Receives digital dvb t2 signal. Who is affected by the transition to the new broadcast standard DVB-T2? Comparison of DVB-T2 and DVB-T

The DVB Consortium (located in Europe) has developed DVB-T2 technology as an extension of the existing DVB-T standard to provide more efficient use of frequency resources through integration advanced technologies signal processing. With the new standard, up to a 50% increase in data transfer rates is expected when operating in the same frequency band.

Main features of DVB-T2

The specification is designed primarily for reception on fixed outdoor antennas and has the same frequency spectrum characteristics as DVB-T, which implies the possibility backward compatibility with the existing broadcast infrastructure...

Like DVB-T, DVB-T2 uses OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) modulation and provides a range of modes with different numbers of carriers (1k, 2k, 4k, 8k, 16k, 32k, 16k extended, 32k extended) and modulation constellations (QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, 256QAM). For error protection, DVB-T2 uses LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) and BCH (Bose-Chowdhury-Hocquengham) coding. New technology, known as rotated constellations, were introduced to provide additional stability in certain conditions.

The DVB-T2 standard also requires careful maintenance of transmission equipment. Particularly in 32k mode, high power peaks are generated and thus the amplifier's efficiency is minimized (or it may even fail). To limit these peaks without losing information, a special characteristic called PAPR (Peak to Average Power Ratio) reduction was introduced into the standard specification.

Comparison of DVB-T2 and DVB-T

	DVB-T2	DVB-T
FEC	LDPC + BCH	CC+RS
Encoding speed	1/2, 3/5 , 2/3, 3/4, 4/5 , 5/6	1/2, 2/3, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8
Constellation	QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, 256QAM	QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM
Guard interval	1/4, 19/256 , 1/8, 19/128 , 1/16, 1/32, 1/128	1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32
FFT size	1K, 2K, 4K, 8K, 8K ext., 16K, 16K ext., 32K, 32K ext.	2K, 8K
Distributed pilots	1% , 2% , 4% , 8% of total carriers	8% of total carriers
Continuous pilots	0,35% of the total number of carriers	2.6% of total carriers
Occupied frequency band	1,7 ; 5; 6; 7; 8; 10 MHz	5; 6; 7; 8 MHz
Maximum speed	50.34 Mbps	31.66 Mbps

DVB-T2 system architecture

The main difference between DVB-T2 and DVB-T systems is that the multiplexer must be connected to a T2 gateway. This T2 gateway receives one or more multiplexes, that is, one per PLP, from the multiplexer and encapsulates them into unmodulated frames. The T2 gateway then sends this content to the DVB-T2 modulator using the T2-MI modulator interface protocol.

DVB-T2 frame structure

DVB-T2 borrows the concept of PLP (or physical level), introduced in the DVB-S2 specification. A PLP is a physical channel that can carry one or more services. Each PLP may have different speeds data transfer and error protection parameters. For example, you can separate SD and HD services into different PLPs. Another example is the DVB-NGH (New Generation Handheld) standard, which will be based on the ability to use multiple PLPs to enable broadcasting mobile television over DVB-T2.

The DVB-T2 standard defines several profiles:

If necessary, you can define a type (1 or 2) for each PLP, and then combine PLPs of different types in a T2 frame.

The T2 frame begins with preambles P1 and P2. The structure of a T2 frame is shown below.

DVB-T2 modulator interface

The T2 gateway encapsulates the data in an unmodulated (BaseBand) frame. These BB frames are sent to the DVB-T2 modulator using a special DVB-T2 modulator interface protocol MI, the structure of which is shown below.

DVB-T2 testing

Testing of the specification began in the UK in June 2008. The BBC, together with the broadcast network of operators Arqiva and National Grid Wireless, carried out the first test transmission in the DVB-T2 standard. In September 2008, at the IBC (Amsterdam), the DVB stand featured a series of presentations on the latest technologies, celebrating the latest achievements made by the DVB consortium in the field of digital terrestrial TV (DTT). For the first time, visitors to the stand saw HD content encoded using H.264 and delivered through the current end-to-end terrestrial TV broadcasting system using DVB-T2 technologies.

In the first DVB demonstrations, three HD channels were broadcast in one multiplex, each encoded at 11 Mbit/s latest version H.264 encoder. The signal was decoded by the BBC's latest H.264 demodulator and decoder and then displayed on an HD monitor.

