Digital terrestrial TV: stop to non-HD channels from 8 March. Here's what changes

The first is on the way switch off real of the new digital terrestrial. Starting today, Tuesday 8 March, all television channels of national broadcasters will be visible in HD, i.e. in high definition. The first phase of the new standard of television broadcasts, the Dvb-T2, which will allow you to receive channels in 4K and improve the compression and overall quality of those in high resolution. It is not enough just to retune the TV for those who own televisions purchased before 2010, but they will have to run for cover by changing it or buying a new decoder. In this case you can take advantage of one of the two TV bonuses in force.

Digital terrestrial: what changes from 8 March

By today all national channels will have to be encoded in mpeg4, i.e. in high definition, putting an end to broadcasts in standard definition, mpeg2. In reality, those who have a latest generation device at their disposal will have nothing to worry about. That will be enough re-tune your TV or decoder to continue watching your favorite programmes. On the other hand, those who still own one of the very first HD Ready televisions with an integrated SD decoder will have to replace the devices.

From today, therefore, all the channels that did not do so on 20 October will also switch to HD broadcasts. On that occasion, only the thematic channels of the big broadcasters had switched to high definition (Rai 4, Rai 5, Rai Movie, Rai Yoyo, Rai Sport+ HD, Rai Storia, Rai Gulp, Rai Premium, Rai Scuola, TGCOM24, Mediaset Italia 2, Boing Plus, Radio 105, R101 TV and Virgin Radio TV). From now on, the transition involves all channels, including Rai1, Rai2, Rai3, Italy1, Channel 5, Network 4 e La7. 

In reality, the national channels transmitted with the old coding will remain available in simulcast until 2023 in the secondary numbering now reserved instead for HD: from position 501 onwards.

Retune channels: when and in which regions

To make sure the tv is HD compatible, you can check this by tuning into one of the HD channels already available. If at least one of these channels is visible, then the TV will allow viewing of the programs that will gradually be transmitted with mpeg-4 encoding. To view these programs correctly, it will be necessary to re-tune your television or decoder following the procedures provided by your television set (usually by entering the television menu and setting "automatic channel tuning").

As far as local TV is concerned, the transition to HD channels took place for geographical areas simultaneously with the calendar established by the decree for the activation operations of the new frequencies envisaged for each of the same areas. This means that the reordering of frequencies does not happen at the same time for all channels in a certain area, but varies by region.

Sardinia was the first region to have concluded this readjustment of frequencies (which ended on 4 January). Below are the other regions affected between now and 30 June.

• From 3 January to 9 March 2022: it is the turn of Valle d'Aosta, Piedmont, Lombardy (with the exclusion of the province of Mantua) and the provinces of Piacenza, Trento and Bolzano.

• 9 14 from February to March: they are interested in the reorganization of frequencies Veneto, province of Mantua, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Emilia Romagna.

• From March 1th to May 15th: it's up to Sicily, Calabria, Puglia, Basilicata, Abruzzo, Molise and Marche. 

• From May 1 to 30 June: Liguria, Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio and Campania close the circle.

When will the transition to the new digital terrestrial be completed?

The process will have to end next year (January 2023) with the completion of the second step, when all broadcasters will have to adopt a new coding system capable of compressing the signal more than MPEG4 without compromising its quality. Dvb-T2 will free up the frequencies of the 700 MHz band in favor of 5G telephony, which four years ago won them for 6.5 billion euros.

TV bonus or decoder: how it works

To meet the expense that many Italian families will have to face, a Bonus of up to 30 euros has been provided for by the decree law of the Ministry of Economic Development. The Bonus is already available and will be available until the allocated resources are exhausted or at least until December 31, 2022.

To access the incentive, families with Isee income up to 20 thousand euros will have to download a special form available on the MISE website through which they will self-certify that they are entitled to the contribution. 

The bonus will be disbursed directly by the shopkeeper who, at the time of purchase, will have to enter the purchaser's identity document and tax code on the Revenue Agency website, together with the product identification data. In the first useful tax return, the shopkeeper will recover it discount applied via tax credit.

In addition to the already active bonus, there is a new TV bonus that allows anyone, without presenting any Isee, to buy a device compatible with the new digital terrestrial at a discount: the one for scrapping of a device prior to 22 December 2018, which entitles you to a 20% discount on the purchase of the new one (up to a maximum of 100 euros).