Russian viewers will be able to receive the country’s 20 main TV channels, carried on two multiplexes, via satellite by 2019.
Speaking in a meeting with journalists and quoted by Obob.tv, Andrei Romanchenko, the head of the Russian Television Broadcasting Network (RTRS), also said that tests on the first multiplex, broadcast in 4k/Ultra HD, would start in a few months, initially trialing one Ultra HD channel.
In addition, Romanchenko said that Russia’s main terrestrial channels would begin switching to HD in 2020 and that analogue switch undertaken by terminating finding for basic analogue live broadcast channels.
Significantly, Romanchenko revealed that 30% of TVs in Russia already support the HEVC codec.