At the second presentation, ENENSYS Technologies, NXP Semiconductors and Pace were recognized for the most reliable performance of DVB-T2 equipment. The purpose of this end-to-end demonstration was to show how the standard can handle injected noise and interference and, under such conditions, successfully process a DVB-T2 signal to provide excellent reception.

The first live multi-PLP broadcast was performed during Mediabroadcast's PlugFest in June 2010.

DVB-T2 technical testing in the UK

The BBC and Ofcom have been working on implementation various changes needed to modernize the first multiplex in the Granada region. This included DVB-T2 technical testing, which aimed to validate the DVB-T2 standard and determine the preferred transmission mode for approval in the UK. The tests, which included both laboratory tests and broadcasts, also served to provide a DVB-T2 signal to the receiving equipment being developed, which also needed to be tested.

For this purpose, a transmitter was recently installed for test broadcasting in the DVB-T2 standard from the Crystal Palace television tower. This was followed by the successful completion of end-to-end laboratory tests from the signal source to the receiver screen, made possible through the close collaboration between Arqiva and ENENSYS. ENENSYS provided a real-time DVB-T2 hardware modulator that was connected to Arqiva's transmission equipment.

This ambitious program will also support the DVB-T2 manufacturing community by providing test broadcasts for testing and developing new products. Prototypes of DVB-T2 receivers will soon become available and will be ready for use in a technical pilot project within the coming weeks or months.

Approval of the new DVB-T2 standard

UK telecoms regulator Ofcom has decided to upgrade one terrestrial digital television multiplex (Multiplex B) to operate the Freeview HD service using DVB-T2 and MPEG-4 standards. The upgraded multiplex will be capable of delivering HD services from BBC, ITV and Channel4. It is expected that delivery of six HD services will be possible over time. The first services were launched during digital transition(DSO) December 2, 2009.

In Finland, DNA Oy received a license to operate two DVB-T2 multiplexes. The trial began in December 2009 in the city of Lahti. The launch in Finland took place in November 2010.

In Italy, Europa7 launched seven HD channels in the spring of 2010.

In some countries, for example, Austria, Turkey, Serbia, Czech Republic, India, South Africa, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Slovakia, Russia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Australia have already approved or are seriously considering DVB-T2.

DVB-T2 Glossary

Abbreviation	Transcript (English)	Transcript (Russian)
BB	BaseBand	Unmodulated, direct (transmission)
FEC	Forward Error Correction	Forward error correction
FEF	Future Extension Frame	Frame of future expansion
MISO	Multiple Input Single Output	Multiple inputs - one output
PAPR	Peak to Average Power Ratio	Peak power to average power ratio
PLP	Physical Layer Pipe	Physical Layer Channel
T2-MI	T2 Modulator Interface	T2 modulator interface
TI Block	Time Interleaving Block	Time interleaving block
TFS	Time Frequency Slicing	Time-frequency diversity
LDPC	Low Density Parity Check	Low Density Parity Checking
BCH	Bose Chaudhuri Hocquengham	Bose-Chowdhury-Hocquingham coding

DVB-T2 is the second generation of the European terrestrial digital television standard DVB-T broadcasting.

TV broadcasting of the DVB-T2 standard is produced using MPEG-4 coding, the bit rate is up to 50 Mbit/s. Digital format ensures picture stability even in conditions of high noise and interference. This makes it fundamentally different from the analog format, which is characterized by systemic distortions.

Note. The DVB-T2 standard is the last in the family of DVB terrestrial digital television broadcasting standards, because it is impossible to physically implement a higher data rate per unit of spectrum.

DVB-T2 has fundamental differences from DVB-T both in relation to the system level architecture and at the physical level. This causes the incompatibility of DVB-T receivers with DVB-T2.

The DVB-T2 standard has undeniable advantages before its predecessor: it is designed to increase the radio channel capacity by at least 30%, while the infrastructure existing networks and there is no need to change frequency resources. This will expand the number of transmitted television programs on one RF assignment, as well as improve the quality of radio frequency networks.

Despite the fact that the DVB-T2 standard is a successor to DVB-T, it has improved and expanded functionality. While maintaining such basic signal processing ideas as scrambling, as well as data interleaving and encoding, each stage is improved and expanded. The changes did not affect only OFDM modulation (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing).

