The head of technology explains what changes they have prepared in terrestrial transmission via the antenna.He admits they could have left viewers more time to device themselves.Only at the end of November did the Slovak Radio and Television announce that it would switch off the distribution of stations in the older MPEG-2 video codec in terrestrial broadcasting (DVB-T via a classic antenna).Owners of older facilities will have to buy new ones.The change will take place in two days - Monday, December 13.The main reason is the start of the 4th program circuit, Sport, which will also be broadcast via an antenna in HD quality - the institution needed to gain new capacity for it.We talked about changes in terrestrial distribution with the director of the RTVS technology section, Roman Skřivánek.Matej Hajko, the director of the RTVS sports section, also joined us, answering why the changes are coming so suddenly.What you read in the interview:We conducted the interview on Thursday, December 9, and we bring it today as soon as we have received the final texts and information on the topic.In recent weeks, Živé.sk has informed about the change through a news article or through questions and answers on the topic.Why is RTVS making the transition to MPEG-4 in such a fast time?Hajko: First of all, it is not possible to talk about a short time, but about the fact that we were looking for an optimal opportunity to move the technological security of our broadcast one level up.She came with double motivation.The first is the new RTVS sports circuit, the second is Christmas time.To our decision on the date - it was created on the basis of many contexts.These resulted in a requirement for colleagues in charge of technical matters that the Sport be delivered to our consumer in the best possible quality.Because it is sensitive to technological, technical, image and sound quality.You know that the project has been prepared for a long time and was stopped last year by a pandemic, when the sport stopped absolutely and worldwide.Subsequently, we waited for funding and then we looked for the most meaningful term.A start was offered in connection with the Winter Olympics, but the difference between December 20 and the turn of January and February is, in fact, a few days.See also the second part of the interview:What will you be broadcasting during this period without sporting events?Christmas time is clearly a time of television and a time for the possibilities of repeating the sports treasures that we have at our disposal.It also offers us some small time to catch small flies before the top event, which will be the Olympic Games.So that's why we wanted it before Christmas.In addition, the date of December 20 was originally linked to the broadcast of the Athlete of the Year gala evening, which had to be, unfortunately, canceled due to the pandemic situation.Skřivánek: Given the program intent, this alternative turned out to be the most suitable.Due to the timing of the Christmas holidays, we decided to make the changes as soon as possible.To give viewers the maximum time before the holidays to buy the necessary equipment.However, we did not anticipate closing deals and other restrictions in connection with the lockdown.If we were to reckon with such restrictions at the moment, we could postpone 90 percent of the projects.But you have been preparing the sports channel for months.We ask if you think three weeks is enough time for such changes.R. Skřivánek answers from this part: We believe that there will be a very small percentage of people who watch the terrestrial explicitly in MPEG-2 and SD resolution.Unfortunately, research and analysis numbers are unavailable, there is a problem obtaining them.We can statistically examine the availability of devices on the market that supported MPEG-2.They will be more than 10 years old and were devices of the lowest price category.MPEG-4 devices were already coming.We assume that they have undergone an exchange since 2011.If someone replaced the TV or set-top box after 2015, at least from this year, MPEG-4 is standard equipment.But yes, time is short.The ideal time would be a week longer, and of course without a lockdown and without holidays."The time is short and the ideal time would be a week longer, and of course without a lockdown and without holidays,"says R. SkřivánekSo you just think and don't have the data?So what's your guess?How many households can be affected?If we overestimate this number and say that the percentage of viewing from DVB-T is at the level of some 7-8 percent of households, even with Plustelka (paid package with reception via antenna, editor's note), then we have to select people from them. who have more than 10 years old equipment - whether set-top box or TV and have not bought a new one all the time.This is a category that could have a problem.We do not assume that there are more than 5- to 7,000 such households - and now I will overdo it.We are also based on how the price of television sets has developed significantly - downwards - and at the same time the quality of their technical parameters has risen.Isn't it a mistake that you haven't talked about the planned changes in recent months?Whether you run Sport now or not.It would be ideal, but we did not want to make changes without a positive spectator motivation, so we were waiting for the decision to start the Sport.Our interest was to bring people content - and I see the changes we make in terrestrial positively.Maybe we could be more conservative and say we won't start it until March, but we went about it this way.But is it impossible for you to translate the changes in DVB-T?And at least in a few days?As I mentioned, we didn't want to leave a date shortly before Christmas.If viewers drop out on December 13, they have time to deal with it.If it disappears on December 20, in those three days, the courier may not be able to