France 2 soon in 4K? This tender confirms it

As the start of the 2024 Olympic Games is fast approaching, French TV seems determined to modernize its services for the event. Indeed, a call for tenders launched by France Télévisions reveals the timetable for the deployment of new 4K channels, namely France 2 UHD and France 3 UHD.

While 4K TVs have been available on the market for ten years now, the channels that broadcast content in UHD can be counted on the fingers of one hand in France. There are quite a few streams like TF1 4K, M6 4K, BeIn, Eurosport, and even France TV on certain content, in particular retransmissions of Roland Garros matches.

However, these 4K variants do not offer all of the aforementioned programs. Generally, they broadcast only during specific events (broadcasting of new films, football matches, etc.).

France TV wants to get into 4K

However, things could soon change in the case of France TV. Indeed, Twitter user Ultra-K spotted a call for tender launched by France Télévisions. It is about a “Ultra High Definition DTT multiplex transport services market in mainland France” And “a framework agreement whose purpose is to entrust an operator with the recovery of signals from the various Ultra High Definition (UHD) TV services”.

By clicking on a link contained in the invitation to tender, it is possible to download 12 internal files that reveal public service projects. Thus, two additional 4K channels will be launched, namely France 2 UHD and France 3 UHD. They should land on the air between September 2023 and early 2024.

Regarding the expiration date, interested candidates have until February 11 to submit their profile. Amid the avalanche of technical details contained in these documents, we learn that France 2 UHD and France 3 UHD will be encoded in HEVCa codec that makes it possible to offer 4K in 50 frames per second. HDR10 will be supported.

Regarding the necessary bandwidth, the documents mention speeds 12 Mb/s in mainland France and 16 Mb/s overseas. Finally and concerning the deployment of the two channels, it will obviously be in successive waves, September 2023 to early 2024. As you will have understood, the idea is to launch these 4K channels before the start of the 2024 Paris Olympics.