Spain was one step ahead of the English not just on the field, but also over the airwaves, as Spain’s public broadcaster offered free-to-air 4K UHD coverage via terrestrial TV.
- Viewers could watch 4K UHD coverage of the Women’s World Cup Final on normal terrestrial TV in the country.
- It meant viewers could watch in 4K on most newer smart TVs through their aerial, without the issues often seen when too many viewers attempt to access a UHD live online stream at the same time.
- UK free-to-air broadcasters continue to fall behind technologically, with coverage restricted to HD quality.
The live coverage of Spain v England on Spain’s digital terrestrial television service, known as TDT, was part of an ongoing series of test broadcasts ahead of the official launch of a regular UHD service in 2024.
Coverage of the final took up to 15.7Mbps of bandwidth via a terrestrial multiplex able to carry two UHD channels side-by-side. The UHD test multiplex is available in Spain’s major cities, including Madrid, Barcelona and Seville. It uses DVB-T2 – the broadcast standard used by Freeview HD in the UK and numerous terrestrial TV platforms across Europe, in conjunction with the HEVC video compression standard. Practically every smart TV shipped in last five years supports DVB-T2 and HEVC.
However, coverage remains patchy until the country turns off standard definition services, scheduled for next year. This left some households unable to benefit.
But Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE says it will officially launch two regular 4K UHD channels next year once SD broadcasts end. This will enable Spanish viewers to continue accessing major events free-to-air in UHD. Meanwhile, RTVE has already become involved in tests of 8K UHD over the digital terrestrial TV network.
Only HD in the UK
UK viewers had to make do with HD coverage of the Women’s World Cup on BBC One and ITV1. Both UK and Spanish broadcasters had relatively little time to confirm coverage: a threat of a FIFA broadcast black-out was only lifted on 12th June, resulting in the BBC, ITV and RTVE gaining the rights to show games live. Nevertheless, insufficient resources and the short notice meant the BBC couldn’t offer 4K UHD coverage on the iPlayer. In contrast, Spain’s RTVE is already heading towards a routine 4K UHD simulcast of its main channel.
In the UK, the BBC and other public broadcasters have no current plans to launch any 4K UHD channels or live streams. The BBC has only recently made all of its channels available in HD for the first time.
The BBC is not expected to commit to more 4K UHD content until its future funding beyond 2027 is confirmed.
Meanwhile, France, Italy and Poland are among other European countries where the main public broadcasters are driving forward plans to offer 4K UHD simulcasts.
Marc Thornham