To encapsulate data in the DVB-T2 system, it is possible to use a transport stream not only MPEG, but also general purpose(GSE). This ensures a reduction in the amount of transmitted overhead data and makes adaptation of the flow to the network more flexible. Compared to its predecessor (DVB-T), the DVB-T2 standard is not tied to any data structure at the transport level.

There are also differences in the use of stripes. If in the DVB-T standard the entire band is used for transmitting one stream, then in DVB-T2 the so-called PLP concept. This abbreviation stands for Physical Layer Pipes, or physical layer channels, and means the transmission of several logical channels in one physical one. 2 modes are possible:

mode A – transmission of one PLP;

mode B – transmission of several PLPs (or multiPLP). At this mode There is simultaneous transmission of several transport streams, with each of these streams placed in its own PLP. Thanks to this, in one radio frequency channel it is possible to coexist services that are transmitted with varying degrees of noise immunity. It is possible to select the modulation mode and the noise-resistant coding mode individually for each PLP. In other words, the operator for each program in the package can choose higher speed transmission or better noise immunity. The receiver decodes only the selected PLP, and turns off during the transmission of PLPs that are not of interest to the user. This ensures energy savings.

The DVB-T2 standard has a more complex interleaving system. Bit and frequency interleaving are used, as well as, additionally, time interleaving. It is carried out both within one modulation symbol and within a superframe, which makes it possible to increase the stability of the signal to impulse noise, as well as to change the characteristics of the transmitting path.

For the DVB-T2 standard, there are 8 ways to place pilot signals. That is, if for DVB-T the number of pilot signals from the total number of carriers was 8%, then for the DVB-T2 system it is possible to vary given value: 1, 2, 4 and 8%. The placement pattern is affected by the value of the guard interval.

Another innovation of the DVB-T2 standard is the rotation of the signal constellation, which increases the noise immunity of the system.

Thus, key features DVB-T2 are:

compared to DVB-T: no less than 30% increase in throughput and improvement in SFN characteristics;

transmission stability determined by the service;

transmission of programs to both mobile and stationary receivers;

use of existing DVB-T infrastructure;

reduction in operating costs on the transmission side due to a reduction in the peak power/average power ratio.

DVB-T2 provides various digital services and services.

When it comes to buying a new TV, most people pay attention only to quality transmitted image, as well as those specifications, on which it depends. The price of the device is also important. But the presence or absence of a digital tuner, as well as its type and quantity, interests few people. Not many people pay attention to this. As a result, when you want to connect and watch DTV for free, problems arise and you have to spend money on buying a DVB-T2 tuner separately.

Today we will look at what it is digital tuner what it can be and how it works. This will allow you to approach the choice of a new TV more carefully and decide for yourself whether you need such a device, built into the TV or not. Moreover, as already mentioned, a digital tuner can always be purchased separately.

What is DTV T2

Before considering the features and types of tuners that exist on TVs today, you need to understand what, in principle, is this device and why it is needed. A digital tuner is a receiver or, as it is also called, a decoder that allows the TV to directly receive signals various types broadcasts and decipher them.

Many new TV models already have built-in digital receiver T2. In addition, there are sections in which there are two tuners at once - T2 and S2. You can find out what type of device is built into your TV by looking at its technical specifications. If you have a built-in decoder that receives a signal of a different format, then the necessary tuner can always be purchased separately.

External tuners are very popular today, since not many Russian citizens have the opportunity to spend a large sum of money on buying a new TV, and such a set-top box allows you to expand the capabilities of your existing device. The most popular are T2 format set-top boxes, which allow you to connect and watch, as well as a DVB-S2 set-top box. They buy it if they decide to install a satellite TV antenna, but the TV does not have a decoder of this type.

Broadcast Standards

As already mentioned, the tuner built into the TV can receive one or more signals different formats broadcasting. Let's look at the most common options.

• DVB-T. Such a receiver can receive digital signal television, which transmits a picture more high level quality and clarity. To connect it, you need a regular TV antenna.
• DVB-T2. This is the second generation of DVB-T decoders, which differs from its predecessor in increased throughput channel, higher signal characteristics and its architecture. In Russia, this DTV signal format is mainly used. It is impossible to receive it through a DVB-T decoder, as these formats are incompatible.
• DVB-C. Very popular format, capable of decoding a digital signal cable television. To start using it, you need to insert your provider card into the appropriate slot.
• DVB-S. With it you can directly connect satellite dish to your TV.
• DVB-S2. Like T2, S2 is the second generation DVB-S receivers. S and S2 are also incompatible, so to receive the signal of this type you need a corresponding decoder. Is different this format increased channel capacity and the use of new types of modulation.

