Finnish TV operators want to accelerate the schedule for completely replacing standard-definition (SD) broadcasts with high-definition (HD).
This means that Finland will fully adopt HD broadcasts in March 2020, and SD signals will no longer be sent after that. Previously the switch over was due to be completed in 2026. Yle channels are already available in HD on cable networks.
At its meeting on 5 April 2016, the Administrative Council of Yle decided that Yle will make a switch over from SD to HD in 2020 together with other TV operators.
“The purpose of this decision is to ensure that all Finns will receive higher-quality TV pictures by 2020”, says Kimmo Kivelä, chairman of Yle’s Administrative Council.
Most Finnish households are already watching TV in HD. Yle has offered its channels in HD since 2011; almost all of Yle's own programming is already full HD. All of Yle’s own programming will be in HD by the end of 2016.
“I am confident that the adoption will be smooth because most Finns are already familiar with HD. Yle considers it to be important that the entire sector promotes the change so that HD can be quickly adopted in antenna networks. Big television sets, which require HD, are rapidly becoming more common, and when you get used to that quality, there is no turning back”, says Lauri Kivinen, CEO of Yle.
- SD will continue in the antenna network until the spring of 2020.
- The current DVB-T technology will be replaced by DVB-T2, which uses frequencies more effectively. It enables HD channels in the terrestrial network. At the same time, MPEG-2 compression will be replaced with the more effective MPEG-4.
More information:
Yle Communications
Tel: +358 40 163 8538
Email: yleisradio@yle.fi
