Digital television in Poland
Encyclopedia
First efforts to introduce DVB-T in Poland was made in 1997 in Gdańsk
on initiative of TVP
(Polish public television broadcaster
). First test DVB-T
emission was carried in Warsaw
at 9 November 2001.
At 2006 conference in Genève known as GE06 Poland
received eight DVB-T multiplexes
. Seven at UHF
frequencies
470÷862 MHz (channels 21÷69) and one at VHF
frequency 174÷230 MHz (channels 6÷12). Since some of these frequencies are currently used for analog
PAL
terrestrial television
broadcasting
, it is possible to run only two nationwide multiplexes (MUX1, MUX2) and one (MUX3) which covers part of country (58% of population). Introducing of all multiplexes will be possible after switching off analog broadcasting
.
In “Country digitalization schedule” government document from January 2009 digital broadcast switch-on was planned to be made in three steps and analog broadcast switch-off in six steps.
First regular digital broadcast was started at 30 September 2010. Last was at 31 November 2010. Nearest digital broadcast switch-on is at 27 April 2011.
First analog broadcast switch-off will be done at 30 June 2011. Analog broadcasting will be definitely terminated at 31 July 2013.
Interval between digital broadcast switch-on and analog broadcast switch-off allow people to buy new integrated Digital TV
s or set-top box
es.
Technical information =
Polish digital terrestrial television broadcast uses 25 Hz H.264/AVC
HDTV video, MPEG-2 Layer 2 and E-AC-3
audio, for a Baseline IRD able to decode up to 1920 × 1080 interlaced
25 Hz video pictures or 1280 × 720 progressive
50 Hz video pictures.
During tests also MPEG-2
encoding for video was used.
Assignment of channels in multiplexes =
Plan from January 2009 included three nationwide multiplexes with seven SDTV channels in each:
In January 2010 new plan on introducing DVB-T was presented. Assignment of multiplexes was changed:
In June 2010 another change in assignment of multiplexes was made:
Current status =
As of February 2011:
Additional government actions =
Informing about analog broadcast switch-off in mass media.
Requiring from electronic equipment sellers to inform buyers that MPEG-2 TVs and STBs are not compatible with national standard which is MPEG-4 AVC.
Financial help for poor families and seniors to buy TV or STB – ca. 250 PLN per household, totally 475M
PLN.
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
on initiative of TVP
Telewizja Polska
Telewizja Polska Spółka Akcyjna is Poland's public broadcasting corporation...
(Polish public television broadcaster
Public broadcasting
Public broadcasting includes radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing and commercial financing.Public broadcasting may be...
). First test DVB-T
DVB-T
DVB-T is an abbreviation for Digital Video Broadcasting — Terrestrial; it is the DVB European-based consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television that was first published in 1997 and first broadcast in the UK in 1998...
emission was carried in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
at 9 November 2001.
At 2006 conference in Genève known as GE06 Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
received eight DVB-T multiplexes
Multiplex (TV)
A multiplex or mux is a group of TV channels that are mixed together for broadcast over a digital TV channel and separated out again by the receiver...
. Seven at UHF
Ultra high frequency
Ultra-High Frequency designates the ITU Radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz , also known as the decimetre band or decimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decimetres...
frequencies
Television channel frequencies
The following tables show the frequencies assigned to broadcast television channels in various regions of the world, along with the ITU letter designator for the system used. The frequencies shown are for the video and audio carriers. The channel itself occupies several megahertz of bandwidth....
470÷862 MHz (channels 21÷69) and one at VHF
Very high frequency
Very high frequency is the radio frequency range from 30 MHz to 300 MHz. Frequencies immediately below VHF are denoted High frequency , and the next higher frequencies are known as Ultra high frequency...
frequency 174÷230 MHz (channels 6÷12). Since some of these frequencies are currently used for analog
Analog television
Analog television is the analog transmission that involves the broadcasting of encoded analog audio and analog video signal: one in which the message conveyed by the broadcast signal is a function of deliberate variations in the amplitude and/or frequency of the signal...
PAL
PAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
terrestrial television
Terrestrial television
Terrestrial television is a mode of television broadcasting which does not involve satellite transmission or cables — typically using radio waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or television antenna aerials...
broadcasting
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
, it is possible to run only two nationwide multiplexes (MUX1, MUX2) and one (MUX3) which covers part of country (58% of population). Introducing of all multiplexes will be possible after switching off analog broadcasting
Digital television transition
The digital television transition is the process in which analog television broadcasting is converted to and replaced by digital television. This primarily involves both TV stations and over-the-air viewers; however it also involves content providers like TV networks, and cable television...
.
In “Country digitalization schedule” government document from January 2009 digital broadcast switch-on was planned to be made in three steps and analog broadcast switch-off in six steps.
First regular digital broadcast was started at 30 September 2010. Last was at 31 November 2010. Nearest digital broadcast switch-on is at 27 April 2011.
First analog broadcast switch-off will be done at 30 June 2011. Analog broadcasting will be definitely terminated at 31 July 2013.
Interval between digital broadcast switch-on and analog broadcast switch-off allow people to buy new integrated Digital TV
Integrated Digital Television
An Integrated Digital Television set is a television set with a built in digital tuner, be it for DVB-T, DVB-S, DVB-C, DMB-T/H, ATSC or ISDB. Most of them also allow reception of analogue signals . They do away with the need for a set top box for converting those signals for reception on a...
s or set-top box
Set-top box
A set-top box or set-top unit is an information appliance device that generally contains a tuner and connects to a television set and an external source of signal, turning the signal into content which is then displayed on the television screen or other display device.-History:Before the...
es.
