Should You Bring Your TV with You When Moving to Costa Rica?

For prospective expats looking to move to Costa Rica, the move often involves trying to determine which items to bring and which items to purchase once the move is complete. If you’re considering making such a move and wondering whether you should bring your own television or buy a new once, it’s important to know that Costa Rica will be switching to digital television as of December 15, 2017. At that time, the country will have what is being referred to as an analog blackout.

On December 2, 2007, Costa Rica launched the ISDB-T International, which is the technical standard for digital television broadcast in Peru, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Ecuador, Philippines, Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Nicaragua.

If you do opt to bring a television with you from North America, that does not mean that your TV will stop working, but you will need a converter for it beginning at the end of 2017. For consumers who opt to purchase a television once in Costa Rica, the country’s Ministry of Science and Technology is helping to make purchase decisions easier by distributing distinctive labels.

Digital television offers a number of benefits, including improved signal quality. ISDB-Tb also offers multi-program transmission with just a single channel, meaning single broadcasters can divide programming into three video sources. For instance, with a sports broadcasting, viewers can select multiple camera angles.