What is DVB-S2?

DVB-S2 is the second generation of digital satellite television broadcasting. It introduces new advantages to satellite TV, such as a power coding scheme based on modern LDPC code and VCM & ACM modes which allow optimising bandwidth.

DVB-S2 has significantly better performance than its predecessors; mainly allowing for an increase of available bitrate over the same transponder bandwidth.

We don't know exactly when, but soon in this decade, Sky will fully phase out support for DVB-S and replace it with DVB-S2 for better broadcasting for the future to come.

What does DVB-S2 mean for Sky Digiboxes?

To this day (25/05/2020), no matter when your Digibox was manufactured, whether it was the first in 1998 or it was in 2005, it will still tune in to modern TV channels.

However, once Ofcom mandates BBC One HD as 101 as Sky switches over to DVB-S2, it will be good night for all Digiboxes, Plus boxes and a select few Sky+HD 'PVR4' units.

Will my early Sky+HD box still work?

Depends on the model. The only known model that won't work with DVB-S2 is the Thomson DSI8215.

Other early PVR4 models, such as the Pace TDS850NB, the Samsung HDSKY and the Amstrad DRX780 will still work on with DVB-S2 encoding.

What can I do with my Digibox and/or plus box?

Although you will no longer be able to watch TV with these equipment, you can, however, do these things:

• Extract recordings from your Plus box and place them on your computer (if you have any continuities that could be worth archiving, please email us and attach the video so we can upload it to the Sky Archive YouTube/VidLii channel(s)) and use the hard drive to whatever you like, whether that'd be as a 2nd drive for your computer, or just for backups.
• If you are an expert in soldering, you can have some fun and JTAG your Digibox. This means you can hex edit values, like changing the text of the TV Guide, and more.