Technical information =
Polish digital terrestrial television broadcast uses 25 Hz H.264/AVC
H.264/MPEG-4 AVC
H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 or AVC is a standard for video compression, and is currently one of the most commonly used formats for the recording, compression, and distribution of high definition video...
HDTV video, MPEG-2 Layer 2 and E-AC-3
Dolby Digital Plus
Dolby Digital Plus is a digital audio compression scheme. It is an incompatible development of the technologies used in the earlier Dolby Digital system. E-AC-3 has a number of improvements aimed at increasing quality at a given bitrate compared with legacy Dolby Digital...
audio, for a Baseline IRD able to decode up to 1920 × 1080 interlaced
1080i
1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels...
25 Hz video pictures or 1280 × 720 progressive
720p
720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan...
50 Hz video pictures.
During tests also MPEG-2
MPEG-2
MPEG-2 is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods which permit storage and transmission of movies using currently available storage media and transmission...
encoding for video was used.
Assignment of channels in multiplexes =
Plan from January 2009 included three nationwide multiplexes with seven SDTV channels in each:
- MUX1 – current free-to-airFree-to-airFree-to-air describes television and radio services broadcast in clear form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscription or one-off fee...
terrestrial analog channels: public (TVP1, TVP2, TVP InfoTVP InfoTVP Info is a Polish news channel, which replaced TVP3. It is run by the public broadcaster, TVP and dedicated to the country's regions. It had regional branches in most of the major Polish cities and, similarly to the France 3 in France or Rai Tre in Italy, for couple of hours every day it...
) and commercial (PolsatPolsatPolsat is Poland's second biggest television channel, founded on December 5, 1992 and owned by Zygmunt Solorz-Żak.Polsat belongs to the Polsat Group , which also owns other channels:*Polsat HD*Polsat 2 International*Polsat News*TV Biznes...
, TVNTVN (Poland)TVN is a major Polish commercial television network. The broadcaster was co-founded by Polish businessmen Mariusz Walter and Jan Wejchert. The network launched on October 3, 1997. TVN belongs to the TVN S.A...
, TV4TV4 (Poland)TV 4 is a private Polish TV station.TV 4 was created through the amalgamation of the stations Nasza TV and Polsat 2 and started broadcasting on 1 April 2000. The station belongs to the Polskie Media. Polskie Media in approximately 90% owned by Polsat and approximately 9% of TVN...
, TV PulsTV PulsTV Puls is a Polish commercial television channel, which was based on Telewizja Niepokalanów with the support of companies such as PKN Orlen, KGHM Polska Miedź, PZU Życie, Prokom and which started broadcasting in March 2001. Due to financial problems, ended broadcasting on April 1, 2003...
); after analog broadcast switch-off MUX3 will cover all country population and public channels will be moved to it; there will be competition for three freed channels; - MUX2 – open competition;
- MUX3 – public broadcaster; after analog broadcast switch-off MUX3 will cover all country population and public channels will be moved to it from MUX1; there will be competition for three freed channels in MUX1.
In January 2010 new plan on introducing DVB-T was presented. Assignment of multiplexes was changed:
- MUX1 – public broadcaster channels (including current analog TVP1, TVP2, TVP Info);
- MUX2 – current terrestrial analog commercial free-to-air channels (Polsat, TVN, TV4, TV Puls) plus one additional from each broadcaster – total number of channels in this multiplex: 8.
In June 2010 another change in assignment of multiplexes was made:
- MUX1 – four channels chosen in open competition and temporary three public broadcaster channels (TVP1, TVP2, TVP Info); after analog broadcast switch-off MUX3 will cover all country population and public channels will be deleted from MUX1; there will be competition for three freed channels;
- MUX2 – four current terrestrial analog commercial free-to-air channels (Polsat, TVN, TV4, TV Puls) plus one additional from each broadcaster (respectively: Polsat Sport NewsPolsat Sport NewsPolsat Sport News is the first Polish TV station aimed at sports news. Polsat Sport News launches officially on May, 30 2011 at 7:00.-See also:* Polsat* Polsat Sport* Polsat Sport Extra* Polsat Sport HD* Polsat Futbol-External links:* *...
, TVN7, TV6TV6 (Poland)TV6 is a Polish television channel owned by Polskie Media . It was launched on 30 May 2011.. The sister channel is TV4, which exists since 2000.- Schedule :...
, TV Puls 2); - MUX3 – five public broadcaster channels (TVP1, TVP2, TVP Info, TVP CultureTVP KulturaTVP Kultura is the first TV theme channel to be run by the Polish public broadcaster TVP. It was launched on April 24, 2005 and is dedicated to arts and culture. Every day of the week, the channel concentrates on other disciplines; e.g., cinema, music, etc...
, TVP HistoryTVP HistoriaTVP Historia is a public, history channel available on cable, satellite and DSL.-External links:*...
); after switch-off analog broadcast MUX3 will cover all country population and public broadcaster channels will be deleted from MUX1.
Current status =
As of February 2011:
- MUX1 not yet activated;
- MUX2 covers ca. 43% of population and ca. 38% of area;
- MUX3 covers ca. 28% of population and area.
Additional government actions =
Informing about analog broadcast switch-off in mass media.
Requiring from electronic equipment sellers to inform buyers that MPEG-2 TVs and STBs are not compatible with national standard which is MPEG-4 AVC.
Financial help for poor families and seniors to buy TV or STB – ca. 250 PLN per household, totally 475M
Million
One million or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian millione , from mille, "thousand", plus the augmentative suffix -one.In scientific notation, it is written as or just 106...
PLN.