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German 2120: Digital TV

Digital TV makes European debut in Berlin

Berlin and the surrounding region became the first metropolitan area in Europe to switch completely from analog to digital broadcast television on Monday (August 5), making blurry pictures a thing of the past for around 170,000 households without cable access. Promising crystal clear reception without annoying adjustments to old-fashioned antennas, digital broadcast television made its debut in the Berlin metropolitan area early Monday morning to little fanfare - but also with few problems. Like the analog broadcasts received over an antenna, the new digital broadcasts do not require a cable connection. However, viewers in Berlin can forget adjusting 'rabbit ear' antennas. The picture and sound quality of digital broadcasts is on par with that of a DVD. But because only the newest televisions are able to receive the digital broadcast signal on their own, viewers had to replace their rabbit ears with set-top decoder boxes to receive the improved channel line-up, which nearly doubled from 12 to 21 - almost as many as the city's cable network. Even though viewers without a decoder, which can cost as much as 279 Eur ($314), are no longer able to receive any channels at all, complaints have been few and far between, says a spokesperson for the Berlin-Brandenburg Media Authority. Beyond its applications in Berlin, digital broadcast television, known as DVB-T (digital video broadcasting - terrestrial), is expected to enable a number of mobile devises - from Palm Pilots and mobile phones to TVs installed in automobiles - to receive high quality television and radio broadcasts in real time. The technology is slated to be rolled out across German by 2010. Next up are the federal states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and North Rhine-Westphalia. They are all expected to go digital by the end of next year. France, Italy and Switzerland are also planning their own DVB-T programs.

Introduction of digital TV in Berlin at:

http://www.ueberall-tv.de/reg_BB/1BBstart/BB_start.htm