With the Paris 2024 Olympic Games just a few months away, this Tuesday, January 23, TDF begins broadcasting the France 2 channel in Ultra High Definition/4K on DTT.
For this first phase, 16 million inhabitants will benefit from UHD DTT in the Paris region, in the metropolitan areas of Bordeaux (33), Nantes (44), Angers (49), St Nazaire (44) and La Roche-sur-Yon (85), as well as in Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Réunion and Mayotte.
This is the first step before the launch of other transmitters in mainland and overseas France until June 2024, which will eventually cover around 70% of the population. France 3 will also be available in UHD from July 2024.
[Cover map at end of press release].
A major step forward for DTT
Viewers in these areas, equipped with compatible TV sets, can now receive France 2 programs in Ultra High Definition (on channel 52 in mainland France and channel 22 in the French overseas territories).
Twenty-three TDF transmitters were commissioned for the launch, including the iconic Eiffel Tower, Bordeaux-Bouliac, Nantes-Haute-Goulaine and La Citerne sites in Guadeloupe.
UHD technology (also known as 4K) offers viewers an image definition four times greater than High Definition, but also an improved contrast ratio, a wider color range, a higher frame rate and more immersive sound (NGA - Next-Generation Audio). For this broadcast, TDF uses broadcast and compression standards that are more efficient than current DTT standards (DVB-T2 and HEVC).
TDF pioneers DTT platform technology
Free, anonymous, freely accessible and of the highest quality, the DTT platform is a major TV reception mode in France, with coverage of 97% of the population.
It's also a greener, more energy-efficient way of receiving television than over the Internet.
For many years, TDF has been working alongside program publishers and industry players to reinvent DTT broadcasting, enabling it to evolve and meet the new needs of the French population. UHD is one of the key elements of this evolution.
Since 2018, TDF has been conducting regular UHD broadcast tests to experiment with and demonstrate the performance of new broadcast formats and technologies (UHD definition, more immersive sound, improved contrast ratio, etc.), both in mainland France and overseas.
To receive DTT in UHD
To benefit from this broadcast, users with compatible TV sets will need to carry out an automatic or manual channel search on their TV.
The ma TNT website, published by TDF (https://www.matnt.tdf.fr), provides zone-by-zone information on the frequencies used for this broadcast, which complements the 31 channels broadcast on DTT.
Karim El Naggar, Managing Director of TDF Group's Audiovisual and Networks BU, says: "On behalf of all the teams at TDF, I'm proud to be launching Ultra High Definition on DTT on the eve of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, with our customer and partner France Télévisions. DTT is a way of broadcasting television that's free for viewers, more environmentally-friendly and simply accessible to everyone, everywhere in France. It's also a technology of the future to which TDF has been actively contributing for several years. With UHD, we're taking a new step forward, working with the channels to meet the expectations of French viewers and the new uses and consumption patterns of television".