The climate emergency is at the heart of our concerns. As a public-service media, ARTE is aware of its responsibility in the ecological transition and is working to reduce its impact on the planet. This commitment corresponds to one of the 5 strategic axes of ARTE’s 2021-2024 group project.
Here you will find some information about our commitments along with some tools to reduce your video consumption footprint without compromising the quality of your experience.
Unpacking environmental issues
Ecology issues are an integral part of our editorial offer. ARTE offers a number of programmes to guide you in a discovery of our planet’s treasures but also to help you to understand the climate emergency and to think about the concrete steps needed to deal with it. For example:
- the TV series Frankenstream (available on arte.tv from 29 November 2022) looks at the birth of streaming and its growing impact on the planet
- the documentary series A New World, directed by Cyril Dion, posits a three-part action plan to combat climate change
- the documentary series Toxic tour takes a look at six European locations that have been devastated by pollution
- the documentary series Roots explores the methods available to us to develop a more sustainable agriculture
In order to fully reflect its values and its editorial offer, ARTE has joined Ecoprod, a forum for dialogue between the various players in the audiovisual sector, to exchange best environmental practice, adapt its production processes and contribute to the collective effort to achieve carbon neutrality.
Streaming more responsibly
Video streaming consumes a lot of energy and has a big impact on the environment, which is why we offer you solutions to enable you to be a responsible user on the arte.tv platform. ARTE helps you to understand these issues better and to use digital technology rationally and sensibly.
The tools at your disposal in ARTE’s video player
If you’re using the website arte.tv
- You can adjust the quality of the video to suit your needs. For example, you can choose a lower quality if you’re only listening to the sound of the video, so as to reduce the carbon impact.
How do I do that? When watching a video, click on the cogwheel at the bottom right of the video player and select the quality you require.
If you’re using the mobile app
- You can download your videos to watch them wherever you are. For example, you can choose to download your favourite videos on Wi-Fi at home and watch them later elsewhere. Using 4G consumes about three times more energy than Wi-Fi (🡥 ADEME, French Agency for Ecological Transition 2022).
How do I do that? Go to the programme you want to watch. If it can be viewed offline, a “download” button will appear. Once downloaded, the video will then be available for 72 hours in your MyARTE space.
Manage your settings
In “My Settings” you can disable automatic video playback in order to limit your data consumption to what is strictly essential: the content you want to watch.
Depending on the device you’re using, the following options are available:
Manage your settings on the website arte.tv
- Disable automatic video playback
How do I do that? Go to ⚙️ My Settings > Personalisation > Automatic video playback > Disable the option if you wish.
- Disable the automatic launch of the next video
How do I do that? Go to ⚙️ My Settings > Personalisation > Video autoplay > Disable the option if you wish.
- Disable automatic launch of trailers when browsing our offer.
How do I do that? Go to ⚙️ My Settings > Personalisation > Video playback with simultaneous website > Disable the option if you wish.
Manage your settings in ARTE’s mobile app
- Enable reduced data consumption mode
How do I do that? Go to ⚙️ Settings > Playback Settings > Enable the “Reduce video resolution to a minimum to save bandwidth” option if you wish.
Combating obsolescence
The process involved in manufacturing our smartphones, tablets, televisions and computers is a considerable source of pollution, while the rapid changes to operating systems force us to buy new devices on a regular basis. This is why we have opted for backwards compatibility, which means that you can watch ARTE even on older devices.
Smartphones are often replaced, but their components have a heavy environmental and social impact. One way to limit the damage is to make them last as long as possible. Photo: Frankenstream, the monster that devours us © Allso
How do I know if my device is backwards compatible?
You can use the ARTE app with an Android 6.0 operating system or higher, for example with the Samsung Galaxy S6 released in 2015 or any newer device.
As for tablets, the ARTE app is compatible with, for example, the Samsung Tab S released in 2014 or any newer device, provided it has an Android 6.0 or higher operating system.
Android TV users will be able to use the arte.tv platform with, for example, the NVidia SHIELD released in 2015 or any newer device. The operating system can be Android TV 5.0 or any later version.
You can use the ARTE app with an iOS 14 or higher operating system, on the iPhone 6S released in 2015 or any newer device.
As for tablets, the ARTE app is compatible with the iPad Air 2 released in 2014 or any newer device, provided it has an iOS 14 operating system or higher.
Apple TV users will be able to use the ARTE app with an Apple TV 4 released in 2015 or any newer device. The operating system can be Apple tvOS 13 or any later version.
arte.tv is compatible with the following browsers and all higher versions: Chrome 72, Edge 80, Firefox 66 and Safari 10.
This means that if you have a Windows computer, you will need Windows 7, released in 2009, or any other newer operating system.
If you have a Mac, you will need at least OS X Mavericks, which was released in 2013 and is operational on devices dating back to 2008 and later.*
*These systems are no longer supported by their manufacturers and are therefore not recommended for browsing on arte.tv.
Our HbbTV app is compatible with televisions that support the HbbTV 1.1.1 standard, i.e. all Internet-connected televisions released in the last 10 years.
However, some features such as UHD or the ability to watch ARTE live are reserved for newer TVs supporting the HbbTV 2.0.2 standard, i.e. TVs released after 2018. This does not prevent users from accessing the full catalogue and using other features of the app.
Technology for a sustainable browsing experience
Our aim is to reduce the environmental impact of watching videos while providing you with a quality experience on our platform.
Optimised video encoding
The higher the quality of the video viewed on the platform, the greater its impact on the planet. Consequently, our technical teams are working on solutions to combine image quality and eco-responsibility.
- Since 2021, we have been working with German research institute Fraunhofer to adopt a more efficient encoding system: per-title encoding. Encoding is the process of compressing the audio and video material of films, concerts, tv series or documentaries that you watch on arte.tv .
- We are in the process of adopting a less energy-intensive codec: 265. A codec is a piece of software that enables audio and video material to be encoded.
- By the end of 2022, we will have changed the procedure for encoding programmes for ARTE in six languages. Until now, a specific video file has had to be created for each language version. In future, instead of six video files, there will only be one.
- The http://arte.tv platform operates through a content delivery network (CDN). This is a set of servers deployed in a geographical mesh, so as to be as close as possible to users. Thanks to this CDN, we can reduce the distance the video files need to travel. As a result, content loads faster and uses less energy. The content delivery network is provided by Akamai, a company committed to reducing its carbon impact. More information about Akamai →
Measuring our carbon impact
To go even further, we have integrated GreenFrame into the web interface of our http://arte.tv platform. This is a first step towards accurately measuring the carbon impact of each new version of our site.
ARTE is committed as a company
Since its very founding, respect for the environment has been at the heart of ARTE’s values. For us, it is essential that the way we manage our infrastructure reflects this commitment. This includes providing sustainable catering, actively encouraging soft mobility, waste sorting and recycling… Find out more about our systems here →
ARTE’s headquarters in Strasbourg has been ISO 50001 (energy efficiency) certified since July 2016. We are the first French TV channel to have obtained this label.
The ARTE headquarters in Strasbourg, ISO 50001 certified for energy management since 2016