The new era of DTT in Spain begins today. The DTT blackout means that, as we explained, the channels with standard definition (SD) disappear.): all the new DTT channels will be high definitionat least 720p.
That, of course, can pose problems if your television is somewhat old and does not have a compatible DTT tuner or if the tuner you bought for your old television is not prepared for these new channels either.
How old? Well, between 2006 and 2008 “HD Ready” televisions were sold, which supported 720p content, but not all had a compatible decoder with DTT emissions in this resolution.
To be able to enjoy the new broadcasts, the decoder or tuner must support both DVB-T and MPEG-4, more modern standards than the DVB-T and MPEG-2 that were used in standard resolution broadcasts. Smart TVs of recent times already have DVB-T2 tuners with support for UHD or 4K, so if your television is relatively recent you should not have problems.
The easiest way to check if your television or tuner they are compatible retune DTT. If it is, you will see how all the channels with HD resolution – or the new La 1 UHD channel, with 4K quality – are tuned to your television.
But what happens if the process fails? It will mean that your television or decoder is not compatible, and in that case you fortunately have several options:
- change TV. The essential requirement to watch these broadcasts is to have a television capable of supporting HD broadcasts – but you will not need a new antenna. Unless you have a very old TV (early 2000s or earlier), it is normal that you will not have problems (only 2% are incompatible), but even on them, as we say, the integrated tuner may not be compatible, or you may not wanting to buy a new one. Perhaps it is a good opportunity to change television and get one of the new models on the market. Although the vast majority have a tuner compatible with HD channels, make sure that the one you choose actually has a DVB-T tuner with MPEG-4 or, better yet, a DVB-T2 tuner.
- Buy an external tuner/decoder. There are many available and compatible – here, here and here you have three examples for just 20 euros – and they are usually inexpensive. All you have to do is connect them to your HD television – that is the minimum requirement -, retune the DTT as we have explained and start enjoying those broadcasts.
- Buy an HDMI dongle. It is also interesting to buy devices like the Chromecast, the Fire TV Stick or the Fire TV Cube. With them installed you will be able to watch streaming platforms, but you will also be able to install apps that allow you to watch DTT channels: large groups have official applications, such as RTVE Play, Atresmedia Player or MiTele. There are also IPTV applications such as Tivify or the new TDT Channels that are responsible for offering you all those broadcasts as if you were watching them through a tuner.
- Use the browser on your Smart TV. The last option is simply to use the browser on your television. It is not the most convenient because you have to write the website addresses of each channel and changing between one and the other means writing another URL – or having it in bookmarks – but it can be an interesting option if you only want to see those channels from time to time. when and you don’t want to resort to a new tuner.
As can be seen, although it is most likely that your television and tuner at this point are prepared for the new DTT, there are plenty of options to solve problems if they arise.
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