva, DekTec, Enensys Technologies, Harris, Pace,
Rohde & Schwarz
Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG ( , ) is a German multinational electronics group specializing in the fields of electronic test equipment, broadcast & media, cybersecurity, radiomonitoring and radiolocation, and radiocommunication. The company als ...
, Tandberg, Thomson Broadcast and TeamCast. As of 2012, Appear TV also produce DVB-T2 receivers, DVB-T2 modulators and DVB-T2 gateways. Other manufacturers planning DVB-T2 equipment launches include Alitronika, CellMetric, Cisco, Digital TV Labs, Humax, NXP Semiconductors, Panasonic, ProTelevision Technologies, Screen Service, SIDSA, Sony, ST Microelectronics and
T-VIPS.
The first test from a real TV transmitter was performed by the ''
BBC Research & Development
BBC Research & Development is the technical research department of the BBC.
Function
It has responsibility for researching and developing advanced and emerging media technologies for the benefit of the corporation, and wider UK and European m ...
'' in the last weeks of June 2008 using channel 53 from the
Guildford
Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...
transmitter, southwest of London: BBC had developed and built the modulator/demodulator prototype in parallel with the DVB-T2 standard being drafted. Other companies like ENKOM or IfN develop software (processor) based decoding.
NORDIG published a DVB-T2 receiver specification and performance requirement on 1 July 2009. In March 2009 the
Digital TV Group (DTG), the industry association for digital TV in the UK, published the technical specification for high definition services on digital terrestrial television (Freeview) using the new DVB-T2 standard. The DTG's test house: DTG Testing are testing Freeview HD products against this specification.
Many tests broadcast transmission using this standard are being in process in France, with local Gap filler near Rennes CCETT.
DVB-T2 was tested in October 2010, in Geneva region, with Mont Salève's repeater, in UHF band on Channel 36. A mobile van was testing BER, strength, and quality reception, with special PCs used as spectrum analysers, constellation testers. The van was moving in Canton Geneva (Switzerland), and France (Annemasse, Pays de Gex). However, none were demonstrated in TELECOM 2011 at Palexpo.
The standard
The following characteristics have been devised for the T2 standard:
*
COFDM
In telecommunications, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is a type of digital transmission used in digital modulation for encoding digital (binary) data on multiple Carrier wave, carrier frequencies. OFDM has developed into a popul ...
modulation with
QPSK
Phase-shift keying (PSK) is a digital modulation process which conveys data by changing (modulating) the phase of a constant frequency carrier wave. The modulation is accomplished by varying the sine and cosine inputs at a precise time. It is ...
, 16-
QAM, 64-QAM, or 256-QAM constellations.
* OFDM modes are 1k, 2k, 4k, 8k, 16k, and 32k. The symbol length for 32k mode is about 4 ms.
* Guard intervals are 1/128, 1/32, 1/16, 19/256, 1/8, 19/128, and 1/4. (For 32k mode, the maximum is 1/8.)
*
FEC is concatenated
LDPC
Low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes are a class of error correction codes which (together with the closely-related turbo codes) have gained prominence in coding theory and information theory since the late 1990s. The codes today are widely ...
and
BCH codes (as in
DVB-S2
Digital Video Broadcasting - Satellite - Second Generation (DVB-S2) is a digital television broadcast standard that has been designed as a successor for the popular DVB-S system. It was developed in 2003 by the Digital Video Broadcasting Proj ...
and
DVB-C2), with rates 1/2, 3/5, 2/3, 3/4, 4/5, and 5/6.
* There are fewer pilots, in 8 different pilot-patterns, and equalization can be based also on the RAI CD3 system.
* In the 32k mode, a larger part of the standard 8 MHz channel can be used, adding about 2% extra capacity.
* DVB-T2 is specified for 1.7, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10 MHz channel bandwidth.
*
MISO
is a traditional Japanese seasoning. It is a thick paste produced by fermenting soybeans with salt and kōji (the fungus ''Aspergillus oryzae''), and sometimes rice, barley, seaweed, or other ingredients. It is used for sauces and spreads; p ...
(Multiple-Inputs, Single-Output) may be used (
Alamouti scheme), but
MIMO
In radio, multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) () is a method for multiplying the capacity of a radio link using multiple transmission and receiving antennas to exploit multipath propagation. MIMO has become an essential element of wirel ...
will not be used. Diversity receivers can be used (as they are with DVB-T).
* Multiple
PLPs to enable service-specific robustness at a particular bit rate.
* Bundling of more channels into a SuperMUX (called TFS) is not in the standard, but may be added later.
System differences with DVB-T
The following table reports a comparison of available modes in DVB-T and DVB-T2.
For instance, a UK MFN DVB-T profile (64-QAM, 8k mode, coding rate 2/3, guard interval 1/32) and a DVB-T2 equivalent (256-QAM, 32k, coding rate 3/5, guard interval 1/128) allows for an increase in bit rate from 24.13 Mbit/s to 35.4 Mbit/s (+46.5%). Another example, for an Italian
SFN DVB-T profile (64-QAM, 8k, coding rate 2/3, guard interval 1/4) and a DVB-T2 equivalent (256-QAM, 32k, coding rate 3/5, guard interval 1/16), achieves an increase in bit rate from 19.91 Mbit/s to 33.3 Mbit/s (+67%).
