Terrestrial television in Poland broadcasts using a digital DVB-T system. First test
DVB-T emission was carried out in
Warsaw on 9 November 2001. In April 2004, first
DVB-T transmitter near
Rzeszów started operation and local
TVP division started to market
set-top boxes allowing to receive it. As of July 2016, there are about 250 DVB-T transmitters operating in Poland, broadcasting up to three multiplexes (except local stations), all using MPEG-4 AVC compression. Majority of channels are available in HD across all the Poland after DVB-T2/HEVC switchover has finished in June 2022, while channels from MUX8 (
Metro,
Zoom TV,
Nowa TV,
WP,
ViDoc TV,
Republika and
wPolsce24) are available only in SD, although Nowa TV and Republika broadcast in HD in some local multiplexes. Analog terrestrial transmissions were terminated in 2013. First efforts to introduce DVB-T in Poland was made in 1997 in
Gdańsk on initiative of
TVP (Polish
public television broadcaster). In the spring of 2022, the terrestrial TV broadcasting standard was changed across the country to the newer and more effective DVB-T2/HEVC standard, where HEVC (or H.265) is a new standard for TV signal compression. Switching to the new DVB-T2/HEVC terrestrial TV broadcasting standard was carried out in the period from March to June 2022. However, the changes did not cover MUX3, which belongs as a whole to TVP. Decision by requested by the
Minister of Interior Affairs and Administration, argumented by the
Russian invasion of Ukraine, allowed to delay the switch until the end of 2023.
Allocation At 2006 conference in
Geneva known as
GE06 Poland received eight DVB-T
multiplexes—seven at
UHF frequencies 470–862 MHz (channels 21–69) and one at
VHF frequency 174–230 MHz (channels 6–12). Since some of these frequencies are currently used for
analog PAL terrestrial television broadcasting, it is possible to run only two nationwide multiplexes (MUX1, MUX2) and one (MUX3) which covers part of country (58% of population). Introduction of all multiplexes will be possible after
switching off analog broadcasting. A government document entitled "
Country digitalization schedule", dated January 2009, set out plan for the digital broadcast switch-on to be made in three steps and analog broadcast switch-off in six steps. First regular digital broadcast started on 30 September 2010. Analog broadcast switch-off started on 7 November 2012 and the transition to digital broadcasting finished on 23 July 2013. The period of time between digital broadcast switch-on and analog broadcast switch-off will allow people time to buy new
integrated Digital TVs or
set-top boxes.
Current status • MUX1 covers 98.8% of population; • MUX2 covers more than 98.8% of population; • MUX3 covers 99.5% of population; • MUX6 covers more than 90% of population; • MUX8 covers 97.4% of population.
Analog shutdown The shutdown of analog broadcast took place in 7 steps between 7 November 2012 and 23 July 2013. Operators of cable TV don't provide analog service in their networks any more, Vectra and Toya stopped in 2022, UPC stopped in 2023 in most cities of Poland and in January 2024 in Warsaw and Inea stopped in March 2024.
Additional government actions The Polish government created Informative campaigns regarding analog broadcast switch-off in mass media. The government also requires electronic equipment sellers to inform buyers that MPEG-2 TVs and STBs are not compatible with the national standard which is currently DVB-T2 HEVC QAM256 . The Polish government provides financial help for poor families and seniors to buy a TV - 250
PLN or STB – 100
PLN per household, totaling 475 million PLN.
Technical information Polish digital terrestrial television broadcast uses the basic parameters of a digital receiver defined in ETSI TS 101 154 for level 4.1 HDTV: 50 Hz HEVC HDTV 8-bit (resolutions 1920 x 1080 p50, 1280 x 720 p50) MPEG-2 Audio Layer 2 and E-AC -3 audios. In the case of a TV receiver capable of displaying UHD, the DVB-T2 receiver also supports the format specified in ETSI TS 101 154 in point 5.14 HEVC HDR UHDTV IRD using HLG10 and HEVC HDR UHDTV IRD using PQ10, Main 10 Profile, Main Tier for UHDTV with resolution 3840 x 2160 and AC-4 audio.
Assignment of channels in multiplexes Plan from January 2009 included three nationwide multiplexes with seven
SDTV channels in each: • MUX1 –
Free-to-air commercial channels (
Polsat,
TVN,
TV4,
TV Puls); after analog broadcast switch-off MUX3 covered the entire country population and public channels moved to it; there was competition for three freed channels; • MUX2 – open competition • MUX3 – Public channels; after analog switch-off MUX3 will cover all country population and public channels will be moved to it from MUX1; there will be competition for three freed channels in MUX1. In January 2010 new plan on introducing DVB-T was presented. Assignment of multiplexes was changed: • MUX1 – public broadcaster channels (including
TVP1,
TVP2 and
TVP Info) • MUX2 – Commercial free-to-air channels (
Polsat,
TVN,
TV4,
TV Puls) plus one additional from each broadcaster. In June 2010 the final decision on the allocation of multiplexes was made: • MUX1 – four channels chosen in open competition (were selected:
ATM Rozrywka,
TTV,
Eska TV and
Polo TV) and temporary three public broadcaster channels (
TVP1,
TVP2,
TVP Info); after analog broadcast switch-off (on July 23, 2013) and after covering MUX3 all country population, public channels have been deleted from MUX1; there was a contest for the remaining four freed channels (were selected:
TV Trwam,
TVP ABC,
Stopklatka TV and
Fokus TV); • MUX2 – four current terrestrial analog commercial free-to-air channels (
Polsat,
TVN,
TV4,
TV Puls) plus one additional from each broadcaster, currently:
Super Polsat (previously
Polsat Sport News),
TVN7,
TV6 and
Puls 2; • MUX3 – public broadcaster channels (currently six:
TVP1,
TVP2,
TVP3,
TVP Info,
TVP Kultura,
TVP Historia,
TVP Sport – earlier
TVP Rozrywka).
MUX1 MUX2 MUX3 MUX6 MUX8 (DVB-T, MPEG-4) ===MUX4
Polsat Box "Sport i informacje" ("Sports & information" Pay TV package)=== ===MUX-L1 (
Lubań/
Jelenia Góra/
Bolesławiec/
Chojnów)=== ===MUX-L2 (
Ornontowice/
Rybnik)=== ===MUX-L3 (
Częstochowa/
Kamieńsk/
Tomaszów Mazowiecki)=== ===MUX-L4 (
Świdnica/
Wrocław) (DVB-T, MPEG-4)=== ===MUX-L7 (
Lubin/
Głogów) (DVB-T, MPEG-4)=== ===
LRT local multiplex (
Suwałki) (DVB-T, MPEG-4)=== ==Satellite==