The Digital Switch Over

In 2008 through till 2012 the UK TV will be completely digital. This will be done region by region throughout the UK. The old style of receiving your TV signal was via ‘analogue’ - broadcasters used this to send your TV pictures and sound. Analogue will now be replaced with Digital, analogue signal will no longer be available and be completely phased out. To find out when your region will be switched over you can check Teletext page 106.

Here is a breakdown of when each of the UK’s regions will be switched over:

Region Switchover happens in:

Border     2008 - 09
West Country, Granada   2009
Wales     2009 - 10
West, STV North   2010 - 11
STV Central    2010 - 11
Central, Yorkshire, Anglia  2011
Meridian, London     2012
Tyne Tees, Ulster    2012

What are the benefits of having
Digital TV?

Compared to traditional TV, it brings many new ways to enjoy your TV:

• Lots of Extra TV channels as standard!
  You’ll receive all your usual TV channels and many more as standard including BBC Three, ITV2, E4, More 4, S4C2, Sky News, Cbeebies, CBBC, CITV, ITV3 and FilmFour* (*from July 2006).

• Pay Per View channels
  If you choose to take out a subscription, you can get many more dedicated channels including sport, films, music channels, and access to services that let you watch what you want, when you want.

• Improved quality
  Digital TV can improve the quality of your TV picture.

• New features
  Including on-screen TV listings, true widescreen picture and red-button interactivity.

• Access services
  Some digital boxes have special features for people with visual and hearing impairments such as audio description and subtitling.

What is the technology behind Digital TV?

As with the old analogue signal sent from broadcasters all the sound and pictures are sent via data. The data sent with Digital TV is ‘bits’ of data and is sent through your aerial, satellite, telephone or cable. The signal ‘bits’ are then converted into picture and sound via a digital box that sits next to your TV. The digital box is the system that delivers your clear picture and sound.