Recommended maximum bit-rate configurations for 8 MHz bandwidth, 32K FFT, guard interval 1/128, pilot pattern 7:
Technical details

The processing workflow is as follows:
* Input pre-processing
** ''Physical Layer Pipe (PLP)''
*** PLPs, which had already been introduced in DVB-S2, are logical channels carrying one or more services, with a modulation scheme and robustness particular to that individual pipe.
*** ''PLP creation'': adaptation of Transport Stream (TS), Generic Stream Encapsulation (GSE), Generic Continuous Stream (GCS), or Generic Fixed-length Packetized Stream (GFPS)
* Input processing
** Mode adaptation
*** ''Single PLP (mode 'A')'': data are assembled in groups called BaseBand Frames (BBFRAMEs), with lengths of
bits, defined by modulation and coding (MODCOD) parameters, in a 'normal' length or 'short' length version
**** Input interface
**** CRC-8 encoding
**** BaseBand (BB) header insertion
*** Multiple PLPs (mode 'B')
**** Input interface
**** Input stream synchronization
**** Delay compensation
**** Null packets deletion
**** CRC-8 encoding
**** BB header insertion
** Stream adaptation
*** Single PLP (mode 'A')
**** Padding insertion
**** ''BB scrambling'': a Pseudo Random Binary Sequence (PRBS) with generator
is used to scramble completely every BBFRAME
*** Multiple PLPs (mode 'B')
**** PLP scheduling
**** Frame delay
**** In-band signaling or padding insertion
**** BB scrambling
* Bit Interleaved Coding and Modulation (BICM)
** ''Forward Error Correction (FEC) encoding'': each BBFRAME is converted into a FECFRAME of
bits, by adding parity data. Normal FECFRAMEs are 64,800 bits long, whereas short FECFRAMEs are 16,200 bits long. The effective code rates are 32,208/64,800 (1/2), 38,688/64,800 (3/5), 43,040/64,800 (2/3), 48,408/64,800 (3/4), 51,648/64,800 (4/5), 53,840/64,800 (5/6)
*** ''Outer encoding'': a
BCH code
In coding theory, the Bose–Chaudhuri–Hocquenghem codes (BCH codes) form a class of cyclic error-correcting codes that are constructed using polynomials over a finite field (also called a '' Galois field''). BCH codes were invented in ...
, capable to correct 10 or 12 errors per FECFRAME, is used to compute parity data for the information data field. The BCH generator polynomial is of the 160th, 168th, or 192nd grade
*** ''Inner encoding'': a Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) code is cascaded to the BCH
** Bit interleaving
*** Parity bits block interleaving
*** Twist column interleaving
** Bit demultiplexing to cell words

** ''Gray mapping of cell words to constellations'': either QPSK (4-QAM), 16-QAM, 64-QAM, or 256-QAM maps are used
** ''Constellation rotation and cyclic quadrature (Q) delay'': optionally, the constellations may be tilted counterclockwise by an amount of up to 30 degrees. Furthermore, the quadrature (imaginary) part of the cells is cyclically shifted by one cell
** Cell interleaving
** Time interleaving
* ''Frame building'': the transmitted stream is organized in super frames, which are composed by T2 frames and FEF (Future Extension Frame) parts
** ''Cell mapping'': cells are mapped to OFDM symbols. A T2 frame is composed by a P1 symbol, one or more P2 symbols, regular data symbols, and a Frame Closing symbol (for certain configuration parameters). The P1 symbol is used for synchronization purposes, the P2 symbols convey L1 parameter configuration signaling, whereas the data symbols carry PLP data (there are three types: common PLPs, type 1 PLPs, and type 2 PLPs), auxiliary streams, and dummy symbols used as space filler
** ''Frequency interleaving'': random interleaving is done on every OFDM symbol (except P1)
* OFDM generation
** ''Multiple-Input Single-Output (MISO) processing'': Alamouti pre-processing is optionally applied to pairs of OFDM symbol cells. Given
the input cells,
and
transmitter group 1 and 2 cells, the mapping is done as
and
for group 1, and as
and
for group 2
** ''Pilot insertion and dummy tone reservation'': three classes of pilot tones are added. They are either continual (fixed position), scattered (cyclically moving position), or edge (boundary positions). There are 8 different configuration for scattered pilots (PP1 ... PP8). Moreover, a number of dummy carriers are not modulated and reserved to reduce the dynamic range of the DVB-T2 output signal (it helps to combat nonlinear phenomena in power amplifiers during broadcast).
** ''Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT)'': classic IDFT is used to switch from the frequency domain into the time domain, after having adjusted carrier position relevant to the central transmit frequency. 1k (1024) to 32k (32768) carriers are available. There is also an ''extended'' mode, which allows to fill more data in the available bandwidth, using more active carriers and reducing the number of guard band (null) carriers.
