Editing PALplus (section)

== Countries and territories that used PALplus ==<!-- This is information that is truly a list in nature.  Converting it to prose would obfuscate it and make it harder to read, use, edit and update.  Please do not tag this genuine list for conversion to "prose" -->

The following countries and territories used the PALplus system:
* {{flag|Austria}}
* {{flag|Belgium}}
* {{flag|Finland}}
* {{flag|Germany}}
* {{flag|Greece}}
* {{flag|Ireland}}
* {{flag|Italy}}
* {{flag|Netherlands}}
* {{flag|Poland}}
* {{flag|Portugal}}
* {{flag|Spain}}
* {{flag|UK}}

=== Belgium ===
In [[Belgium]], the Flemish public broadcasting service [[Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep|VRT]] had a policy that all of its self-created TV programmes are broadcast in PALplus.<ref name="auto4">{{cite web |url=https://www.radio-tv-nederland.nl/rbrdx/BRT1%20pal%20plus.jpg |title=BRT PALplus test card image |website=radio-tv-nederland.nl}}</ref> The commercial TV station [[VTM (TV channel)|VTM]] used to broadcast a lot in PALplus. Even the third broadcasting organisation [[ProSiebenSat.1 Media|SBS Belgium]] with its stations [[VT-4|VT4]] and [[Play5|VijfTV]] used to broadcast in PALplus for all of their new productions.

The Walloon public broadcasting service [[RTBF]] used to broadcast 16:9 programmes that it purchased in PALplus, but preferred creating their own programmes in 4:3. Walloon commercial TV station [[RTL-TVI]] used to broadcast almost all its shows in PALPlus.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNYEoTJ1r8A |title=RTL-TVI Fermeture Antenne Mai 1997 + Mire PALPlus |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref>

In 2010, Belgium switched off analog television broadcast.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2010/02/08/belgium-completes-analogue-switchover/ |title=Belgium completes analogue switchover |date=February 8, 2010 |website=Broadband TV News}}</ref>

=== Finland ===
In [[Finland]], the commercial broadcaster [[MTV3]] started broadcasting the youth music program ''Jyrki'' in PALplus format on August 18, 1997.<ref>{{cite web |title=HIM Live @ MTV3 Jyrki Ville Valo Birthday 1999 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R5WPspX3mc |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Plan E live interview @ MTV3 Jyrki (1999) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16fLiV0nbxM |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref> The experiment ended when the program ended some four years later.

In 2007, Finland switched off analog television broadcast.<ref name="50countriesoff" />

=== Germany ===
In Germany, all public broadcasters ([[Das Erste|ARD]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/tim_anderson/51589149554/ |title=Astra ARD PAL Plus |date=October 8, 2021 |via=Flickr}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biodT3rxFK4 |title=Test Card Telefunken FuBK PALplus |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref> ZDF, ''etc.'') complied with this standard. However, private broadcasters ([[RTL Television|RTL]], [[ProSieben]], ''etc'') have shown no interest in either this standard or in the 16:9 format.{{Dubious|date=March 2010}}{{Citation needed|date=March 2010}}

Pay-per-view channels such as those on [[Sky Deutschland|Sky]] often broadcast in 16:9, but use a different standard that requires another kind of decoder.

In 2008, Germany began switching off analog television broadcast.<ref name="50countriesoff">{{cite web |url=https://www.atsc.org/news/nearly-50-countries-switch-off-analog-tv/ |title=Nearly 50 Countries Switch Off Analog TV |date=July 7, 2015 |website=ATSC: NextGen TV}}</ref>

=== Greece ===
In [[Greece]], there were sporadic PALplus broadcasts on the national television ([[Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation|E.R.T.]] - Hellenic Radio Television). Throughout the '90s several attempts from commercial broadcasters in adopting the system failed due to lack of popularity.

As some of the repeaters of ERT's channels were fed via [[OTE]] (Greek public telecom provider) in uncompressed form over terrestrial links, and others via [[Nova (Greece)|NOVA]] (Greece's only satellite platform) using [[Moving Picture Experts Group|MPEG]] encoding, Palplus wasn't available on all areas. The heavy MPEG [[Code|encoding]] on NOVA [[Degradation (telecommunications)|degraded]] WSS signaling and the additional information embedded in PALplus, making it undecodable.

