Dtv_transition encyclopedia topics

Purpose of the transition

In addition to the higher image and sound quality, the switch to all-digital broadcasting will free up much of the valuable broadcast spectrum for public safety communications (e.g., police, rescue squads, and fire departments). Other parts of the spectrum will be available for commercial wireless services like wireless broadband.

Around the world

Switch-off completed

was the first country to complete the move to digital broadcasting on September 1, 2006.
moved to digital broadcasting on December 11, 2006. The switch-off was helped greatly by the fact that about 90% of the households have cable that continues to use analog distribution.
ceased analogue terrestrial transmissions nationwide at 4am, September 1, 2007 (switch-off was previously planned for the midnight after August 31 but a few extra hours were added for technical reasons). Cable TV viewers continued to receive analogue broadcasts until the end of February 2008.
completed its switch-off on September 25, 2007.
: The switch-off of the analogue terrestrial network progressed region–by–region. It started on the island of Gotland on September 15, 2005, and was completed on October 15, 2007, when the last analogue SVT1 transmitters in Scania and Blekinge were shut down. Cable distributors are allowed to continue broadcasting analogue television.
began with the switch-off on July 24, 2006 in Ticino and continued with Engadin on November 13, 2006. The switch-off was completed on 26 November, 2007.
began analogue switch-off on March 5, 2007, progressing from the west to the east and finishing the switchover on May 5, 2008.

Switch-off in progress

: The Australian government originally planned a switch-off in 2008. This has now been delayed to 2009 for metro areas and to 2013 for the regions. Until that time, free-to-air stations will be simulcast, along with digital only channels like ABC2. Since 1999, legislation has required all locally made free-to-air television transmissions to be in 16:9 widescreen format. Cable television networks began simulcasting in 2004 and analog cable services were switched off in April 2007.
will complete its analog switch-off in December 2012.
began free-to-air HD digital transmissions on, after a period of test broadcasts, on December 2, 2007 in São Paulo, expanding in January 2008 to Brasília, Rio de Janeiro, and Belo Horizonte. Digital broadcasts will be phased into the other 23 state capitals by the end of 2009, and to the remaining cities by December 31, 2013 . Analogue and digital simulcasts will continue until June 29, 2016, when analogue will be discontinued. The main broadcasters (Globo, Record, Band, SBT and RedeTV!) are simulcasting in analogue and digital broadcast, in standard definition and 1080i high definition.
: the situation is rather complex, as media regulations are under regional legislation. The Flemish region has announced that it will switch off analogue television on December 31, 2008, because coverage is already at 99 percent. The Wallonian Region has not yet announced a date and is expected to follow the European dates because the geographic difficulties to cover the whole region. In Wallonia there is already an 80 percent DTT coverage.
: The main FTA broadcasters (CBC, CTV, and Global) have launched HD streams of their programming in limited markets such as Toronto and Vancouver. Originally, unlike in the other countries, Canada was allowing the market to determine when the analogue switch-off begins. As a result, currently analogue and digital broadcasts co-exist, with virtually the only way to receive Canadian digital TV in most areas being via cable or satellite TV. In Toronto it is possible to pick up DTV over the air; in Montréal, Ottawa and Quebec City a partial set of channels (most often CBC only) are offered - primarily as a vehicle for limited HDTV deployments. Much of Canada has some over-the-air access to US border stations, most of which offer ATSC DTV. Signal strength and quality varies widely. New TV's and DVD recorders often include ATSC tuners but basic converters for existing NTSC TV's typically are not readily available locally. As of May 2007 there are fewer than 20 digital television stations in Canada. On May 17 2007, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC, Canada's broadcasting authority) ruled that television stations would be forced to switch to ATSC digital broadcasting by 31 August 2011, with minor exceptions in remote areas where analogue transmissions will not cause interference. Canadian TV to go all-digital in 2011
: The switch-off is scheduled to be in 2015.
plans to close down analogue broadcasting in 2010.
started the switch-off in September 2007 and should finish by September 2010. A broadcast law amendment which would change this is awaiting approval. The areas of Brno, Domažlice and Ústí nad Labem have already switched off.
began digital transmission in March 2006 and the analogue network will be closed at the end of October 2009.
has full digital signal by the 1st of August 2008, but analogue broadcasting still continues for the first of two public TV channels (ETV) while the second is available digitally.
will have completed the switch-off in 2011. 80% of the population will be able to see TNT in 2008.
started the switch-off in the Berlin area, beginning on 1 November 2002 and completing on 4 August 2003. It has also been completed in Bremen and Hamburg. "Simulcast" digital transmissions have started in other parts of the country, in an effort to prepare for a full switchover. The switch-off is planned to be completed by the end of 2008.
: the switch-off will complete after the end of 2011.
's analogue broadcasting is planned to be switched off by 2012.
is scheduled to switch off analogue broadcasting between 2010 and 2013.
's broadcaster RTÉ plans to make digital television available to most of the population by 2010 , and the switchoff is planned to be complete by 2012
's government aims to complete the digital switchover by 2012.
is also running an intense nationwide campaign announcing the planned switchover to digital on July 24, 2011. Many television stations around the country are already broadcasting simultaneously in digital, or are planning to start digital broadcasts by 2007.
's Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) announced that the country will start digital broadcasting in 2008 following preliminary work by the government. Kenya will be among the first countries in Africa to implement digital broadcasting. .
has a 20-year plan to switch, with the target year of 2022 for the analogue shut-off. Some digital signals are already on-air, the first being Tijuana's XETV - an English-language affiliate of The CW serving primarily San Diego, California. Groups of cities which are required to simulcast digitally are added in descending order of size, with full coverage of the smallest centres required for 2021.
: Information Ministry was planning to shut down the country's analogue television system in phases beginning from 2009 and set to convert to full digital TV in 2015.
: It was announced on the 29 November 2007 that the analogue TV broadcasts will end within the next 6 to 10 years and expect a switch off date to be announced by 2012. Digital broadcast via Freeview become available late 2007.
: The switch-off of the analog transmissions started in March 2008 and will the progress region-by-region. The last analogue transmitters are scheduled to close down by the end of 2009.
's government aims to complete the digital switchover by 2012; digital broadcasts will start in 2008.
: the National Telecommunications Commission will terminate all analogue television transmission on December 31, 2015. ABS-CBN, the country's largest TV network is planning to supply set-top boxes to areas in the Metro Manila market where the current signal of the network is weak where it will give its stations in the digital platform.
has announced that the switch-off is to be completed in 2015.
: the government aims to complete the digital switchover by 2012.
: the switch-off will be completed in 2010.
will start switch-off in November 2008 in preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and should be completed by mid 2011.
's analogue transmissions will be terminated nationwide on December 31, 2012.
: the switch-off will be completed on or before April 3, 2010.
: analogue transmissions will be terminated on 17 July 2015.
: (see also Digital switchover in the United Kingdom). The first switchoff of analogue television was on 30 March 2005, in the villages of Llansteffan and Ferryside in Wales. However, it was partially unsuccessful as residents insisted that BBC Two Wales be left broadcasting in analogue as they felt that the digital replacement, BBC 2W, which opts out from BBC Two from 20:30 to 22:00 on weekdays, shows too much Welsh programming The switch-off of all analogue terrestrial TV broadcasts resumed again on October 17 2007 with Whitehaven in Cumbria and will now proceed region by region. The last regions will be switched off in 2012. In the UK, the free-to-air digital broadcasts are branded as Freeview.
: By no later than February 17, 2009, all full-power U.S. power television will be digital, and analogue transmissions terminated, according to legislation setting this deadline signed into law in early 2006. The major television stations in the Wilmington, North Carolina media market have already turned off their analog signals as a rehearsal.

