High-definition television transition

The transition to high-definition television is a process by which standard-definition (SD) television signals are upgraded to a high-definition (HD) format. In this process, channels usually either simulcast their HD signals alongside the existing SD signals or broadcast exclusively in HD. The transition to the latter is often referred to as the standard-definition television switch-off.

In most territories around the world, the complete shutdown of the lower-resolution signals has not yet begun or is still in its early stages, notably in the many countries that are still undergoing the analogue switch-off.

In territories and services where SD signals have already ceased, television sets that do not support terrestrial HD signals are required to be replaced or equipped with set-top boxes compatible with HD signals. In some cases, this switch-off has led to a high demand for new set-top boxes and TV sets, resulting in shortages.

Asia

 * Brunei: Radio Television Brunei began incoporating HD channels by 2010 and fully migrated all its channels to HD digital service on 1 January 2018.

Europe

 * 🇦🇩 Andorra: The first HD channels in Andorra were those offered from Spain, namely TV3, LaSexta, Telecinco and Antena 3. The country's own channel, Andorra Televisió, started broadcasting in HD on 30 September 2019. Regarding the switch-off, most Andorran channels switched off their SD signals in the country on 2 February 2022, with the exception of a few standard definition-only international channels such as Portuguese channels RTP International and TVI International.
 * Rai HD Logo.svg🇮🇹 Italy: The first HD broadcasts in Italy took place in February 2006, during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, when RAI experimentally broadcast some of the events in a 1080i signal. In 2008, RAI broadcast the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament in high definition under a test channel called Rai Test HD (later Rai HD) in the areas of Turin, Rome, Milan, Aosta and Sardinia. Rai HD was closed in favour of simulcast HD versions of the channels on 25 October 2013. Following the switchover to DVB-T2 on 8 March 2022, the HD versions of Italian channels were moved to the top of the list, while the SD versions were positioned from 500 onwards. Channels still broadcasting in SD began to be shut down on 21 December 2022, with the total closure taking place on 1 January 2023, although many channels still carry the HD identifier in their logos. Rai 3 took until May 2023 to be moved to position 3, due to difficulties with regional broadcasts, with the SD version being replaced by Rai News 24 HD.
 * Telemadrid Desaparece.png🇪🇸 Spain: The first television channel to test HD in Spain was Aragón TV, and the first fully HD channel was Televisió de Catalunya's TV3 HD. On 19 June 2009, Televisión Española launched a high-definition channel, first in Valladolid, then in Barcelona and finally statewide, under the name TVE HD. Regarding private broadcasters, the first HD simulcasts were launched by Telecinco on 20 September 2010, followed by Antena 3 on 28 September and La Sexta on 1 November. In April 2016, the first channels with just a high-definition feed began to appear: Atreseries and BeMad TV, as well as the public broadcasts of Real Madrid TV. Originally, the Spanish government planned to require all standard definition broadcasts to cease on 1 January 2023, along with Italy, but the decision was postponed. On 17 January 2023, a decree issued by the Ministry of Digital Transformation set the final closing date at 14 February 2024. The first channel to shut down its SD broadcasts was Extremaduran channel Canal Extremadura on 15 January 2024. It was followed by Canarian Televisión Canaria and all the Catalan channels from Televisió de Catalunya, which did so the next day.  TVE closed all its SD channels on 6 February, coinciding with the launch of its 4K channel, TVE UHD,  while [[Telemadrid]] and the Basque channels from ETB did the switch-off on 8 February. Most regional channels carried out the switch-off on 12 February, with the exception of La 7 in Murcia, which did so on the 13th, just one day before the full closure of SD signals. Most private channels cut out SD signals on 14 February. SD-only channels, such as Boing, Disney Channel, DMAX and DKiss, switched their feeds to HD.
 * Catalonia: The HD version of flagship public channel TV3 was launched on 23 April 2007, being fully implemented in March 2011. On 30 October 2023, channels 3/24, SX3, Esport3 and El 33 started broadcasting in HD online, through the 3Cat platform. In January 2024, Televisió de Catalunya announced the shutdown of all SD signals would take place on 16 January, with the SD version of TV3 being shut down and all the other channels automatically switching their feeds into HD.  The Balearic channel IB3, which until then had only broadcast in poor SD quality due to the limited space left in the multiplex, also made the switch to HD on the same day. The switch-off of SD television caused queues and shortages of adapters and television sets across Catalonia.