=== Italy ===
It was used by broadcasters such as [[RAI]] (Italy).<ref>{{cite web |title=Television Graphics Around the World |url=http://www.meldrum.co.uk/mhp/testcard/around_world.html |website=www.meldrum.co.uk}}</ref>

=== Ireland ===
[[RTÉ]] Ireland’s public service broadcaster, began to broadcast widescreen programming in 1995, initially on [[RTE2|Network 2]] Television in a special slot, mostly focused on documentaries, music and feature films, but over time more widescreen programming was introduced.<ref>{{cite web |title=RTÉ announces the introduction of widescreen television broadcasting throughout the country on an experimental basis. |url=https://www.rte.ie/archives/2012/1022/342615-widescreen-broadcasting-explained-1995 |website=RTÉ Archives}}</ref>

=== Netherlands ===
In the [[Netherlands]], the public broadcasters used PALplus up to 2005.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fSH11pCqVA|title=Pal plus info 1998|via=www.youtube.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYGxuIPByRU |title=Testbeeld NOZEMA Ned 3 PALplus met radio 18-9-1998 |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref> With the switch to [[DVB|digital television]] and anamorphic widescreen, the system was discontinued with the end of terrestrial analogue broadcasts in November 2006. Analog broadcasts continued on cable operations, but PALplus wasn't used for down conversion on those services.

=== Poland ===
In [[Poland]], the only documented use of PALplus is by [[TVP Polonia|TV Polonia]] on December 31, 1996.<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004151919/http://www.archiwum.wyborcza.pl/Archiwum/1,0,234581,19961223RP-DGW,PalPlus_na_sylwestra,.html |title=PalPlus na sylwestra - Gazeta Wyborcza |url=http://www.archiwum.wyborcza.pl/Archiwum/1%2C0%2C234581%2C19961223RP-DGW%2CPalPlus_na_sylwestra%2C.html |archive-date=2015-10-04 |via=archiwum.wyborcza.pl}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=h9iOETx7ro8 |title=Premiera PALplus [16:9] w TVP - 31.12.1996 r. |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref>

=== Portugal ===
In [[Portugal]], the private broadcaster [[Televisão Independente|TVI]] began broadcasting movies in PALplus in 1994,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZOTBdljq30 |title=4 TVI a Emitir em PAL PLUS 1994 Sozinho em Casa|via=www.youtube.com}}</ref> but some years after it left the standard behind.

The public broadcaster RTP started using the format on December 5, 1997.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cinedie.com/169.htm |title=16:9 |website=www.cinedie.com}}</ref>

The system was used to broadcast selected programs (about five programs each day) and some widescreen movies on analog terrestrial broadcasts. Cable distributors occasionally strip the signal of the [[Widescreen signaling|WSS bits]], rendering the system inoperative. Also, when [[Digital terrestrial television|Digital Terrestrial Television]] broadcasts started, there was no dedicated [[Anamorphic format|anamorphic]] [[simulcast]] for the digital channels. Therefore, PALPlus over terrestrial analog PAL broadcasts remained the only source of 576 lines widescreen TV in Portugal for many years.

Since the middle of 2010 PALplus was dropped in favor of regular [[Letterboxing (filming)|16:9 letterbox]], because the system caused considerable image degradation (with an effective horizontal resolution of only about ~400px compared to 720px of a digital [[Standard-definition television|SDTV]] image) when used on digital transmissions without any decoding.

With the end of analog broadcasts by 2012, the system became officially obsolete.

=== Spain ===
In [[Spain]], the system was used by the public broadcaster RTVE.<ref name="auto3">{{cite web |url=http://ing-sat.what.hu/testcard-sat/spain.htm |title=Spain |website=ing-sat.what.hu}}</ref> The Catalan public television, [[TV3 (Catalonia)|TV3]], trialed the PALplus format in 1994, with a weekly broadcast of a film in this format.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://1library.co/article/los-servicios-interactivos-en-la-televisi%C3%B3-de-catalunya.zkx53w4y |title=Los servicios interactivos en la Televisió de Catalunya |website=1library.co}}</ref> Other public regional stations (like Galicia's [[Corporación Radio e Televisión de Galicia|CRTVG]]) tested the format too, but after these trials the technology was dropped and 16:9 digital broadcasts were not introduced until 2007.

=== United Kingdom ===
In the United Kingdom, Channel 4 adopted the system to broadcast selected films after October 1994.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Some programmes, including ''[[Fifteen to One]]'' and the omnibus edition of ''[[Brookside (TV series)|Brookside]]'' were also broadcast this way. BBC didn't adopt the system, opting instead for digital widescreen broadcasts.<ref name=":0" /> All of the six main broadcasters, BBC, [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]], Channel 4, [[Channel 5 (British TV channel)|Five]], [[Sky UK|Sky]] and [[Virgin Media]], now broadcast in digital.

Analog television broadcast was switched off in the United Kingdom in 2012.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-20054117|title=UK completes TV switchover|work=BBC News}}</ref>