When purchasing a TV, you should pay attention Special attention for marking. So, you can see the inscription DVB-T2/S2. This means that the TV will be able to receive both terrestrial and satellite digital channels.

Features of DVB-S2 and DVB-T2

Built-in digital tuner satellite television has certain characteristics. In order to watch freely available TV channels, it will not be enough for you to simply connect the satellite dish to the TV directly. You will also need to additionally purchase a CAM module.

The fact is that without it you will not be able to view encrypted channels, but only those that are fully open. This is due to the fact that the companies producing such TVs do not think much about this. In addition, it will be impossible to change the firmware or enter the code. External ones satellite tuners, sold by us, have firmware in which all the necessary codes are already written.

Today, DVB-T2 can most likely be called the most advanced terrestrial digital television system in the world. In this article we will try to figure out how the DVB-T2 standard managed to take a leading position in the global terrestrial market. digital television broadcasting, and also what advantages it has compared to its predecessor - DVB-T standard.

What is DVB-T2?

The DVB-T2 standard is the most advanced digital terrestrial television (DTT) system in the world. It is characterized by greater stability, flexibility and at least 50% greater efficiency compared to all other DTT systems. This standard supports broadcasting in SD, HD, Ultra HD formats, mobile television broadcasting, as well as any combination of the above formats.

Origins

At one time, the DVB-T standard became the most widely used in the world. Since 1997, when it was officially approved as valid, more than 70 countries around the world have launched broadcasting DVB-T platforms, and today 70 countries around the world have already begun launching multiplexes in the DVB-T2 system or have officially approved this standard.

As European countries transition from analogue to digital broadcasting and the frequency spectrum shortage grows, the DVB concern outlined general commercial requirements for developers of an updated version of the standard, which was supposed to provide even more efficient use frequency resource. The DVB-T2 system was able to special problems satisfy all these requirements, including increased capacity, reliability and possibility further use existing antennas. The first version of the DVB-T2 standard was approved in 2009 (version EN 302 755), and in 2011 an improved version of the system appeared, which, in particular, includes a new substandard T2-Lite, designed for the needs of mobile broadcasting and TV reception. signal to portable devices.

How it works?

The DVB-T2 standard, like its predecessor, uses OFDM modulation (orthogonal multiplexing). frequency division channels) with multiple subcarriers capable of transmitting a stable signal, and also has a large number of various modes, making this standard extremely flexible. The DVB-T2 system uses the same type of error correction coding that is used in the DVB-S2 and DVB-C2 systems: it is a combination of LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) and BCH (Bose-Chaudhury-Hocquengham code) coding types. ), providing high signal stability. At the same time, the system allows you to change the number of carriers, the size of guard intervals and pilot signals, making it possible to optimize the overhead for any specific transmitted channel.

The DVB-T2 system also uses additional new technologies, in particular:

• The use of several physical layer channels allows for separate adjustment of the stability of each of the transmitted programs within the channel to adjust to the required reception conditions (for example, an indoor antenna or external antenna). Besides, this function allows the receiver to save energy by decoding only specific program from the multiplex, and not the entire transmitted packet.
• Alamauti coding, which is a transmitter diversity method. Allows you to improve the quality of coverage in small single-frequency networks.
• Constellation Rotation feature provides reliability when using low order constellations.
• Extended interval function, including bit, time, square and frequency intervals.
• Future Extensibility Function (FEF) - allows future enhancements to the standard while maintaining compatibility.

As a result, a DVB-T2 system can offer much higher data rates than DVB-T and also provide greater signal stability. For comparison, the bottom two rows in the table show maximum speeds data transmission at a fixed signal/noise ratio and the required signal/noise ratio at a fixed (useful) data rate.