Asia

 * 🇨🇳 China: On 1 January 2006, CCTV officially launched a paid HDTV channel via Paksat-MM1 to the whole country. Following the approval of the National Radio and Television Administration, starting from on 28 September 2009, CCTV-1, Beijing Television, Guangdong Television, Heilongjiang Television, Hunan Television, Jiangsu Television, Shanghai Dragon Television, Shenzhen Television and Zhejiang Television began simulcasting of HD signals. On 21 June 2022, the administration stated that the country's television channels will have fully completed the switchover to high-definition by the end of 2025.  The Guangzhou Broadcasting Network was the first to completely switch off SD signals in China, following approval on 30 August 2023.

Europe and CIS

 * ORF-HD-2008.jpg in 2008.]]🇦🇹 Austria: ORF 1 began broadcasting HD signals on 1 June 2008 at 17:25 local time, becoming the first German-language public broadcaster in Europe to simulcast its entire programming in HD signals. On 4 December 2023, the SD versions of channels ORF Sport + and ATV ceased broadcasting.
 * 🇪🇪 Estonia: On 29 June 2009, ETV launched a channel testing high-definition broadcasts. By 1 February 2019, all channels were simulcast in HD. In 2020, Estonian television channels added a tag to SD versions. In December 2021, the Estonian government decided that SD broadcasts would end around the second half of 2024.
 * 🇫🇮 Finland: In May 2011, the high-definition channel Yle HD was launched, being initially broadcast for a few hours in the evening. All of Yle's television channels finally became available in high definition in January 2014. On 24 October 2023, the board of directors of Yle decided that SD signals on its channels would cease to be broadcast in the spring of 2025.
 * 🇫🇷 France: Metropolitan France closed most SD signals on 5 April 2016. In overseas territories, most channels are simulcast in SD or broadcast exclusively in SD. The country plans to switch public stations to exclusive 4K UHD broadcasting and discontinue HD signals by 2029.
 * 🇩🇪 Germany: Cultural channel Arte started broadcasting in HD through the Astra satellite on 1 July 2008. ARD and ZDF began testing HD broadcasts on 15 August 2009, with full simulcasts in HD from 12 February 2010. The SD versions of the German channels One, tagesschau24, Arte and Phoenix were closed in November 2022. ARD will follow on 7 January 2025, when Das Erste and the regional channels will discontinue their SD feeds.
 * 🇬🇧 United Kingdom: BBC HD began broadcasting on 15 May 2006 as a test channel, officially launching on 1 December 2007. BBC One began an HD simulcast on 3 November 2010, with BBC HD being replaced with a simulcast of BBC Two on 23 March 2013. BBC One HD began broadcasting regional programming in selected regions on 22 March 2023, before rolling out to all areas on 26 April 2023. On 8 January 2024, the BBC switched off its SD signals for all its television channels on the Freesat and Sky satellite plans, which was necessary to be able to include BBC One's regional broadcasts in high definition. The following day, ITV also stopped broadcasting SD channels on these services. To help Freesat users, the BBC launched a test channel allowing users to check the compatibility of their equipment.

