Electric Plugs, Television and Voltage in France

Electric plugs are not standardised in the EU. Plug adapters are available in DIY stores in France and specialist stores abroad, Travellers would be best advised to buy an adapter in their own country to avoid the trouble of searching once in France.

230 volts AC 50 Hz (cycles) is the standard in the EU. Electric equipment rated between 210 volts and 250 volts will work. A bigger problem than the plugs is that, 110 volt equipment, currently used in the USA, cannot be used without a transformer.

Some equipment may be rated for use with either, 110 or 240 volts, this is especially true of chargers for photographic equipment. Both bayonet, and screw electric light bulbs are sold in France.

A good guide in English to the rules and techniques of electricity in your French home, a new easy to understand guide to domestic electricity systems in France has recently been published. The book ‘Electricity in Your French House’ by Thomas Malcolm is published by Eyrolles.

Television

Standards for terrestrial analogue TV and VHS differ from country to country.

TV channels by digital satellite, are quickly making these old standards irrelevant.

Pre recorded DVDs sold in France, will usually have the option to choose an English soundtrack and subtitles.

Most TV / DVD equipment sold in France, is multi standard, and capable of receiving broadcasts in PAL and Secam.

Films broadcast on the French channels are systematically dubbed in French, leaving little pleasure for English speakers. TF1 occasionally transmits both the original soundtrack and the dubbed sound on satellite.

The only French satellite paid package is Canal Satellite, this may be of little interest to foreigners, because nearly all the channels are French. France, is now moving ahead with terrestrial digital TV and radio channels in clear on the Atlantic Bird 3 satellite at 5.0 degrees west. See Lyngsat for technical details.

BBC 1-4, BBC News 24, CBBC, ITV 1-4 (and ITV2+1 and ITV3+1), Sky News, Channel 4 and 5, CNN, Euronews. Most English channels are broadcast in clear from the Astra 2D satellite at 28.2 degrees east, which can easily be received throughout France with a 80cm satellite dish. All these channels can be received with any SKY digital satellite receiver and a special SKY card for which there is a one off charge of £20. A new development is the Freesat system operated jointly by the BBC and ITV. A freesat box is required for a one off payment of between £120 and £300, depending on model. This will give all the English terrestrial channels plus a few extras. It also allows reception of the existing HD television channels.

Depending on the speed of your internet, television services are frequently available on the internet.

Digital terrestrial television, is now well established in the UK, Italy and Germany, and is now available in France via TNT (télévision numérique terrestre) service, introduced at the end of March 2005.

TNT have now integrated with Canal + bringing more choice including HD (high definition).

If your house is in an area with the appropriate coverage, and you have a television with a SCART socket and an analogue TV aerial, all you need to purchase is a decoder box to enjoy eighteen French channels. These set-top boxes are available in most grandes surfaces or electrical goods shops with prices starting from €29.
The decoder box means your TV can cope with a digital signal, so as long as you have the all important SCART socket - and most reasonably new televisions do have one - you can tune into French TV, regardless of where your television was purchased.
If you can receive TNT in your French postcode area, you can always double check by asking in the store before you purchase your set-top box decoder. Your aeriel must be pointing in the right direction, but again the store can confirm this.
The digital images will be a lot clearer than standard analogue pictures and depending on your television’s capabilities, there may also be an increase in sound quality (Dolby Digital).

La région Languedoc Roussillon passera à la télé numérique
le 29 novembre 2011

Êtes-vous concerné ?

Combien de chaînes nationales recevez-vous ? 6 ou moins?
Vous êtes directement concerné. Vous devez vous équiper pour passer à la télé tout numérique.

Etes-vous prêt pour le passage au numérique ? La réponse à cette question dépend de trois facteurs : le type de logement (individuel ou collectif), le mode de réception (antenne, câble, Internet, satellite) et le type de téléviseurs se trouvant dans votre foyer.

Si vous n'avez pas d'adaptateur TNT (Télévision Numérique Terrestre) ou de télé TNT intégrée, vous n'êtes pas équipé.

Si d'ici la date du passage au tout numérique de votre région, vous n'adaptez pas votre équipement télévisuel pour la réception numérique, vous ne recevrez plus la télévision.

Selon votre couverture TNT, vous aurez plusieurs choix possibles pour recevoir le bouquet TNT gratuit, ou plus de chaînes avec abonnement par :

* votre antenne râteau
* une parabole
* une offre ADSL
* une offre du câble

Pour recevoir la télé numérique avec votre antenne râteau, vous devez être couvert par la TNT, et être équipé d'un adaptateur TNT branché sur la prise Péritel, ou bien d’une télé « TNT intégrée » qui vous permettra :

* de recevoir les 19 chaînes gratuites de la TNT
* de vous abonner à un bouquet de chaines supplémentaires (Canal+, TNTop, TV Numeric)

Après le branchement de votre équipement, lancez la recherche des chaines. Attention : Il faudra effectuer de nouveau cette opération au lendemain du passage au numérique de votre région.