T2-Lite

The T2-Lite subsystem was the first additional profile in the standard that was added due to the existence of the FEF principle. This profile was officially introduced in July 2011 to support mobile broadcasting and reception on portable devices, as well as reducing the costs of implementing these types of broadcasts. New profile is a subsystem of the DVB-T2 standard using two additional LDPC encoding rates. By using only elements relevant to reception on mobile and portable devices in the subsystem, as well as limiting the data transfer rate to 4 Mbit/s per physical layer channel, the complexity of creating and implementing a new chipset was reduced by 50%. The use of FEF principles allows programs to be transmitted in the same frequency channel in T2-Lite and basic T2, even when the two profiles have different indicators Quick conversion Fourier transform (FFT) or various guard intervals.

Conquering the market

As with DVB-T, new standard was intended not only for transferring programs to devices equipped with external or indoor antennas, as well as for reception on PCs, laptops, car TVs, radios, smartphones, dongles, and other innovative receivers. In countries where DVB-T platforms were already in operation, DVB-T and DVB-T2 standards usually continue to coexist for some time, and in those countries where digital broadcasting was not, there is a unique opportunity to move directly from analogue broadcasting to digital standard DVB-T2, bypassing the DVB-T implementation stage.
Currently available on the world market great amount DVB-T2-compatible set-top boxes and televisions, while prices for them have already dropped to $25 for the most cheap models. The price difference between DVB-T and DVB-T2 compatible TVs is no longer significant.
The first country to begin introducing digital broadcasting in the DVB-T2 standard was Great Britain, where DVB-T2 broadcasting was launched in March 2010 in parallel with existing DVB-T platforms. During 2010-2011, DVB-T2 platforms were launched in Italy, Sweden and Finland, and very soon in each of these countries broadcasting in this standard was organized at the national level.
In Ukraine, the launch of on-air digital broadcasting in the DVB-T2 format began in the fall of 2011. The construction of a network of on-air transmitters was carried out by the Zeonbud company. In January 2012, the broadcast digital signal was encoded by the system conditional access Irdeto Cloaked CA. In this regard, the market for receiving equipment was limited, and as a result of tenders held in April and July 2012, two companies became the main suppliers of digital set-top boxes - Strong and Romsat.
However, in July of this year, the National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting, in its new composition, turned the country’s digitalization process 180 degrees, obliging the provider of the national digital broadcasting network Zeonbud to disable signal encoding. Thus, the introduction of the DVB-T2 standard on the territory of Ukraine takes on a new color, and, most likely, in the near future the television market will be overflowing with digital television receivers according to affordable price, which will actually stimulate the population’s interest in the new type of television, and will also allow the country to fulfill its obligations to switch to digital by July 17, 2015 on time.
Note that paid DVB-T2 platforms have also been launched outside Europe. For example, in Zambia, Namibia, Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda, and in a number of other countries the launch of broadcasting in this standard expected in the very near future. Test broadcasts of this standard are currently being carried out in many parts of the world, and many countries are considering adopting DVB-T2 as a digital terrestrial broadcasting standard.

Russia, like many other countries, is gradually switching to digital television. There are a number of reasons for this - both economic and technical. However, not all residents still understand how to connect to digital television, as well as what devices can receive such a signal. Let's figure out what DVB is. What are the standards? In a word, let's look at this topic in detail.

Theory and history - where and why DVB digital television came from

For many years, televisions only received analog signals. The huge “boxes” did not have any means of decrypting the digital stream, since such a thing simply did not exist in those days.

Each TV channel needed a separate frequency. At first this did not cause problems, because in each country there were only two or three channels. But gradually their number began to grow, and technology began to develop rapidly. With the advent of the 21st century, even two dozen TV channels were no longer enough for people.

And the picture quality of regular terrestrial television has become unsatisfactory. Now I want images with HD resolution. And even better - with! In a word, it became clear that analog television was becoming obsolete.

You may not know about this, but the first laser discs contained an analog recording with a film. These disks were the size of vinyl record. But wait! Why are we suddenly talking about storage media? But this is where the transition to digital data is most noticeable.

Somehow, DVDs with films began to appear on store shelves. The video was recorded on them already in digital form- that is, all information began to consist of zeros and ones, and special compression was used. This made it possible to significantly narrow the width of the track, and at the same time the media themselves became noticeably smaller.

Digital television– the picture is better, the channel is narrower

The same thing is happening with television now. As mentioned above, analogue broadcasting of one TV channel requires one frequency. In digital form, the data flow is noticeably less, even with more high resolution Pictures.

