SRG switch to UHD brings old TV sets to their knees

From 2021, SRG wants to broadcast its channels via the new UHD standard. This will result in sharper images and truer colors. How the Switzerland at the weekend writes in its current issue, the technology upgrade does not only offer advantages for all TV viewers. This is because not all TV sets and receivers can cope with the coding used to broadcast UHD. An international standard has only been in place since 2013 and the first UHD-capable TV sets were sold ten years ago. Most older televisions cannot decode the coding.

And even if the device is younger, it does not necessarily have to be UHD-capable. The newspaper cites surveys by the market research institute GfK, according to which just over 80 percent of televisions sold today can decode the new standard.

External devices also ensure reception in the future

To ensure that the affected devices - old and non-compatible new ones - can still receive the new signals, they must be retrofitted with ballasts. Reception is then via external set-top boxes instead of directly via the television set. Anyone who already watches television with a UPC or Swisscom box, for example, will therefore not be affected by the changeover - regardless of which TV set is used.

During a transition phase, SRG will transmit the channels in both the previous HD and the new UHD signal. As an interim step, SRG intends to broadcast in full HD, i.e. twice the picture resolution of HD.

Corona delays the changeover

According to SRG spokesperson Edi Estermann, there has been a "slight delay" in the switchover to UHD. The reason: the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the UHD switchover plans, as various major sporting events that would have been produced in UHD have been postponed or canceled, for example.

However, SRG is not a UHD pioneer in Switzerland anyway. RTL has been broadcasting the RTL UHD channel on Sunrise since February and on UPC since March. The Pro7Sat.1 Group has been broadcasting individual programs in UHD signal on a trial basis since 2018.

The CH-Media private broadcasters such as 3+, TV24 and TeleZüri also want to follow suit in 2021.

In the end, viewers can expect a picture resolution that is eight times higher than the HD signal currently used in Switzerland. However, it remains to be seen whether this development is really in the interests of the end customer. Stiftung Warentest found that the test subjects did not even notice the difference in resolution and sharpness of detail. On the other hand, they appreciated the better colors and higher contrast of the UHD picture.