** Peak-to-Average-Power-Ratio (PAPR) reduction, also called
crest factor reduction
** ''Guard interval insertion'': a cyclic prefix is inserted before the IDFT symbol, to recover from transmit channel echoes (multipath). Lengths from 1/128 to 1/4 of the IDFT length are allowed.
** ''P1 symbol insertion'': the P1 symbol is a particularly crafted 1k OFDM symbol, always inserted at the head of a T2 frame. It conveys few bits of information (spread, scrambled and DBPSK modulated), as it is mainly dedicated to fast synchronization (both in time and in frequency) at the receiver side. It is prepended and postpended by frequency shifted repetitions of itself, to ease receiver lock even if the nominal center frequency of the T2 signal is up to 500 kHz off.
** ''Digital-to-Analog Conversion (DAC)'': the T2 samples are converted into an analog BB complex (I&Q) signal at a sample rate that depends on the channelization bandwidth. For instance, in 8 MHz wide channels, the complex sample time is 7/64 μs.
*Adaptive coding and modulation ACM
**Adaptive coding and modulation (
ACM), allows to adapt the transmission's parameters to the reception conditions required by the terminals, for example changing into a lower coding speed during attenuation.
Market adoption
When the digital terrestrial HDTV service
Freeview HD was launched in December 2009, it was the first DVB-T2 service intended for the general public. As of November 2010, DVB-T2 broadcasts were available in a couple of European countries.
The earliest introductions of T2 have usually been tied with a launch of high-definition television. There are however some countries where HDTV is broadcast using the old DVB-T standard with no immediate plans to switch those broadcasts to DVB-T2. Among countries using DVB-T for nationwide broadcasts of HDTV are
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
,
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
,
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
,
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
,
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, and
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
. These are usually using MPEG4.
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
started broadcasting HD content over DVB-T with MPEG2, although in 2015, some Australian broadcasters switched to MPEG4.
Countries where DVB-T2 is in use include:
*
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
: Four multiplexes. Full launch in April 2015
*
Albania
Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...
: One multiplex. Full launch in July 2011.
*
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
: Launch in February 2014 (Antina – UHF operating DVB-T in Buenos Aires area).
*
Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
: Launch in May 2015.
*
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
: Three multiplexes (D, E, F), 22 transmission sites. Full launch in April 2013.
*
Belarus
Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
: Two multiplexes (2nd and 3rd), 89 transmission sites.
*
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
: DVBT2 H265 Started 17 July 2023. Only RTBF (French speaking region) VRT Flemish speaking switch off Broadcast 1 December 2018 relaying on Cable TV only
*
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
: Two multiplexes launched in late 2012 for pay TV platform EVO TV. Two public multiplexes (M1, M2). Soft launch in November 2019, full launch in July 2020.
*
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
: Adoption started in 2012.
*
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
: Migration from DVB-T launched in March 2017 and was completed in October 2020.
*
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
: Two multiplexes.
*
Estonia
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
: Two multiplexes: first mux (using H264 video coding, FTA HD channels) – soft launch in December 2012 (not all transmitters), full launch in February 2019 (all transmitter sites, including gap-fillers); second mux (using H265 video coding, 10 HD channels, pay-TV) – soft launch in October 2019 (not all transmitters), full launch in December 2019 (all main transmitter sites).
*
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
: Full launch in November 2024, exclusively DVB-T2 June 2025.
*
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
: Announced in May 2014 for DVB-T2 tests in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
for
Ultra HD
Ultra-high-definition television (also known as Ultra HD television, Ultra HD, UHDTV, UHD and Super Hi-Vision) today includes 4K resolution#Resolutions, 4K UHD and 8K resolution#Resolutions, 8K UHD, which are two digital video formats with an ...
HEVC
High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), also known as H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2, is a video compression standard designed as part of the MPEG-H project as a successor to the widely used Advanced Video Coding (AVC, H.264, or MPEG-4 Part 10). In co ...
broadcast with objectives to replace the current
DVB-T
DVB-T, short for Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial, is the DVB European-based consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television that was first published in 1997 and first broadcast in Singapore in Fe ...
MPEG4 national broadcast.
*
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
: Launch on 1 July 2015.
*
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
: Six muxes are carried, with three for public TV and three for private, the latter of which require a monthly fee. In rural areas, only the three public TV muxes are in operation. Available TV channels range from 20 to 40, depending on which muxes are available. H.265 is the used codec with Full-HD by 50 Hz (1080p), which some hardware is not compatible in Germany but compatible in Europe with H.264.
*
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
: Adoption to begin in 2013 and finish by end of 2014.
*
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
: Launched on 25 February 2016.
*
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
: Adoption supposedly began in 2012, full launch began in 2019. However, it was delayed until 2022, where analog were phased out gradually between April – November 2022 and the remaining several areas were finally terminated at 17 August 2023.
*
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
: Tests begun in 2015, regular service in mid-2017, through the "Idan Plus" service. In January 2025 the Second Authority announce the closure of DVB-T mux. All TV and radio channels that were available on the old system will be moved to DVB-Ts as on January 29, 2025.
*
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
:
Europa 7 HD channels, now no longer broadcast, launched in 2010 using DVB-T2. All TV sets sold after 1 January 2017 must be DVB-T2 compliant. On 28 August 2024 Rai Mux B was converted to DVB-T2. Many TV channels are still on DVB-T1.
