The digital TV switchover is the process of turning off the UK's analogue TV signal and replacing it with a digital signal. This means that you will not longer be able to receive a TV signal by simply plugging your aerial lead (that is connected to the aerial on your roof) into the back of your television. Put simply, once the switch happens, you will need a ‘Freeview’ digital TV tuner between your aerial and your TV to convert the digital signal into a television picture that you can view. You aerial lead will then plug into the back of your digital tuner box that will be connected to your TV by a scart cable in most cases.

To dispel a common rumour, you will not need a new television set to continue watching digital TV. Almost every TV will work absolutely fine with a digital tuner box. There may be a few cases where some older TVs’ don’t have a scart socket but in such cases you will just need to purchase a digital box a with built-in ‘RF modulator’ and an aerial connection. Newer flat screens TV’s may even have a digital tuner built-in which will mean you will be able to plug your aerial lead into the back of your set as normal and not have to worry about having an extra box underneath your TV.

The main benefit of digital TV is that there is a far greater choice of channels. The basic Freeview service contains about 15 channels including the main 5 that you will have been receiving before. The amount of new channels will depend on where you are in the country and there are some areas where up to 40 channels will be viewable. The new channels include BBC Three, BBC Four, BBC Parliament, BBC News, CBBC, Cbeebies, ITV 2, E4 and More 4. It will feel like you have upgraded to Sky TV for free!

The quality of your TV picture may also be improved although some may not notice any difference. Other improvements are the extra features that digital broadcasts bring including on-screen TV listings, true widescreen picture and red-button interactivity previously only available with cable and Sky TV. Last but not least is that you will get access to a huge range of digital radio stations through your TV.

For those wanting to take advantage of High Definition broadcasts there is even a free service that gives you access to subscription free HD broadcasts from BBC HD and ITV HD as well as well over a hundreds other free standard definition channels. This service is called Freesat HD and requires the installation of a satellite dish and the purchase of a Freesat digital receiver. Audio T sells a fantastic Freesat receiver called the Humax Foxsat HDR which all the features of the Humax Freeview box above including a 320Gb hard drive and twin tuners for recording. The Foxsat PVR also has an HDMI output for High Definition transfer to your screen as well as upscaling of standard definition channels to make even them look leagues better than through a normal Freeview box. We also sell Panasonic LCD and Plasma screens that have Freesat tuners built-in although they do not have a hard drive recording facility. Panasonic also manufacture High Definition Blu-ray recorders that have Freesat tuners built-in and allow for not only hard drive recording but recording of High Definition content on to Blu-ray discs.

With all these simply and fantastic options available, digital switchover should not be viewed as a daunting technological minefield, but rather as an opportunity to extend and enhance your viewing experience into the future. Please feel free to call any of our stores to discuss options for switching to digital. Our expert staff will be pleased to help you understand the issues and will help guide you to the solution that is perfect for you.