From March 29th the change will be made: Good DVB-T2 reception is not expensive

Anyone who has previously been watching TV via DVB-T and does not have a new TV set will have to retrofit, because from March 29th the switch to DVB-T2 HD. What does this mean and which devices are recommended?

On March 29th, digital terrestrial television DVB-T will be converted to the new DVB-T 2 HD standard in 18 German metropolitan areas. The regions are Bremen-Unterweser, Hamburg-Lübeck, Kiel, Rostock, Schwerin, Hanover-Braunschweig, Magdeburg, Berlin-Potsdam, Jena, Leipzig-Halle, Düsseldorf-Rhine-Ruhr, Cologne-Bonn-Aachen, and Rhine -Main, Saarbrücken, Baden-Baden, Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Munich-Southern Bavaria. After the conversion, the old devices are only electronic scrap there. In other regions, the previous aerial television will continue to work, but DVB-T radio will be silent there by spring 2019 at the latest. When and where outside the conurbations will be changed can be checked on the information portal of the initiative DVB-T2 HD using the postcode.

With the new standard, the picture quality increases because all channels can then be received in HD resolution. However, for the most part only the public broadcasters are free, with RTL and ProSiebenSat.1 offering a fee of 69 euros per year. The channels of the groups are then no longer available via antenna free of charge in SD quality.

To receive DVB-T 2 HD, you either need a modern TV set that has a corresponding receiver already integrated. Or you can upgrade older televisions with a so-called set-top box. Devices that are marked with "Freenet TV" in addition to the green DVB-T-2 logo can decrypt private channels themselves, otherwise a decoder module has to be purchased for around 80 euros.

Recording included

For many users, a new reception box will be required for the changeover. Stiftung Warentest tested 13 devices that cost between 39 and 145 euros on average. The best and most expensive box is that Technisat Digipal Isio HD. It achieved an overall grade of 1.7 and, in addition to good picture and sound (1.7), is characterized above all by its versatility. Among other things, it offers a recording function and can also access media libraries, podcasts and radio stations via the Internet. It also has a module for pay TV channels. The second-placed box also comes from Technisat, the Digipal T2 HD (97 euros). It is less versatile than the test winner and does not do quite as well in terms of picture and sound (2.4).

Third place with an overall grade of 2.1 is shared by them Humax Nano T2 (120 euros), the Schwaiger DTR700HD (109 euros) and the Skymaster DTR5000 (80 euro). The Humax device is just as versatile as the front runner and even performs better in terms of picture and sound (1.6). The testers only found it "satisfactory" in terms of handling. The Schwaiger box has a high reception sensitivity (1.5) and is also strong in terms of picture and sound (1.6). The comparatively inexpensive Skymaster receiver is the second-best device in the picture and sound category. Only the cheapest device performed even better (1.1). The only 39 euros on average Comag SL30T2 was found by Stiftung Warentest with an overall grade of 2.2 for "good". However, it lacks a decoder for private broadcasters.

Only three antennas receive very well

If the reception is good, you don't need to buy new antennas for the speakers. If a new one is due, the risk of a bad purchase is high. Of 14 tested indoor antennas with signal amplification, only three showed "very good" reception properties at Stiftung Warentest: the Oehlbach Scope Vision (50 euros), the Kathrein BZD 32 (45 euros) and the Technisat Digitenne TT2 (21.10 euros).