*
Kenya
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
: Multichoice Africa using the GOTV brand launched in September 2011.
*
Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
: Soft launch in 2016, full launch in mid-2017. Abandoned analog on 31 October 2019.
*
Nepal
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
: Prabhu TV started the service in 2018.
*
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
: Switch to the DVB-T2 HEVC standard completed on 9 July 2019.
*
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
: One multiplex with a full launch in 2012 via the Igloo platform – a joint venture between Sky Television and Television New Zealand.
*
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
: Four DVB-T2 multiplexes, digital TV broadcasting trials began on 2012.
*
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
: From the beginning of 2021, the signal is broadcast in the DVB-T2 standard throughout the country. Plans to switch from DVB-T to DVB-T2 HEVC on 30 June 2022.
*
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
: DVB-T2 is the official standard for over-the-air TV broadcasts. Older DVB-T was only used in experimental transmissions in two cities, and will be phased out. The analogue switchoff was made on 2015/06/17, although the complete digital switchover was still in progress at that time. Romania has allocated 5 nationwide DVB-T2 multiplexes, as well as more than 50 regional/local ones.
*
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
: Two multiplexes, 20 TV and 3 radio channels. Soft launch in March 2012, full launch in October 2019.
*
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
, national_motto =
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
: Three multiplexes. Soft launch in March 2012, full launch in April 2013 is postponed till May 2015, before settled in June 2015.
*
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
: Full launch in 2016, 7 TV channels broadcast in HD. Full launch in January 2019.
*
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
: Two multiplexes. Full launch in November 2010.
*
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
: One national TV relay towards Austria, one antenna to cover
Grand Geneva soon.
*
Thailand
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
: Full launch on 1 April 2014 with H.264 encoding (up to 48 channels, 5 multiplexes)
*
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
: Experimental three multiplex. Expected for full launch in 2013.
*
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
: Five DVB-T2 multiplexes × 167 transmission sites, 150 of which have been officially launched on 10 October 2011.
*
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
: Three multiplexes, soft launch in December 2009, full launch in April 2010. An additional DVB-T2 multiplex was launched in Northern Ireland in October 2012, and extra one launched across selected areas of the UK in December 2013.
*
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
: Three multiplexes, soft launch on 11 November 2011, by the Audio Visual Global JSC. Full launch in December 2020.
Countries/continents/regions where DVB-T2 is planned in use include:
*
Southern African Development Community
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana.
Goals
The SADC's goal is to further regional socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and se ...
: Announced in November 2010 that DVB-T2 would be the preferred standard for the region.
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...
is the only country within the region which uses the
ISDB-T International
ISDB-T International, also known in Brazil as Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão Digital (SBTVD; ), is a technical standard for digital television broadcast used in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Botswana, Chile, Honduras, Venezuela, Ecuador, Costa Rica, ...
(
SBTVD
ISDB-T International, also known in Brazil as Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão Digital (SBTVD; ), is a technical standard for digital television broadcast used in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Botswana, Chile, Honduras, Venezuela, Ecuador, Costa Rica, ...
).
Afghanistan
In April 2015, "
OQAAB" started DVB-T2 broadcasting in
Kabul
Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...
.
As of 2021, the process is at a standstill after the
Taliban
, leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders
, leader1_name = {{indented plainlist,
* Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013)
* Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016)
* Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
's
return to power, and the previous government never authorized more than test broadcasts. The infrastructure in six more provinces (Herat, Kandahar, Jalalabad, Mazar, Ghazni, Kunduz) had been built out, without transmitter installation.
Albania
In July 2011, "
DigitAlb" started DVB-T2 broadcasting in
Durrës, Tirana on UHF with 29 channels (26 HD, 3 in SD).
Belgium
In April 2013,
Telenet
Telenet was an American commercial packet-switched network which went into service in 1975. It was the first FCC-licensed public data network in the United States. Various commercial and government interests paid monthly fees for dedicated lin ...
started with DVB-T2 broadcasting in
Flanders
Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...
. However it was discontinued one year later on 31 March 2014. As of the end of 2017, TV Vlaanderen started offering DVB-T2 television using Norkring's network. The following centre frequencies are used in Flanders: 650 MHz (UHF ch. 43), 658 MHz (UHF ch. 44), 674 MHz (UHF ch. 46) and 682 MHz (UHF ch. 47).
Colombia
In 2012, Colombia adopted DVB-T2 (using a bandwidth of 6 MHz) as the national standard for terrestrial television. This replaced DVB-T, the previously selected standard for digital TV, which was chosen after technical evaluation of several digital TV standards. The two standards coexisted until 2015 when DVB-T was turned off.
Digital TV has been deployed gradually across the country, starting with the four main cities, Bogotá, Medellín, Cali and Barranquilla followed by smaller cities such as Armenia, Bucaramanga, Cartagena, Cúcuta, Manizales, Pereira and Santa Marta. By 2014, most main cities had digital TV. Due to the country's topography as well as there being no sharing of masts between the public and private broadcasters, the coverage in rural areas is patchy. There has been talk of using DVB-S2 (satellite) to ensure 100% coverage: as of January 2024 this hasn't happened.
