How can I watch SBS Food?
From Tuesday 5 December 2023, SBS Food will be upgraded to MPEG-4 broadcast format on free-to-air television channel 33. If watching on a television, SBS Food is accessible on television sets, or devices using recorders or set top boxes, which are MPEG-4 compatible. MPEG-4 refers to the compression technology commonly used by broadcasters today for the distribution of high-quality video content. Most television sets made after 2014 use this technology, and in fact many TV channels in Australia are broadcast with it. It allows us to provide better picture and sound quality.
The channel is available to stream live on SBS On Demand
What if I can’t access SBS Food?
If you are using an older TV receiver, recorder or set top box and find that you cannot watch or record the SBS channels 30, 31 (SBS Viceland) and 32 (SBS World Movies), the TV, set top box or recorder you are using might not be compatible with the aforementioned MPEG-4 H.264 format and can only decode the older and less efficient MPEG-2 format.
To test if that is the case:
1. Push 3 on the numeric keypad of your remote control. SBS ONE SD should display correctly on your screen.
2. Now push 30. If you see a black screen or an error message like "invalid channel" or can only hear the audio, the receiver may not be MPEG-4 compatible. Let's make sure.
If your test results are like all of the above, you can be pretty sure your TV receiver is NOT MPEG-4 compatible.
Before doing anything else though, we recommend you contact your TV or set top box manufacturer, provide the device model number and ask if that particular model is MPEG-4 compatible and, if not, if they can provide a firmware update to solve the issue. If MPEG-4 incompatibility is confirmed by the manufacturer, you have two ways to resolve the issue:
1. Install a digital set top box. Digital set top boxes are available from around $50 in any good electronics store and are fairly easy to install and setup.
2. Upgrade your TV, Set Top Box or Video Recorder.
If you require any assistance with the SBS Food upgrade please click here.