A few more hours and the old televisions in the house will definitely shut down. On 21 December the transition to the new digital terrestrial will be completed and all national and local television networks will be visible only if you have the new devices compatible with the new DVB-T2 standard. It will be a leap in quality because the new devices will be able to support high definition (HD) thanks to MPEG-4 technology, a more powerful video compression system which will therefore bring more defined image quality to homes.
On the eve of the switch-off, on December 20, the old Mpeg-2 encoding which is now in force with Rai, Mediaset, La7 and all the other broadcasters will be sent to the attic. The channels that do not yet broadcast in HD will then be switched off, those relegated from number 500 onwards and from the following day the programming will only be in Mpeg-4.
Many are already prepared for this step and have been equipped for some time. In any case, there is a test available to everyone to understand if the television will be able to receive programs starting from December 21st. It is that of channel 200: if the writing “Test HEVC Main10” appears when the television is tuned to this channel, it means that the device is compatible.
Despite the efforts, there are many Italians who will be put to the test. There will be surprises. In the event that on December 21st, the channels of our television no longer appear, it is not necessary to throw away the television immediately. There is still one important step that can be done. It is that of retuning the channels: with this operation, the television performs a new scan of all networks, with the possibility of receiving new ones. However, if after the retuning operation reception problems persist or the channels are not visible at all, it will be necessary to replace your TV or your decoder with one compatible with DVB-T2.
In any case, the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy has made help services available. In fact, it is possible to contact the call center on 06 87 800 262 (Monday to Friday from 9 to 18) or ask for help via WhatsApp, by writing to 340 1206348.
The move to the new digital terrestrial standard is linked to the need to free up the 700 Mhz band to make room for the 5G network for telephone operators. The transition to the new technology will make it possible to obtain image quality much higher than the current one, to receive more channels but also to take advantage of new services.
No more bonus funds. Anyone who needs to change their device or buy a new decoder should know that they will find the doors of the incentives closed: from 12 November, with the funds provided by the government depleted, the platform made available by the Revenue Agency to receive the authorization for the release of these bonuses is no longer active. The Ministry intended to refinance the measure for another year, but the subsidy will not be renewed. On the other hand, the home decoder bonus is still active which provides for the supply, in collaboration with Poste Italiane, of a decoder at home to citizens aged 70 or over, with a pension not exceeding 20,000 euros per year and which are holders of a subscription to the broadcasting service.