The first two transmissions were by the two private TV channels
RCN TV
RCN may refer to:
* '' Radio Cadena Nacional (disambiguation)'', a broadcast network in Colombia
** RCN Radio
** RCN TV
* RCN Corporation (formerly Residential Communications Network), a cable television, telephone, and Internet service provider ...
and
Caracol TV
Caracol is a large ancient Maya archaeological site, located in what is now the Cayo District of Belize. It is situated approximately south of Xunantunich, and the town of San Ignacio, and from the Macal River. It rests on the Vaca Platea ...
.
RTVC (the national government TV broadcaster) started to broadcast using the standard in 2013.
The digital system is known in Colombia as TDT which means Televisión Digital Terrestre (Digital Terrestrial Television).
Croatia
On 13 October 2011, the Croatian Post and Electronic Communications Agency granted license for MUX C and MUX E, both in DVB-T2 standard.
Also in October 2011,
OiV – Transmitters & Communications started testing on UHF channel 53 (730.00 MHz) from Sljeme.
Two DVB-T2 multiplexes launched in late 2012 by pay TV platform EVO TV.
In addition to that in September 2019 DVB-T2 was launched for free-to-air television, using the HEVC/H.265 codec and 720p or 1080p resolution. As of Winter 2020, legacy DVB-T broadcasts have ceased. In that time, EVOtv has issued brand new TV set-top boxes with the HEVC/H.265 DVB-T2 codec.
Czech Republic
DVB-T2 was launched in March 2017, using
video format HEVC/H.265. DVB-T was switched off in October 2020. In 2020, there was tested Nasa TV in 4K resolution to show that the DVB T2 system is capable of 4K and the devices can decode it.
Finland
Finland, the first country in Europe to cease analog terrestrial TV and move to DVB-T, launched DVB-T2 fully in November 2024 and DVB-T2 will be used exclusively from June 2025.
[
]
India
Digital Terrestrial Television services to provide mobile TV at 19 cities e.g. Pitampura(Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...
)(578.00 MHz; UHF ch. 34), Mumbai
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
(474.00 MHz and 522.00 MHz; UHF ch. 21 and ch. 27), Kolkata
Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...
, Chennai
Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
, Guwahati
Guwahati () the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...
, Patna
Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...
, Ranchi
Ranchi (; ) is the capital city and also the largest district by population of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern ...
, Cuttack
Cuttack (, or officially Kataka in Odia language, Odia ), is the former capital, deputy capital and the 2nd largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. It is also the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised f ...
, Lucknow
Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...
, Jallandhar, Raipur
Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Chh ...
, Indore
Indore (; ISO 15919, ISO: , ) is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The commercial capital of the state, it has been declared as the List of cleanest cities in India, cleanest city of In ...
, Aurangabad, Bhopal
Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...
, Bangalore
Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
, Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...
, Hyderabad
Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
, Trivandrum
Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the largest and ...
and Srinagar
Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary ...
were started on 25 February 2016. Mobile TV can be received using DVB-T2 Dongles in OTG enabled smart phones and tablets, Wi-Fi dongles, besides in integrated digital TV (iDTV).
Public and private transportation vehicles and public places are potential environments for mobile television. Currently DD National, DD National HD, DD News, DD Bharati, DD Sports, and DD Regional/DD Kisan are being relayed.
Indonesia
The project to adopt DVB-T technology in Indonesia began in 2007 with 'full' government support as the project initiator. All television broadcasters were offered to transform their analogue broadcasts into the new digital form, some were interested to follow suit and started testing their new digital broadcasts and some are still uninterested back then.
During the DVB-T
DVB-T, short for Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial, is the DVB European-based consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television that was first published in 1997 and first broadcast in Singapore in Fe ...
testing period, the Indonesian government (via its Ministry of Information & Communication Technology) wanted to switch to DVB-T2 technology which provides better signal efficiency, capacity and corrections compared to DVB-T. The TV broadcasters still testing their DVB-T broadcasts agreed to join the DVB-T2 conversion programme offered by the government since they saw the significant benefits by switching to DVB-T2 (such as higher data rate for HD content and better carrier-to-noise ratio management), even though it would introduce additional cost for those who have bought DVB-T equipment. The official switch to DVB-T2 from DVB-T began in February 2012, based on the Menkominfo decree (about 5 years from DVB-T introduction and adopting/nurturing period in Indonesia).
The Indonesian Ministry of Information & Communication Technology expects the final DVB-T2 digital television regulation to be finished in 2020 and the analogue switch off transition will begin in the same year.
Most analogue broadcasts were switched off in August 2023, with several local television stations finally broadcasting in digital on 17 August 2023.
Malaysia
Malaysia started testing DVB-T in mid 2006, but outlined plans to switch to DVB-T2 in 2011, after which tests of both were run concurrently. The DVB-T test concluded in 2016 and at the same time license to roll out DVB-T2 transmitters was contracted to Puncak Semangat Sdn. Bhd. Roll-out began in late 2016 in the Borneo states of Malaysia and has mostly concluded by mid-2017. Plans to shut off analog by mid-2018, but after the opposing party won in the 14th general election, the shutdown was postponed to mid-2019.