Digital-to-analog converters

After the switch from analog to digital broadcasts is complete, analog TVs will be incapable of receiving over-the-air broadcasts without the addition of a set-top converter box. Consequently, a digital converter box – an electronic device that connects to an analog television – must be used in order to allow the television to receive digital broadcasts. In the United States, the government is subsidizing the purchase of such boxes via their coupon-eligible converter box program.

European deployment

United Kingdom

The DTV transition began in the United Kingdom as FreeView broadcasting additional standard definition[SD] programming using DVB-T. The United Kingdom has a phased switchover based upon region, with the last analogue signals to be shut down in 2012.

North American deployment

United States

All US full-power analogue TV broadcasts will end in 2009. As of March 1, 2007, new television devices that receive signals over-the-air, including pocket sized portable televisions, personal computer video capture card tuners and DVD recorders, have been required to include ATSC digital tuners. Currently, most U.S. broadcasters are beaming their signals in both analog and digital formats; a few are digital-only.

On September 8 2008, Wilmington, North Carolina became the first city in America to fully switchover from analog to digital broadcasts. All analog signals were terminated at 12pm noon. This switchover was a test by the FCC to make further improvements to the transition process before the whole nation gets switched over to digital..

On September 24th 2008, Sacramento based TV Station KCRA conducted a DTV test during their 6:30pm newscast to see if Sacramentans were ready for the digital transition. For 30 seconds, viewers were shown a simulation of the analog signal being turned off. If the viewer had a capable set with the required equipment to comply with the DTV standards, they would see a PASS graphic on their screen. If the viewer was viewing TV on an analog tv set with an antenna, they would see a FAIL graphic on their screen along with additional information on how to make their TV ready. Unfortunately, this test had a glitch as some Comcast customers got a FAIL sign when their TV should have displayed PASS. KCRA issued a statement on their site explaining technical difficulties with the KCRA signal delivered to Comcast customers and work to fix the glitch. Another test took place on September 25th, 2008 to test DTV readiness. KCRA's next DTV test will take place on October 17th, 2008.