The great digital TV switchover

Imagine getting home tonight and settling down in front of the TV, only to find it won’t tune into BBC2.

It turns out to be the same story with all the sets in the house - even the portable upstairs in the bedroom won’t play ball.

Then, as the days pass, the other four channels disappear, until finally there’s no news, Match of the Day or, God forbid, Corrie.

It might sound a trifle inconvenient, for want of a better phrase, but this could well be the future for anyone who isn’t ready for the upcoming digital television switchover.

Over the next five years, the traditional analogue TV broadcasts we receive via our aerials will be switched off, region by region, channel by channel, and replaced with purely digital signals.

The process begins as early as October this year, and by the end of 2012 the whole of the UK will have gone digital.

Anyone with a TV not geared up for digital needs to take action if they want to keep watching once their region has switched. In this feature, we will tell you everything about digital entertainment on a TV or PC and how the changes could affect the way broadband and even mobile internet services are provided. To complete our digital entertainment special, see our guide to LCD TVs and a round-up of personal video recorders.

The good news is that there’s no need to panic. It’s easy and relatively inexpensive to prepare for the next generation of television, and over the next few pages we’ll explain what’s happening and why, when the change is coming to your area and how to get ready.

Why the switch?
Turning off the analogue system will allow broadcasters to boost the Freeview signal, thus extending the coverage to almost every home.

Aside from this, perhaps the most talked about benefits of switching to digital TV are improved picture and sound quality, and more choice. In the main, viewers will get images free from ghosting, the wavy fishbone lines, speckled colour noise and other undesirable artefacts commonly seen on analogue TV. Sound will be clearer too - digital broadcasts even allow for cinema-style surround sound.

Meanwhile, the efficiency of the digital system means there’s room for many more channels to be transmitted - more than 40 at the last count, plus 34 radio stations, all without the need for expensive monthly subscriptions to cable and satellite TV providers, such as Virgin Media or Sky.

On top of this, digital television lets broadcasters provide advanced interactive TV services. Accessed by pressing the red button on your remote control, these work in much the same way as Teletext does today, but can offer a better experience with sound and video, including programme-specific features.

During Wimbledon this year, for example, hitting the red button while watching Freeview brought up the option to see games on different courts, along with the chance to review the latest statistics. The BBC and others also provide interactive news, allowing the viewer to delve deeper into the headline stories.