South and central Peninsular Malaysia has switched to fully digital TV on 30 September 2019. North and Eastern Peninsular Malaysia has also shut off analog on 14 October 2019. The rest of the country switched over on 31 October 2019.
Nepal
Currently, a private company called Prabhu TV is operating in Nepal.
Netherlands
KPN
Koninklijke KPN N.V. (Royal KPN N.V. in English), trading as KPN is a Dutch List of telephone operating companies, telecommunications company. KPN originated from a government-run postal, telegraph and telephone service and is based in Rotterda ...
started to switch its digital terrestrial television platform Digitenne to the DVB-T2 HEVC standard in October 2018, this transition completed on 9 July 2019.[
]
Palestine
On 5 January 2015, StarCom company switched to DVB-T2 technology which provided a better signal, reaching most regions of Palestine instead of limited signal covering (was functional only in Gaza Strip while in testing period using DVB-T1).
Star TV Transponder offers a range of entertainment and sports channels system DVB-T2. The package consists of 10 channels on the UHF channel 35 (586.00 MHz).
Romania
Although Romania started DVB-T broadcasting in 2005 with the MPEG-2
MPEG-2 (a.k.a. H.222/H.262 as was defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods ...
standard for SD broadcast and MPEG 4 for HD, it was only experimental. In June 2011 Romania shifted to MPEG4 both for SD and HD. In 2012, the Romanian authorities decided that DVB-T2 will be the standard used for terrestrial broadcasts, as it allows a larger number of programs to be broadcast on the same multiplex. Romania's switchover plans were initially delayed due to economical and feasibility-related reasons. One of the reasons was that most Romanian consumers already extensively used either cable or satellite services, which developed very quickly and became very popular after 1990. In fact, a technological boom started around 2003, driven by a solid economical development in the field of telecommunications, made several private operators create large networks of fiber optics and cable covering all of Romania, which are now used for providing both TV, telephony, and high quality broadband internet. As the prices for complete packages (TV, internet, telephony) are low and the quality is quite good (e.g. about 20 EUR for 500 Mbit/s internet, ≈120 SD and HD digital cable TV channels and telephony, with an added 2-4 EUR for mobile telephony), the interest for over-the-air TV quickly became very low. There are rumors that commercial broadcasters that traditionally transmitted over-the-air using analogue channels (like MediaPro
Mediaproducción, S.L.U., better known as Mediapro, is a multimedia communications group in Spain founded in April 1994 in Barcelona. The company is well involved in movie and television production.
The company holds branch offices in Madrid, S ...
, Antena GROUP, Prima TV
Prima TV () is a Romanian commercial TV channel, famous mainly for the ''Cronica Cârcotaşilor'' show and various reality shows aired on this channel.
Overview
Prima TV was launched as one of the first commercial television stations in Romania ...
) will give up terrestrial broadcasting and will be available only on pay-TV services, like cable, satellite and IPTV. It is also rumored that the DVB-T standard (with MPEG-4 encoding) will continue until 2018.
On 17 June 2015, analogue terrestrial television was switched off, with the exception of the main public TV program (TVR1) which will continue to be broadcast strictly in the VHF band until the end of 2016.
Free-to-air DVB-T2 broadcasts on MUX1 (provided by the state-owned Radiocom) are available since June 2015 in Timișoara (UHF channel 21, 474.00 MHz), Cluj-Napoca (UHF channel 26, 514.00 MHz), Iasi (UHF channel 25, 506.00 MHz), and Bucharest (UHF channel 30, 546.00 MHz). The coverage will be extended so that at the end of 2016, over 90% of the territory will be covered. For now (2015/06/30), only five channels are broadcast on MUX1: TVR1, TVR2, TVR News, TVR 3, and TVR HD, with plans to be extended to 14-16 SD and HD programs. Radiocom's MUX2 and MUX4 implementations will also start in 2016. Legacy DVB-T broadcasts are still available in Bucharest: 6 channels can be received on channels 54 and 59, but will be shut down eventually, being replaced by DVB-T2. TVR announced that TVR News and TVR 3 will be closed, and the fate of TVR HD, is uncertain. This will lower the number of channels available on DVB-T. On 2 July 2015, Kanal D Romania left the terrestrial platform. The only broadcast that remained on terrestrial except TVR is Antena 3, but it is unknown whether it will stay on DVB-T, shift to DVB-T2 or completely leave terrestrial platform. This will lead to only 3 channels in DVB-T2, and with many TV sets that are only DVB-T compatible (most of sold models being equipped with digital cable tuner) to an unattractive terrestrial platform, and more and more people will subscribe to a cable provider, or a DTH operator in areas where there is no cable TV available.
The DVB-T transmitters were shut down on the 1st of September 2016, so only the DVB-T2 network remains on air. As of 1 October 2016, 85% of the population and 78% of the Romanian territory (as stated by the broadcaster) are covered by DVB-T2 signal. The 9 TV channels that are broadcast at the moment are produced by the national television: TVR HD + 8 SD channels TVR1, TVR2, TVR3, TVR Cluj, TVR Craiova, TVR Iasi, TVR Timișoara, TVR Tg Mures.