In this regard, up to one and a half dozen TV channels can fit on one frequency. Plus, all this can be supplied with some additional text data - for example, a TV program for the week ahead. Isn't it a miracle?

In terms of telecommunications development, Russia is significantly ahead of many non-third world countries, although it lags behind some neighbors, for example Belarus. This is especially noticeable in terms of quality mobile communications And low prices for relevant services. In this regard, it is not surprising that testing of digital television in Russia began back in 2000.

Since then, the broadcasting standard has been updated (DVB-T was replaced by DVB-T2, the advantages of which we will discuss below), and two multiplexes were launched (also a separate topic). At some point the government Russian Federation wants to completely turn off analogue broadcasting of TV channels.

However, this should happen only after 95% of the country’s population has the appropriate equipment. It is unclear when this will happen. After all, some grandparents still continue to use the usual CRT TV, not suspecting that you can connect a TV set-top box to it, significantly improving the picture quality, and at the same time eliminating the need to buy a magazine with a TV program guide.

Broadcasting standards: DVB-T, DVB-T2, DVB-S, DVB-S2

First you need to understand what standards digital TV broadcasts in. Let's immediately make a reservation that we are now talking about a signal propagating through the air - from the nearest television tower. The fact is that cable and satellite operators have switched to digital broadcasting quite a long time ago.

But they use their own standards: DVB-C (and some operators broadcast via IPTV) and DVB-S2, respectively. Do you want to connect the cable to your TV directly? Then buy a device that supports the appropriate standard. Otherwise, you will have to buy or rent a receiver.

So, back to terrestrial digital television. Initially, it was broadcast in the DVB-T standard. But the small capacity of the frequencies used by this standard quickly made itself felt.

Therefore, since about 2012, almost all over Russia, digital TV broadcasting has been carried out in the DVB-T2 standard. The only exception was Moscow - here simultaneous broadcasting in two standards was carried out until 2015.

The DVB-T2 standard has increased capacity. This means that when used, more TV channels can be broadcast on the same frequency. Teletext is also available in this standard, if supported by some channel.

Finally, the DVB-T2 signal contains the TV program guide - as detailed as possible in in electronic format. That is, you can press buttons on the remote control to find out what will be shown on a certain channel, say, next Wednesday.

Perhaps this is all you need to know about digital broadcasting standards. If you are looking for a TV set-top box, you definitely can’t go wrong - all currently produced models support DVB-T2. This can be said about the new LCD TVs.

But fairly old models may be limited only by the DVB-T standard, which is useless in Russia. Therefore, when purchasing a device from someone else, be sure to read its technical characteristics.

Separately, it should be noted that no special antenna is needed to receive a digital TV signal. Absolutely any indoor model will do. The quality of signal reception depends on the design of the antenna, the material from which the walls of the house are made, and the location of the television tower. Of course, it is better to take the antenna outside - this will make signal reception more stable.

Using a DVB TV receiver to avoid buying a TV

As mentioned above, many residents of Russia still have CRT televisions. Moreover, CRT models are still in use - they watch television, or, for example, a DVD player is connected to them.

Someday, the transmission of the analog signal will definitely be turned off (in Russia this could happen on March 30, 2018). But this does not mean that the pot-bellied TV can then be sent to a landfill. After all, no one forbids connecting to it, or, as it is also called, a receiver.

This device is very easy to learn, and it is very inexpensive - from 1 to 2 thousand rubles, depending on the quality of workmanship and functionality. Almost any TV set-top box looks like a small box, which is controlled using a regular remote control.

It connects to the TV either using so-called “tulips” or via an HDMI connector. The picture should be found at separate channel, which is usually called the TV manufacturer AV1. When you turn on the set-top box for the first time, you will need to search for TV channels.

This can be done in manual mode, if you know the specific frequencies of the signal distributed in your locality. But it’s better to use auto search - it’s much easier.

However, we won’t talk about TV set-top boxes in detail here. The fact is that Smartbobr plans to devote a separate article to them. Let’s just add that there are different TV receivers - designed for receiving cable or satellite TV individual models. Don't confuse them with DVB-T2 set-top boxes!

Multiplexes in Russia

We have already mentioned that one frequency in the case of digital TV can contain up to one and a half dozen channels. This is called a package or multiplex. In Russia, satellites with two multiplexes were launched into orbit. The first included the most important federal and several additional television channels.

