Why do I need digital TV?

From 2012 onwards the analogue TV signal will be switched off for good. This means that if you do not have some form of digital TV in your home by 2012 then you will not be able to watch TV. This 'Digital Switchover' is happening to make room for for the transmission of Digital Television across the airwaves. The Digital TV signal is more efficient than traditional analogue broadcasts and allows for clearer picture quality, better reception and for and a greater number of channels to be broadcast. TV reception has been a persistent problem in the UK, with some regions until recently being unable to watch programmes Five on their TV, whether via analogue or digital. The Digital Switchover should see an end to these problems once complete. As well as allowing for greater reception and more channels, Digital Switchover opens up a number of possibilities for the future of British television.

As more space is cleared in the broadcast spectrum, High Definition (HD) programmes could well become the norm in a post-Switchover world. Extra space on the airwaves could lead to the launch of several more exciting new channels or allow for more timeshifted programming (shows broadcast an hour later on channels such as E4+1, Virgin 1+1, Dave ja vu, etc).

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When is the Digital Switchover happening in my area?

The timetable for the Digital Switchover is staggered and will happen in different regions at different times. When the Digital Switchover is taking place in your region, the analogue signal will begin to deteriorate as is slowly powered down. This will see picture quality gradually become less and less clear until the old signal is shut off completely. Digital Switchover typically occurs in a two stage process, with some areas of a region losing the signal before others.

Both the West Country and Border (inc. the Isle of Man) regions have already fully switched over to the digital signal, and the Granada region is currently undergoing the switchover process right now. Wales is due to switchover towards the end of 2009 and throughout early 2010. The following regions are due to undergo the Digital Switchover process throughout:

• 2010

  • Channel Islands

  • STV North (including Shetland Islands)

  • West

• 2010/11

  • STV Central

• 2011

  • Anglia

  • Central

  • Yorkshire

• 2012

  • London

  • Meridian

  • Tyne Tees

  • UTV

Please note that the above regions are listed in alphabetical order.

View a more detailed breakdown of the Digital Switchover times and dates for your region

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What equipment do I need to get Digital TV?

The equipment you need to receive digital TV in your home largely depends on the type of digital TV platform you're after and also where you live. Whilst digital TV is available is most parts of the UK there are some places where certain services, mainly cable and satellite, are unavailable. If you don't live in a cabled street for example then you won't be able to receive digital cable TV. Installing a satellite dish largely depends upon the condition of your home (whether or not it is structurally sound enough to have a dish fitted) or, if you're living in rented accommodation, the terms of your tenancy agreement.

Practically all digital TV platforms will come with a set-top box or peripheral of some description which you connect to your TV set, usually via a SCART lead so you'll need to purchase one of these if you don't already have one. If you have a number of items in your house that connect to your TV via SCART such as a DVD player, PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, it might be an idea to invest in a multi-SCART adapter for added convenience.

Below is a brief run down of the various types of digital TV available and the equipment you'll need to access them:

Sky or Freesat - Satellite Dish

To get digital TV via satellite, you'll need to have a dish fitted to the side of your house. Most satellite these dishes these days are compact and discreet items compared to the larger dishes of the last 1980's and have been designed so that they can be fitted to a greater number of buildings and structures. Even so, there are still some buildings which due to structural or contractual reasons - i.e. if the building is Grade II listed or is part of an apartment block - to which a satellite dish cannot be fitted. If you live in rented accommodation, your tenancy agreement will say whether you are allowed to install a satellite dish or not.

An engineer will usually visit to install a satellite dish for you, and there may be a one off set-up fee for this. All other set-top boxes and equipment will be supplied either with your subscription (Sky) or can be purchased from electrical goods suppliers in store or online (Freesat). There are also currently a small number of iDTV sets with Freesat equipment installed in them.

BT Vision & Tiscali TV - Broadband connection, TV Aerial

The BT Vision and Tiscali TV platforms are hybrids of digital terrestrial TV and subscription and on-demand based pay-TV. Digital terrestrial channels are delivered through the aerial in the same manner as with Freeview, but you can also sign up for subscriptions to additional premium content, such as live coverage of sporting events, which is downloaded from the internet via a broadband connection and then transmitted to your TV through a set-top box.

The set top boxes that come with the BT Vision and Tiscali TV packages are usually available to buy for a single one-off fee, or can come included free if you sign up for a subscription. You could still use these services without a broadband connection, but you'd only be able to receive the Freeview channels and not be able to watch any of the subscription or on-demand content.

Virgin Media - Fibre Optic connection

In order to receive digital TV via fibre optic cable, then you need to live in a street or area which has cable access. You can usually tell if a street has had cable installed by the small green plastic tubing which is sometimes visible on the edges of the pavement, or by a small grey cabinet about a couple of feet in height. Alternatively, you can check by entering your postcode on our checker here. Virgin Media is currently the sole provider of digital cable TV services in the UK. The Virgin Media cable network currently covers some 50 per cent of the UK population. Investment has been planned that will see this figure increase to 55 per cent throughout 2010. As with Sky, your Virgin Media subscription package will include all the necessary equipment such as set-top boxes.

Freeview - TV Aerial, Freeview Set-Top Box

Freeview is available virtually everywhere. All you need to get Freeview is a TV aerial and a set-top box. If your analogue reception is of a poor quality, this doesn't mean that it will be the same once you've got your Freeview box up and running. You will still need to adjust the position of your aerial so that it is pointing in the general direction of your local transmitter, as you would with traditional terrestrial TV. This is for reasons of picture and sound quality. This will be less of a problem once the Digital Switchover has taken place in your broadcasting area. If you are interested in purchasing an IDTV set (a TV set with a Freeview tuner built in) then you won't need a SCART lead, as everything you need is already installed in the TV set itself. There is a huge range of Freeview set-top boxes and IDTV sets available to buy from leading electrical retailers online and in the high street.