Russia
In September 2011, Russian governmental authorities have approved the decision that since this date all newly built terrestrial digital TV networks will use the DVB-T2 standard. In some regions of Russia DVB-T/MPEG-4 networks (mostly consisting of one multiplex) have already been deployed before this decision was made.
On 1 March 2012, " Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network" has started DVB-T2 broadcasting in Tatarstan
Tatarstan, officially the Republic of Tatarstan, sometimes also called Tataria, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is a part of the Volga Federal District; and its capital city, capital and largest city i ...
. This is the first region in Russia where DVB-T2 is being used.
In January 2015, transition to DVB-T2 finished. DVB-T2 used on the whole territory of Russia. In 2019, almost all TV in Russia became digital (excluding some regional TV broadcasters).
Serbia
In May 2009, the Serbian Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Society officially announced that the DVB-T2 standard will be the national digital terrestrial broadcasting standard for both SD and HD. Serbia has become one of the first countries to commit to the DVB-T2 standard. First public test with DVB-T2 signal in Serbia was during Telfor 2009 conference in Belgrade. Analog switch off has been planned for 4 April 2012. But it was postponed to 2013. Now the final switch off is planned to finish on 1 May 2015. On 21 March 2012 JP ETV started trial DVB-T2 transmission across Serbia offering viewers a total of 10 SD channels and a HD version of the public broadcaster's channel RTS. On 14 November 2013 JP ETV has updated initial network for digital terrestrial television, and now DVB-T2 signal is available to over 90 percent of the population of Serbia.
In June 2015, the transition to DVB-T2 was finished.
Singapore
MediaCorp TV Mobile was the first channel in the world to pioneer the use of Digital Video Broadcast (DVB-T) technology to deliver television programmes to commuters in public transport such as buses, taxi etc. It was ceased transmission in 2010, a small-scale trial of DVB-T was carried on by the state-owned Mediacorp
Mediacorp Pte. Ltd. is the state media, state-owned media conglomerate of Singapore. Owned by Temasek Holdings—the investment arm of the Government of Singapore—it owns and operates television channels, radio, and digital media properties. ...
(which holds a monopoly on free-to-air broadcasting in the country) and pay television provider StarHub
StarHub Limited, commonly known as StarHub, is a Singaporean multinational telecommunications conglomerate and one of the major Telecommunications in Singapore, telcos operating in the country. Founded in 1998, it is listed on the Singapore Ex ...
, Singapore announced in June 2012 that it would adopt DVB-T2 instead as its digital terrestrial television standard, determining that it was best-suited for Singapore's urban environment. By December 2013, Mediacorp had launched digital simulcasts of its channels. The analogue switchover occurred shortly after midnight on 2 January 2019.
South Africa
On 14 January 2011, the South African Department of Communication officially announced that the DVB-T2 standard will be the national digital terrestrial broadcasting standard. An analog switch-off was planned for December 2013.
Sri Lanka
With the completion of construction of Colombo
Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...
's Lotus Tower which is a 350m tall broadcast and leisure tower, DVB T2 will be implemented in Sri Lanka's Colombo and other areas. Completion is set for 3Q 2015. DVB T2 is already implemented from the Kakavil transmission station by the SLRC.
Sweden
On 17 June 2010, the Swedish Radio and TV Authority and the Swedish Government granted a total of nine licenses to broadcast channels in HDTV spread over two multiplexes using DVB-T2.
Broadcasts started on 1 November 2010, with five channels available initially: SVT1 HD, SVT2 HD, MTVN HD, National Geographic HD and Canal+ Sport HD. From this date a coverage of 70% of the population is achieved, with 90% expected by mid-2011 and nationwide coverage by 2012.
Thailand
On 25 January 2013, The Royal Thai Army Radio and Television station, Channel 5, has launched a trial DVB-T2 service. The service had broadcast 6 SD channels including 2 HD channels. It has successfully completed Thailand's first DVB-T2 digital terrestrial TV trial with the help of Harris and one of its Maxiva UAX air-cooled UHF transmitters.
On 4 March 2013, Free TV channels 3, 5, 7, 9, NBT and Thai PBS received temporary permission to broadcast in digital DVB-T2 system until the official launch of Digital TV in Thailand in April 2014.
Ukraine
Ukraine's national terrestrial TV network (built and maintained by the Zeonbud company) uses the DVB-T2 standard for all four nationwide FTV (cardless CAS "Irdeto Cloaked CA") multiplexes, for both SD and HD broadcasts. Before settling for DVB-T2, Ukraine was testing both DVB-T/MPEG-2 and DVB-T/MPEG-4 options, and some experimental transmitters operating in those standards are still live. Ukraine has never had a full-fledged nationwide DVB-T network, thus not having to do a DVB-T-to-DVB-T2 migration.
