If streaming platforms have massively moved to 4K, TNT channels are trying to catch up, particularly to cover major sporting events.
This is one of France Télévisions’ promises: the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be broadcast in 4K on TNT, whether on France 2 or France 3. At the same time, TF1 has made 4K generally available on certain programs only: the Sunday evening film can be, but also certain sports matches.
But the front page nevertheless had some problems during the first match of Euro 2024 with numerous artifacts, as reported by the specialized site Ultra-K. However, the channel has since corrected the problem.
True 4K resolution during the Olympics
The question of 4K on television, especially for DTT channels, is a real sea serpent. And for good reason: broadcasting a program in “Ultra-HD” resolution is particularly expensive, so that little of chains can afford it. Furthermore, the diversity of equipment is not really in favor of the adoption of this resolution.
Depending on whether you go through a TNT box (and therefore a classic antenna socket), through operator boxes, or through services like Canal+ or Molotov, the experience can change completely.
Some make different choices by offering not 4K, but HDR, in other words a color and black rendering mode. more faithful on compatible screens. This is the case of M6, which has M6 HDR, with a higher frame rate of 50 FPS (compared to 25 so far) and a resolution of 1080p (compared to 1080i).
For owners of 4K televisions, note that M6 offers an “upscale” which brings the basic resolution to Ultra-HD. The availability of M6 HDR is also only valid during Euro 2024, a championship which is not natively offered in Ultra-HD.
A gradual deployment of 4K DTT
For TF1, France 2 and France 3, but also Canal+, the Ultra-HD stream is indeed a 4K stream – when this is available, i.e. a resolution of 3840×2160 pixels, with a refresh rate of 50 images per second. The overall quality of the image is then linked to the bit rate sent by the channels concerned: the lower it is, the greater the risk of artifacts.
Beyond the resolutions of each channel, it is important to note that viewing 4K versions is only possible if you have sufficient bandwidth, i.e. 18 Mb/s at least. Your device (TV or box) must also be DVB-T2 compatible and support the HEVC codec.
Not all regions are affected by 4K DTT either. The deployment is taking place gradually across the entire national and overseas territory, but you can check compatibility depending on your place of residence on the official TNT website.