deliver the shipment to Christmas.We were looking for a suitable solution.This is the maximum that was possible before Christmas.Change can affect people who may not know it will happen.We do not yet register an intensive campaign from RTVS.Of course, we have various forms of communication, press releases, a support line and so on.For example, I can mention a running scrolling text - the so-called crawl.It is broadcast in cooperation with the multiplex operator only on the affected television circuits, ie SD channels and Trojka HD.Now the frequency is every hour and if necessary we can increase the periodicity.This crawl has been broadcast since November 30, 2021, and through it we provide these people with information about what will happen on December 13 - what to do and what to look out for.At the same time, they will have a free customer infoline, at which employees will be able to help with the selection of a set-top box and will be available to viewers for as long as necessary.(Following the interview, RTVS corrected itself and said that calls to the infoline would not be free.)The line is already being promoted.Nobody reports on itOn Saturday before 2 pm, Živé.sk noticed that RTVS was already promoting the line number: 18,000 in DVB-T broadcasts. It had not appeared there before the previous days.However, no one repeatedly picks up the line, although the text does not say that it should not be available over the weekend.Added at 20:05: The call to the infoline itself is not free.Although the current tariff applies (it is not audiotext), it is usually higher for operators than traditional calls to Slovak networks.In Orange it is 0.144 euros per minute, Telekom has a price of 0.16 euros per minute, at O2 it is 0.15 euros per minute and in 4K 0.16 euros per minute.The amounts are from the price lists of common flat rates for these operators and may differ for non-standard services, prepaid cards or for branded operators (Radosť, Funfón, Juro, Tesco Mobile).There will also be a customer e-mail address through which viewers will be able to contact us in case of problems.In this way, we will professionally advise viewers when procuring a newer receiver or set-top box, the price of which ranges from 20 to 30 euros.We are also preparing read announcements on television and radio, we perceive them as the strongest means of communication that RTVS has.Will your staff be on the line?It will be an external company that offers such a service as standard, has trained staff and has experience, for example, in selecting suitable equipment with customers.It is an established company on the market of antenna television technology, and that is why we have established cooperation with them.In this context, we also approached electronics retailers with a request for cooperation.We have asked them to supply enough and to cooperate with us in this matter.How many telephone workers will help?The first contact will be at least five staff, who will provide the first line of assistance and filter out who needs professional advice with the selection of new equipment.They will mainly serve people who will ask if their equipment is suitable.Then they will be people who will not be able to identify the TV and set-top box and will redirect them to technical support - help with buying a set-top box.There are certainly many people who will have help from their family or know how to deal with it themselves."The first contact will be at least five staff who will provide the first line of assistance and filter out who needs expert advice on the selection of new equipment."Could Sport temporarily remain in the public multiplex in SD and could MPEG-2 versions of the remaining stations remain?In HD, Sports would be in the 1st multiplex.The signal coverage of the 1st multiplex may be lower than in the case of public multiplex, because the 1st multiplex does not have a network of repeaters.In addition, multiplex 1 is in DVB-T2 mode.On the issue of Sports in MPEG-2 and SD - in this format it would need about 4.2 Mbit / s (data flow, editor's note).If it were to be this way, I would not turn on sports, I will not do it.So the reasons are: different multiplex coverage, ie accessibility for people, different multiplex regime and meeting the highest demands on the quality of sports content distribution so that the viewer has the best possible image (viewers expect higher technical quality, ed. Note).It's a few days before the changes in DVB-T.Why doesn't the infoline work yet?Everything has its sequence and behind the establishment of the infoline there are processes that also have their time consuming.We do everything we can to provide viewers with as much information as possible through all available channels, and the customer infoline is one of them.What is the message of electrical salesmen and viewers?Do you recommend MPEG-4 or HEVC boxes?(HEVC is an image codec, ie a format with higher image quality at a good data rate, ed. Note)The minimum configuration of the set top box is MPEG 4 / DVB-T.We also recommend devices with DVBT-2 and HEVC support as an effective investment in the near future.In order not to scare anyone, we are talking about an investment in the range of 20 to 40 euros.So people will know what is the minimum necessary and what we recommend as the most effective solution.For example, Sports in HEVC format will have 5 Mbit / s available (data flow, editor's note).If anyone already has MPEG-4, that's ok, they will have a complete offer, but without HEVC.At what data rate will other stations be propagated?How will the capacity of the entire DVB-T multiplex be divided?Rather, these are priorities in statistical multiplexing.Such a setting also includes the limit values ​​that the programs can reach and then which takes precedence.Priority (in terms of data flow, editor's note) will be given by Unit and Sport, but also Two and Three will not