First multiplex

Here full list television channels, available to those who can catch the signal of the first multiplex in their locality:

• Channel One - broadcasts in 16:9 format, owned by Channel One OJSC;
• Russia-1 - broadcasts in 16:9 format, but some regional broadcasts may be in 4:3 format, the owner of the channel is the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "VGTRK";
• Match TV - 16:9 format is used, the owner is Gazprom-Media Holding JSC;
• NTV - broadcasts in 16:9 format, owned by the joint-stock company of the same name;
• Fifth Channel - the picture is displayed in 4:3 format, the owner is OJSC “TV and Radio Company Petersburg”;
• Russia-K - broadcasts in 4:3 format, the channel belongs to the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "VGTRK";
• Russia-24 - broadcasting is carried out in 16:9 format, the owner of the channel is the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "VGTRK";
• Karusel - broadcasting is carried out in 16:9 format, the owner is JSC "Karusel";
• OTR - broadcasts in 16:9 format, owned by ANO "Public Television of Russia";
• TV Center - broadcasts in 16:9 format, the channel is owned by JSC TV Company TV Center.

Also, through the first multiplex, officially called RTRS-1, you can listen to the radio stations Vesti FM, Radio Mayak and Radio Russia, owned by VGTRK or its branches.

Second multiplex

Second on-air multiplex, or RTRS-2, was officially launched in 2015. Like the first one, it is free and open to admission. This multiplex consists of the following ten TV channels:

• REN TV - frame format 16:9;
• Spas - broadcasts in a 4:3 frame format;
• STS - 4:3 frame format is used;
• Home - frame format 4:3;
• TV-3 - 4:3 frame format is used;
• Friday! - broadcasts in 4:3 format;
• Star - broadcasts in a 16:9 frame format;
• World - 16:9 format is used;
• TNT - broadcasts in a 16:9 frame format;
• Muz-TV - broadcasting is carried out in 4:3 format.

The launch of the third television multiplex has been suspended for economic reasons. However, its own multiplex appeared in the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol - on this moment it consists of eight television channels, including First Sevastopol, STV, First Crimean and LDPR-TV.

There is one experimental multiplex broadcasting in Moscow. It consists of only one TV channel, but it is. The HEVC codec is used, and the bitrate reaches 30 Mbit/s. The future of the multiplex is impossible to predict, since its frequency in the neighboring region of the Moscow region is used by the RTRS-2 multiplex.

What are the difficulties with launching a full-fledged third multiplex? Firstly, there is an acute shortage of frequencies for it. This complexity will disappear when analogue broadcasting, which consumes a huge amount of frequencies so necessary for the third and subsequent multiplexes, completely disappears in Russia.

Secondly, it is still completely unclear what other TV channels should be made publicly available. Thirdly, for now we need to expand the coverage area of ​​the second multiplex, and only then think about creating a third.

Digital TV coverage in Russia

At the moment, the first multiplex is being received in all major cities of Russia. Moreover, coverage is available in most villages. Roughly speaking, now almost all previously existing television towers also distribute a digital signal.

Moreover, many new towers have been built throughout the country, designed strictly for DVB-T2. That is why you can turn off the analog signal even tomorrow - the problem is only in the equipment in the hands of Russian residents.

With the second multiplex everything is more complicated. Its signal spreads mainly only to large cities - the centers of regions, territories and republics, as well as those adjacent to them settlements. Their residents have access to a total of 20 TV channels. Access to more of them can only be achieved by connecting to a satellite or cable operator.

You can see the map of digital terrestrial television coverage with your own eyes on the website rtrs.ru - there you can find out about the towers closest to you, as well as which multiplexes are broadcast using them. It is from this map that you can evaluate whether it is worth buying a TV set-top box for use somewhere in the country 50 km from Kaluga.

Conclusion

Digital terrestrial television- this is undoubtedly a new era. Now you know how to connect digital TV, even if your TV is designed only for analogue.

With DVB-T2 you can enjoy best quality pictures and sound. But we must remember that this standard is limited. If you need a large number of TV channels, then you should consider “cable” or “satellite”.

Do you watch digital TV? Or do you prefer analog signal? Or perhaps you only consume content via the Internet? Share your opinion in the comments.