How to watch TV without a decoder
Starting from October 2021, the transition towards a new transmission standard for digital terrestrial has begun, called DVB-T2, which will end in January 2023 with the so-called switch-off, i.e. the definitive transition to the new digital TV. From that moment on, in order to continue seeing the entire television offer, it will be necessary to have TVs or decoders compatible with this new standard and, to facilitate their purchase, the Italian Government has made various incentives available.
Those who do not intend to replace their TV or buy a new decoder will still be able to continue watching some TV channels by relying on solutions that allow them to be viewed via the Internet. In particular, I refer to those devices to be connected to your television and which, through the official applications of the individual broadcasters, allow you to view the content of your interest live or in on-demand mode.
How do you say? Are you also interested in the subject and would like to know in detail how to watch TV without a decoder ? So let’s not waste any more time chatting and get to the heart of this tutorial. Courage: make yourself comfortable, carefully evaluate each solution proposed in the next paragraphs and choose the one you think best suits your needs. By doing so, I assure you that you will be able to continue watching your favorite TV shows even without having to buy a new decoder.
Index
- How to watch television without a decoder
- Chromecast
- Fire TV Stick
- Apple TV
- Other solutions to watch TV without a decoder
How to watch television without a decoder
As I anticipated in the introductory lines of this guide, it is possible to watch television without a decoder using one of the devices to be connected to your television and which also allow you to watch TV in streaming.
Regardless of the device you are going to choose from those listed in the next paragraphs, to watch the television programs of your interest you will need to download the official app of the broadcaster you intend to watch or connect to its website.
In this regard, it will be useful to know that you can see all Rai and Mediaset channels through the RaiPlay and Mediaset Infinity services . Through discovery +, on the other hand, you can play the Real Time , NOVE , DMAX , Discovery Channel , Motor Trend and K2 channels and all the other channels of the Discovery Italia group.
Furthermore, you can also watch TV8 and the other Sky free-to-air channels ( Cielo and SkyTG24 ) and all the various broadcasters that broadcast on digital terrestrial and streaming on the Internet (eg La7 ).
Chromecast
Chromecast is the first device you can consider to watch television without a decoder . It is a stick produced by Google to be connected to the HDMI port of the TV, which allows you to transmit any content played by smartphones, tablets and computers to the TV.
In addition to the basic version that supports Full HD resolution and is enabled to receive content from compatible apps for smartphones and tablets, the Chromecast version with Google TV is also available , which supports 4K resolution , is equipped with a remote control and allows you to download and run the apps directly from the device, without the need to transmit the content of your interest from a smartphone, tablet or computer.
In the first case, all you have to do to watch the TV channels of your interest is to take your smartphone or tablet and make sure it is connected to the same Wi-Fi network to which Chromecast is connected. Once this is done, start the app of the broadcaster of your interest, press the transmission icon (the screen with the Wi-Fi waves ) and select the name of your Chromecast from the menu that opens. Once this is done, start playing the channel or content you intend to watch, so you can see it directly on your TV.
If you prefer to proceed from a computer , instead, all you have to do is connect to the official website of the broadcaster you prefer using Chrome, click on the three dots icon located in the upper right corner of the browser, select the Cast option from the menu opened, click on the name of your Chromecast and start playing the channel or content of your interest.
How do you say? Do you have Chromecast with Google TV? In this case, you can either broadcast content from smartphone, tablet and computer to the TV as I have just indicated or proceed directly from the TV using the official app of the broadcaster you intend to watch available on Google TV.
In the latter case, you will need to access the Play Store , search for the app of your interest and download it by pressing the relative Install button . Once this is done, start the app in question, log in to your account (if necessary), locate the channel or content you want to watch and start playing it by pressing the central button on the Chromecast remote control.
In this regard, my guides on how to see RaiPlay with Chromecast and how to see Mediaset Infinity with Chromecast may be useful to you .
Fire TV Stick
Amazon’s Fire TV family devices are also a viable solution to continue watching TV without a decoder.
In particular, you can consider the Fire TV Stick , an HDMI key to connect to the TV equipped with a special remote control and which has an internal store from which you can download various applications, including those of the main television broadcasters.
It is available in two different versions: Lite (with or without support for TV controls), which allows you to play content with a maximum resolution of 1080p, and 4K / 4K Max which, on the other hand, enable support for streaming in Ultra HD / 4K .
The Fire TV Cube also belongs to the same family , a small box that connects to the TV, equipped with voice control via Alexa and support for 4K Ultra HD content .
To watch the TV channels of your interest, first select the Find option located in the main menu, press the Search box , type the name of the application relating to the broadcaster you want to watch (eg RaiPlay ) and select it from the results of the Research. In the new screen that appears, select the Receive option. Download for free , to start the download and installation. For the detailed procedure, I leave you to my guide on how to install apps on Fire TV Stick .
Once this is done, go back to the main screen of the device, select the app you just downloaded and press the central button on the remote control, to start it and start watching the channels or content you prefer.
Apple TV
Apple TV is the multimedia box produced by Apple that connects to the TV via an HDMI input on the latter and allows you to access a wide range of content. In addition to being able to receive content from other Apple devices, such as iPhone, iPad and Mac, thanks to AirPlay technology , it is possible to download numerous applications from the App Store, including those for watching live Internet TV .
Apple TV is available in two versions: Apple TV HD , with support for streaming content up to Full HD resolution and 32 GB internal memory; and Apple TV 4K , which supports a maximum resolution of 4K / Ultra HD and is available in 32 or 64 GB memory sizes.
To download one of the applications that allow you to watch TV in streaming, all you have to do is access the App Store , select the Search option , search for the app of your interest and, after selecting it from the search results, press on the Get option . For the walkthrough, you can check out my guide on how to download apps on Apple TV .
Other solutions to watch TV without a decoder
In addition to the devices that I have indicated to you in the previous lines of this guide, you must know that there are other solutions to see TV without a decoder .
If you are looking for a device to connect to your TV and that allows you to watch your favorite TV shows in streaming, such as the ones I mentioned above, you can consider a TV Box . They are “boxes” that connect to the TV via HDMI cable and which, in most cases, are equipped with the Android operating system, thus allowing you to download apps directly from the Play Store.
The TIMVISION Box deserves a special mention regarding Android TV Boxes , the decoder that is provided on free loan for all TIM customers who activate one of the TIMVISION offers . It is, in fact, a real decoder compatible with the DVB-T2 standard : this means that if you have been provided with this device, you will not have to worry about the so-called switch-off since you will be able to continue watching TV (at least until do not deactivate TIMVISION).
Video game consoles also allow you to download some apps to watch streaming TV (eg Mediaset Infinity ). Also, you can always connect your computer to the TV via HDMI cable. In this regard, you may be interested in my guide on how to connect PC to HDMI TV .
How do you say? Don’t have any of the devices I have indicated to you? In that case, you can always watch TV on your PC or download one of the apps to watch TV from smartphones and tablets.