Africa

 * 🇩🇿 Algeria: On 28 October 2015, EPTV launched its first HD channel, a simulcast of TV3 in high definition, broadcast by the Algerian Broadcasting Company through Nilesat. In 2020, following the transition to digital television, most channels started simulcasting in HD.
 * 🇧🇯 Benin: The Office de Radiodiffusion et Télévision du Bénin broadcasts its contents in HD through satellite and IPTV.
 * 🇧🇼 Botswana: Digital broadcasts from Botswana Television simulcast HD signals.
 * 🇧🇮 Burundi: An HD simulcast of RTNB exists, although most channels still broadcast in SD and 4:3.
 * 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso: The Radio Télévision du Burkina began HD broadcasts through the Canal+ satellite package on 8 November 2022.
 * 🇨🇻 Cape Verde: Broadcaster RTC began broadcasting in HD in June 2023.
 * 🇬🇦 Gabon: Gabon Télévision began HD broadcasts through Canal+ Gabon.
 * 🇬🇲 Gambia: Gambia Radio & Television Service simulcasts HD signals.
 * 🇬🇭 Ghana: A limited number of TV channels in Ghana simulcast in HD, such as GTV and MTA, besides the international channels that already have high-definition broadcasts.
 * Ivory Coast: Channel NCI (TV channel) began HD broadcasts through the Canal+ satellite package on 8 November 2022.
 * 🇰🇪 Kenya: Some channels, such as Citizen TV, as well as international channels, are available in high-definition.
 * 🇱🇾 Libya: Some channels are broadcasting HD signals through Nilesat.
 * 🇲🇼 Malawi: The Malawi Broadcasting Corporation broadcasts MBC in HD. The BBC World Service also operates in the country. In 2022, Television Malawi released MBC2 On the Go, focused on high-definition programming.
 * 🇲🇱 Mali: The Office of Radio and Television of Mali started HD simulcasts on terrestrial television on 9 January 2024.
 * 🇲🇺 Mauritius: State broadcaster Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation simulcasts some of its channels in HD.
 * 🇲🇦 Morocco: Public flagship channel Al Aoula had been producing its programmes in HD since 2007, but the SNRT only switched to HD simulcasting in 2015. Most channels, including all SNRT channels, as well as others such as Medi1 TV, are simulcast in HD.
 * 🇲🇿 Mozambique: Televisão de Moçambique simulcasts its content terrestrially in HD. On 31 March 2023, commercial channel Soico Televisão also began HD broadcasts.
 * 🇳🇬 Nigeria: The main channels, both public and commercial, have HD simulcasts.
 * 🇷🇼 Rwanda: Rwanda Television began HD broadcasts through the Canal+ satellite package on 8 November 2022.
 * 🇸🇳 Senegal: Radiodiffusion Télévision Sénégalaise, the state's public broadcaster, is the only one to broadcast all content in HD simulcasts.
 * 🇸🇨 Seychelles: Although the Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation broadcasts exclusively in SD, HD broadcasts are run some international channels through digital terrestrial television and private news channel télésesel, launched through cable on 24 July 2017.
 * 🇿🇦 South Africa: Private broadcaster e.tv began simulcasting HD signals digitally in October 2013. SABC 1 and SABC 3 started their HD channels on 11 June 2018, while SABC 2 did so on 8 August 2018.
 * 🇹🇬 Togo: Togolese Television has an HD broadcast through Canal+'s paid offer.
 * 🇹🇳 Tunisia: The Télévision Tunisienne started simulcasting channels in HD on both satellite and terrestrial on 14 January 2020.

Asia

 * 🇮🇩 Indonesia: All TVRI channels simulcast HD signals.

Africa

 * 🇦🇴 Angola: Television is still essentially analogue and in SD, but preparations for the creation of HD content are underway.
 * 🇨🇲 Cameroon: Although Cameroon Radio Television started digital broadcasts besides the analogue ones, these remain exclusively in SD.
 * 🇨🇫 Central African Republic: Télévision Centrafricaine broadcasts exclusively in SD.
 * 🇹🇩 Chad: Broadcasting exclusively in SD as the country has not started a digital television transition.
 * 🇰🇲 Comoros: Although the Office de radio et télévision des Comores started digital broadcasts besides the analogue ones in 2015, these remain exclusively in SD.
 * 🇩🇯 Djibouti: Radio Television of Djibouti still broadcasts analogue SD signals.
 * 🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea: Broadcasting exclusively in SD as the country has not started a digital television transition.
 * 🇪🇷 Eritrea: Broadcasting exclusively in SD as the country has not started a digital television transition.
 * Eswatini: Although the country has switched off its analogue broadcasts, Eswatini TV continues to broadcast exclusively SD signals as of March 2024.
 * 🇬🇳 Guinea: Broadcasting exclusively in SD as the country has not started a digital television transition.
 * 🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau: Broadcasting exclusively in SD as the country has not started a digital television transition.
 * 🇱🇸 Lesotho: A number of international television channels broadcast in the country, but Lesotho Television, the country's only television channel, still exclusively broadcasts in SD.
 * 🇱🇷 Liberia: Broadcasting exclusively in SD as the country has not started a digital television transition.
 * 🇲🇷 Mauritania: Television of Mauritania broadcasts exclusively in SD, both terrestrially and through satellite (Arabsat).
 * 🇳🇦 Namibia: Although the country has switched off its analogue broadcasts, all channels from the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation continue to broadcast exclusively SD signals as of March 2024.
 * 🇳🇪 Niger: Although the country started digital broadcasts in 2018 besides the analogue ones, these remain exclusively in SD, both terrestrially and through satellite.
 * Republic of the Congo: No HD broadcasts, still undergoing digital transition.
 * São Tomé and Príncipe: Broadcasting exclusively in SD as the country has not started a digital television transition.
 * 🇸🇱 Sierra Leone: Broadcasting exclusively in SD as the country has not started a digital television transition.
 * 🇸🇴 Somalia: Somali National Television broadcasts exclusively in SD, both terrestrially and through satellite.
 * Somaliland: Broadcasting exclusively in SD as the country has not started a digital television transition.