By 2012 all of the UK's television will be broadcast in digital form, with the last remaining analogue transmitters being switched off. It's a momentous occasion, but a lot of people are still in the dark about many aspects of the digital TV switchover; what are the options for receiving it? What equipment do you need? How can I get cheap digital TV? What's the best option for me? We're here to answer those questions. The four main ways to get digital TV are shown below - click in one of the boxes for more information.
You can now get the new improved BT Home Hub version 2 free on all broadband options! It offers up to twice the wireless range of any other UK broadband provider's gear, is very simple to set up and has a new powersave function added - as you can see from the picture here it's beautifully designed too.
When it comes to the question of equipment, almost all televisions are capable of displaying digital TV, as long as they have some way of receiving the signal. Your old TV has an analogue tuner which currently picks up the 5 terrestial channels through your aerial - this is what will gradually be switched off between now and 2012, so you need to replace it with Freeview (via a set-top box or by buying a TV with Freeview built in) if you want cheap digital TV, or a satellite or cable subscription or a service which provides TV through your broadband like BT Vision or Tiscali. So, your TV is probably safe for now, but when you come to buy your next one you will need to consider firstly "Do I want a built-in digital tuner?", to which the answer is yes, preferably two to enable you to watch one and record another, and secondly "Do I want HD TV?" - you can see a selection of great HD TV deals here.
Recording-wise on Digital TV Switchover your current recorder, be it DVD, hard disc or good old-fashioned VHS, will be able to record all of the digital channels you receive but remember a VCR, like your old telly, picks up the terrestial channels through it's analogue tuner, which will no longer work. This means you'll only be able to watch the channel you're recording and vice versa, but there are several ways to get round this. On Freeview you can have two tuners (a set-top box or TV with two tuners, or one in your box and one in the TV), or you could opt for a single tuner set-top box coupled with a hard disc/DVD recorder with a Freeview receiver built-in - in a nutshell you need two tuners to receive two different channels at the same time. Sky, Virgin and BT Vision all offer PVR or Personal Video Recorder services like Sky+, Virgin V+ and the V-Box too.