fall below such a value as to affect their quality.NoteIn other words, Unit and Sports will be given priority in achieving better image quality, and will receive a higher data rate in real time if they need it.But only to the extent that the Two and Three achieve at least a certain quality standard, note.red.You are currently limited by the law, which requires you to offer channels in a public multiplex.Evaluating whether and how the law restricts us is a different debate.The existing law on distribution says that whatever we include in the terrestrial, it must also be in the public multiplex.If the government approves a new media law, this obligation will no longer be there.Won't you add all the channels to Public Multiplex 3?Regardless of this legislation, we wanted to bring Sport to the public multiplex.Multiplex 1, unlike multiplex 3, does not have a network of 25 repeaters, which was implemented by 2013 by the network operator worth one million euros.The public law multiplex therefore has the advantage of greater accessibility, for example in the mountainous areas of Slovakia.We wanted to include Sport in a public multiplex in HD quality and we also thought about how to bring sport in even better quality - in a more modern codec (in the 1st multiplex they included a program in a better HEVC codec, ed. Note).If the new law passes, is it possible that you will switch off Two and Three in SD in the public multiplex at the beginning of next year?The whole technical solution is the result of cooperation with colleagues in the company operating a public multiplex (Towercom, ed. Note), including compression technology for RTVS television programs.We are thinking about these possibilities.In connection with Sport in HEVC and the remaining changes, Towercom will deploy new technology.We will see how the whole statistical multiplex behaves and we will see how it "plays out" for us there.This means that we focus on assessing the quality against the set data flows.If it is not to the detriment of the performance and quality of the remaining television services, there will be room to switch Deuce to HD.But if we find out that this is not the way, then we would have to combine it with the retuning of the public multiplex to the DVB-T2 standard, where our entire offer would already be in HD quality.When could you decide to switch to DVB-T2?We can ask Towercom to change the regime from April next year.We have already started negotiations at a technical level, but I can assure you that this will not happen in April 2022.We could be very optimistic about autumn, but I would much rather talk about the spring of 2023. And maybe we will come up with a completely different solution.If you add RTVS Sport to the terrestrial twice in HD, will the payment for Towercom increase in any way?We won't pay an extra penny.We have Multiplex 1 contracted as a bonus from 2019 until we switch the public multiplex to DVB-T2.We do not pay for this capacity.We consider it important and correct to turn on HEVC (picture codec, ie format, with higher quality, editor's note) in DVB-T2 and for free.The viewer, especially in the case of an investment in a new television set, will be sure that he has chosen the right investment with a view to the coming years."We will not pay an extra penny.We have Multiplex 1 contracted as a bonus from 2019 until we switch the public multiplex to DVB-T2.So we don't pay for this capacity. "Until 2026, you have a valid contract for the distribution of DVB-T stations.How do you view this form of dissemination?We certainly expect the operation of the terrestrial at least until 2026.Are you considering stopping aerial propagation after this period?It is one of the alternatives and the new law will allow us to do so in part.I will survive: if we launched the spread from another satellite (satellite), it would still be cheaper than terrestrial, but not free, and the quality of reception is worse in the case of weather conditions such as heavy rain and snow.The new law will not allow us to turn off the terrestrial completely - it obliges us to spread only two channels across the board.It can be, for example, a smaller program offer, maybe with a lower resolution ... We look at all the possibilities.Do you find the current contract advantageous compared to how many viewers watch DVB-T as the main source of income?Numerically, it is to the detriment of this treaty, but we have inherited such a treaty and it is practically unspeakable.The question is, what does society, that is, the state, want from a public service broadcaster?We think that the public service broadcaster should be financially and technically accessible as easily as possible, for as large a population as possible.At the moment, this is still possible through terrestrial.Why don't you run Sport in Ultra HD?There are two reasons.Technical and content and related.One of the few events that is native to Ultra HD is the Olympics.Since we have a single channel broadcast license, we would have to produce this content entirely in Ultra HD.Double production would be more expensive and synchronization would be an issue.Ultra HD production would therefore have to be the main one.This is further related to technology.We need a studio, cameras, graphics and other technology such as a broadcast station and encoding in Ultra HD.We have a technically well-established solution for the SIX telecommunications node, but the rest is not yet.We will build creative centers in UHD, so then this option will start to be really interesting.And personally, I don't think upscaling an HD signal into UHD is an advanced idea.Of course, if we had free capacity, we would think about it.RTVS has already offered the Olympics in 4K.At that time, the license did not yet require the dissemination content to be offered on a single station:See the article with questions and answers on current changes in DVB-T: