Let's remind you of the important news: from January 1, 2019, digital television will start operating in the territory instead of analog. This is a new format, which we will discuss in more detail in the article. We will reveal its advantages and disadvantages. Let's figure out how to switch to digital TV, how much it will cost for Russians.
What is this?
Digital television is a technology for transmitting television sounds and images by encoding audio and video signals using digital signals. As for the basis for modern television, it is MPEG (one of the data compression standards).
Let's draw a parallel with analog television. One channel here occupies one frequency. As for digital television, a whole package of television channels is transmitted here by frequency. Its more popular name is multiplex.
The digital signal is absolutely not afraid of interference on the air. An additional interest is that itallows you to connect additional services for viewers - teletext, voting during a live broadcast, and so on. The main difficulty of digital cable television is that it sometimes requires the purchase of additional equipment for its operation.
Some statistics: digital television is a format that covered 90% of Russian residents as of October 2018. Today, less than 10% of the population watches TV in an outdated analog format.
Benefits
Which TV is better - digital or analog? We offer a small comparison. The visible advantages of digital television over the outdated format are as follows:
- Increased noise immunity of both recording and transmission of television signals.
- Improving the quality of both picture and sound in television receivers.
- Reduce transmitter power.
- Substantial increase in TV channels to be transmitted in the same frequency range.
- Creating new television systems using innovative image decomposition technology, that is, HD channels with high-definition picture.
- Creation of interactive television systems. The viewer will have the opportunity to influence the transmitted data. For example, he can watch this or that video only on his request.
- Rewind function. If the viewer did not have time for the beginning of the long-awaited match, he has the opportunity to rewind the TV program to its beginning.
- Archive. You can watch your favorite showsput in a special folder so that you can return to viewing them later.
- Record. The viewer will also have the opportunity to record any interesting programs and videos.
- It will be possible to transmit additional data in the TV signal. For example, an electronic TV program.
- Ability to switch between multiple audio tracks. Why is it convenient? You will have the opportunity to watch the film dubbed in different languages, for example, in Russian or original English.
- Ability to add radio to multiplexes.
- A significant expansion of the possibilities of studio equipment.
Flaws
Today, a considerable part of Russian TV viewers has been able to get acquainted with the possibilities of the new digital television. Users have identified its annoying flaws:
- Fading and scattering of the image into separate pixel squares. The picture breaks up into single-color pixels in case of an insufficient level of the signal received by the TV receiver. There are two options: the data is either received with insufficient quality for the built-in recovery schemes to work (when a crumbling picture is visible), or it is received so badly that there is no possibility of recovery at all.
- In a thunderstorm, there is an almost complete fading of what is happening on the screen.
- A standard transmitter with a power of 10 kW and a height of over 350 meters of transmitting antennas can provide reliable signal reception at a distance of only 50 km. ATCompared to analog TV, this is a much smaller opportunity. Therefore, the construction of additional transmission centers is required.
History of digital TV in Russia
Let's follow the development of new TV technology in Russia:
- 1999 The Russian Ministry of Communications adopted the "Strategy for the transition from analogue to digital TV broadcasting".
- 2004. A decree of the Government of the Russian Federation was signed on the transfer of Russian television to the DVB-T format by the end of 2015.
- 2008. The first TVs with DVB-T support appeared in Russia. But the difficulty was that the built-in receivers supported only MPEG-2, while the test operation of DVB-T assumed broadcasting in MPEG-4 format. Therefore, many faced a problem: the TV found a channel, played sound, but there was no image on the screen. CAM modules were advertised to correct the situation. But their testing has shown that they help only occasionally.
- 2010 year. The Russian Television and Radio Network (RTRS) has launched the construction of terrestrial digital broadcasting networks in the DVB-T standard. At the same time, the first digital sensors were successfully tested in the Far East. In 2012, the first 9 channels from the First Multiplex were launched in one of the rural settlements of the Khabarovsk Territory.
- 2012 year. On-air test digital broadcasting was transferred to the DVB-T2 format. In the same year, the first multiplex in DVB-T format continued to broadcast. Private companies providing paid services in the field of digital television broadcasting in DVB-T have started their work. However, from thisyear digital television in Russia only in DVB-T2 format.
- 2019 year. Complete shutdown of analog broadcasting in the Russian Federation, transition to digital. According to preliminary plans, this should have happened a little earlier - in June 2018.
What do you need to transition?
This question causes a lot of controversy. Many people believe that a set-top box is a must for digital television. But it's not.
Get the user manual for your TV. Most modern devices support digital TV by default. How to define it? The characteristics of the TV should certainly include the following:
- support DVB-T2 standard;
- MPEG video format support.
Problem Solving
If your TV meets these requirements, you do not have to purchase anything extra. Otherwise, there are two solutions:
- Purchasing a new digital TV (the cost of the most budget models in stores today starts at an average of 5 thousand rubles).
- Purchase of a digital set-top box (otherwise they are called tuners, decoders). This device is connected to a TV. The cost of such decoders starts from 700 rubles.
How to set up digital TV on TV? With digital TV receivers, everything is clear - you just need to connect the antenna to your TV and enjoy watching your favorite channels.
As for the tuner, you must first connect it. Butthis process is absolutely not complicated - often detailed instructions are already attached to the device. The main thing is to follow it exactly and not mix up the right cables.
Choosing the right tuner
Recall that digital television is a TV format for which, in certain cases, it is necessary to purchase a special set-top box. But only for older TVs.
You can choose a tuner for every taste and color, but the main thing is that it meets the following minimum requirements:
- Support DVB-T2 standard. And this is a very important point, since there are many devices on sale that support the similarly named DVB-T format. What is the difference? This format, like DVB-T2, also means support for digital television. But today it is already obsolete. Hence, there is a high probability that it will soon be abandoned. Therefore, you should immediately buy a tuner with DVB-T2 support so as not to spend extra money to purchase a new set-top box in connection with this update.
- Support MPEG4 video format.
How to connect a set-top box to a TV?
So, the decoder has already been purchased. Next question: how to set up digital TV on TV?
You need to connect the prefix to it first. There are two standard methods:
- Via RCA cable. More commonly known as a "tulip", made up of multi-colored connectors.
- Via HDMI cable.
WhatAs for the set-top boxes, there are no problems with them in this regard. Even the most budget models are equipped with connectors for cables of the two types presented.
Difficulties may be with the TV itself. The fact is that in older models there can only be an input through a SCART connector. You will not confuse it with any other - it is oblong and has 20 contacts. It's easy to get out of the situation: you just have to buy an adapter of your choice - SCART-RCA or SCART-HDMI.
Tuner - multimedia set-top box?
Why is digital TV better? In fact, when you buy a tuner, you also buy a multimedia set-top box. Many encoders have a USB connector. Through it, you can easily connect a hard drive or flash drive to the device. This means watching pre-downloaded movies and music downloaded to the drive on TV.
But there is one caveat. If you want to use the tuner as such a multimedia set-top box, check if it supports Dolby Digital audio. Otherwise, some movies will play without sound.
What more equipment do you need?
Both modern TVs and devices with an additional set-top box will also need a UHF antenna. As a rule, you already have it in stock (the device is included with the TV).
If you live in an apartment building, then the already existing common house antenna will be enough to access digital television.
Important pointfor those viewers who need to buy a set-top box: critically evaluate the remote control that is included. Indeed, in the future, you can switch channels and control what is happening on the screen only with its help. Therefore, it should be comfortable for you: made of impact-resistant material, with large, easy-to-press buttons. As for the TV remote control, in this case, you can only turn the device on / off with it.
Free channels
The undoubted advantage of digital television is free channels. As for the Russian Federation, it makes sense to talk about the first multiplex. The digital TV zone here is the whole country.
The first multiplex is a dozen free channels:
- "First";
- "Russia-1";
- "Culture";
- "NTV";
- Russia-24;
- "TVC";
- "Match";
- "Fifth Channel";
- Russian Public Television;
- Carousel.
The second multiplex is next. That is the second ten free channels. The digital television coverage area here is not yet the entire territory of the Russian Federation, but individual regions. But this is a temporary situation. By the end of 2018, the second multiplex will be available throughout the Russian Federation.
It includes the following TV channels:
- "Star";
- Ren-TV;
- "TNT";
- Muz-TV;
- "Friday";
- "Home";
- "STS";
- "Spas";
- "World";
- TV-3.
Sovery soon digital television will cover the entire Russian Federation. Analog TV will be a thing of the past. Most modern TVs support the DVB-T format, so their owners only need to purchase an antenna. But if you have an outdated TV receiver, you can not do without buying a decoder, which can also become a multimedia set-top box for your TV.
