The French media authority CSA has authorised TDF to operate a third pilot channel to broadcast in Ultra High Definition (UHD/4k) in Île-de-France, Nantes and Toulouse.
Channel 83 is in addition to channels 81 and 82, already in service since 2014, broadcast on DTT frequency channels 26, 35 or 29 respectively.
This new project confirms that the migration movement towards UHD is now well underway at the industrial level. This development is a central element of the DTT modernisation announced by the CSA and supported by TDF, by the time of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
For the past five years, TDF has been conducting tests via its Eiffel Tower facilities. DTT channels 81, 82 and now 83 are pilot channels broadcast in UHD quality. In May 2018, this experimental mode was extended to the Île-de-France region as well as Nantes and Toulouse. Several “multi-city” experiments have been carried out on DTT for viewers equipped with a UHD and DVB-T2/HEVC television set.
In partnership with manufacturers in the audiovisual sector, television channels and other partners such as the French Tennis Federation, TDF broadcasts signals incorporating the latest enhancement technologies – whether WCG (Wide Color Gamut for the colour palette), HDR (High Dynamic Range for contrasts) and soon HFR (High Frame Rate for movement restitution).
At the same time, viewers are gradually renewing their reception stations. The CSA notes, in the course of its consultation, that the migration movement towards UHD is now well under way at the industrial level.
In 2017, 31% of television sales in France were UHD models. The television fleet, which was significantly renewed from 2011 to 2016 following the switch from analogue to DTT and then to HD, has now entered a new phase of renewal.
As part of the UHD broadcasting experiments, Ateme, a TDF partner, is managing the improved digital compression of images. The compression gains achieved through improvements in the implementation of the HEVC standard have made it possible to consider the launch of a third UHD channel (reduction of the throughput required for UHD multiplex from 40 Mbit/s to 33 Mbit/s and encoding of variable-rate channels).
The UHD images of these experiments, filmed in SDR (Standard Dynamic Range), were provided by The Explorer, INA and St Thomas Production. A work of conversion and optimisation of these images in the HDR10 format, was carried out upstream thanks to the technology developed by the Institute of Technological Research B<>COM, thus demonstrating the maturity of this new format.