Zeonbud's network consists of 167 transmitter sites, each carrying four DVB-T2 multiplexes, with transmitter power ranging from 2 kW to 50 W (all in MFN mode). As of 10 October 2011, 150 of the 167 transmitter sites have officially gone live. The biggest problem of Ukraine's DVB-T2 rollout for now is the acute shortage of inexpensive DVB-T2 set-top-boxes.
The four multiplexes carry in total 28 nationwide channels (same for all transmitter sites, distributed via satellite) and 4 local channels. Up to 8 of those 28 nationwide channels can broadcast in HD format.
, there are 32 channels available on the air, up from 4 channels in October 2012.
United Kingdom
On the terrestrial television system across most of the UK, there is only one multiplex
Multiplex may refer to:
Science and technology
* Multiplex communication, combining many signals into one transmission circuit or channel
** Multiplex (television), a group of digital television or radio channels that are combined for broadcast
* ...
(the slot corresponding to one channel in analog broadcasting and to many channels digital broadcasting) assigned to digital broadcasting in the DVB-T2 standard. This multiplex is controlled by the service company Freeview HD, which offered to host up to five DVB-T2 HD channels on it.
Freeview HD started its "technical launch" on 2 December 2009, hosting BBC HD
BBC HD was a high-definition television channel owned by the BBC. The channel was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007 before its discontinuation on 25 March 2013. It broadcast only during ...
, and ITV HD. On 30 March 2010, Freeview HD had its official launch, and added Channel 4 HD to its broadcasts. The fourth channel hosted was BBC One HD
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...
, while the fifth slot was used for a high-definition simulcast of CBBC
CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...
during the daytime and a high-definition simulcast of BBC Three
BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...
during the evening. The fifth HD stream on the DVB-T2 multiplex was going to be used by Channel 5 for their HD service, but they withdrew their application to Ofcom
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Ofcom has wide-rang ...
for the slot in December 2011.
In June 2012, the BBC launched a temporary stream in order to broadcast a high-definition red button service for the 2012 Olympics on Freeview, alongside BBC One HD and BBC HD. At the time, it was still undecided as to the permanent use of the 5th stream after the Olympics.
In Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
however, a second DVB-T2 multiplex was launched on 24 October 2012. This multiplex carries RTÉ One, RTÉ Two
(; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Republic of Ireland, Irish Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, television, RT� ...
and TG4
TG4 (; , ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television channel. It launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on-demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond.
TG4 was initially known as (TnaG), before bein ...
. All three channels on this multiplex are carried in SD rather than HD.
On 16 March 2013, the BBC announced that it would launch BBC News HD, BBC Three HD, BBC Four HD, CBeebies HD and CBBC HD on all digital television platforms which carry HD channels. On Freeview HD (and YouView), BBC Three HD and CBBC HD would use capacity on the BBC's existing HD multiplex covering 98.5% of UK homes; BBC News HD, BBC Four HD and CBeebies HD will use new HD capacity which will cover part of the UK and grow in coverage over time. These high-definition simulcasts are available on the second multiplex, but the second multiplex is only broadcast from selected transmitters, providing around 70% coverage across the whole of the UK.
On 26 March 2013, BBC HD was replaced by BBC Two HD.
In June 2022, it was announced that com 7 would be closing due to the license expiring and the frequency used being released for 5G. The BBC announced that they have made provisions for a 6th slot for BBC Four HD and CBeebies HD to move into available capacity that has been newly identified on the PSB3 multiplex which the BBC operates. However, BBC News HD would stop being broadcast on Freeview.
Vietnam
As of 11 November 2011, two DVB-T2 SFN networks of the Audio Visual Global JSC have been officially launched in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city. Later, the same service was offered in the Mekong Delta with transmitter in Can Tho and other cities. Each network with three multiplexes carry totally 40 SD, 05 HD and 05 audio channels (MPEG-4/H264).
Western Asia and North Africa
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Tunisia have all adopted DVB-T2. Kuwait has also committed to install the second generation standard. Iraq has already implemented its DVB-T2-based system in parts of the country, while Bahrain, Oman and Yemen are assessing the technology.
Licensing
Sisvel, a Luxembourg-based company, administers the licenses for patents applying to this standard, as well as other patent pool
In patent law, a patent pool is a consortium of two or more companies agreeing to cross-license patents relating to a particular technology. The creation of a patent pool can save patentees and licensees time and money, and, in case of blocking pa ...
s.
See also
* OFDM system comparison table
* Spectral efficiency comparison table
Spectral efficiency, spectrum efficiency or bandwidth efficiency refers to the information rate that can be transmitted over a given bandwidth in a specific communication system. It is a measure of how efficiently a limited frequency spectrum i ...
References
Sources
* DVB document A122, ''Frame structure channel coding and modulation for a second generation digital terrestrial television broadcasting system (DVB-T2)'',
* DVB document A133 ''Implementation guidelines for a second generation digital terrestrial television broadcasting system (DVB-T2)'' and
* DVB document A136 ''Modulator Interface (T2-MI) for a second generation digital terrestrial television broadcasting system (DVB-T2)'' are available at th
dvb.org website
DVB-T2 Fact Sheet, March 2010
* Freeview UK
External links
Website of the DVB Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dvb-T2
Digital Video Broadcasting
Television transmission standards