Digital Television Services

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With the 21st century, we have all seen the digital revolution, and this has affected both televisions and radio.  In the UK, the digital switchover has been phased across the country, with the analogue signal being switched off in various areas, to allow digital transmitters to have access to the airwaves and provide a wider range of television channels.

Ireland (Eire) have recently also launched their own digital TV switchover campaign, with the analogue TV signal due to be switched off on 24th October 2012.

Once the analogue service is switched off in your area, you will need equipment to allow you to receive Digital Television.  You basically have various choices - a paid for television service (such as Virgin Media's cable television, Sky satellite television, or broadband television), or choose one of the free digital television services (Freeview in the UK, SAORVIEW in Eire, or Freesat).

What is Analogue / Digital Television?
Television is made up of various frames - each one is an individual picture, as you would get on a movie still.  The higher the frame rate, the better the picture quality (as each picture transforms into the next one - similar to an old flick book).  However, a system is needed to broadcast those pictures from the camera in the recording studio to someone's home for display on a television set.

The first television signals were broadcast over the airwaves by John Logi Baird in 1929. Although his mechanical method of recording the pictures and displaying them on the television screen was soon replaced by an electronic system (invented by Philo T. Farnsworth, an American farmer) developed by Marconi and EMI, television has continued to be transmitted as a series of radio waves in the UHF band.  Each channel utilises quite a large amount of bandwidth for the sound and television waves to be transmitted without interference and even so, in poor conditions, you would get what is commonly known as "Snow" on the picture.

The advent of teletext saw extra data being transmitted at the top of each frame, providing numerous pages of text which could also be viewed with a teletext enabled TV set.  You can sometimes see the teletext signal at the top of a television picture, as a series of flashing dots.

This is an analogue television signal.

With the advent of the microchip and fast computers, a new system of transmission was developed - Digital Television, which converts each frame of the television picture into a series of binary data which can be compressed before transmission over the air.  Equipment in the viewers' home can then decompress that data stream and convert it back into the original picture.  This means that a lot more channels can be packed into the same bandwidth, without loss of data or quality.

The only downside of this, is that if there is a weak signal, you may see blocks on the screen where the data was received incomplete, rather than under the analogue transmission method, where you would get a fuzzy version of the picture.

Compression techniques for the picture have to be compromised to cope with the teletext signal, therefore digital text has taken over, which has its own dedicated digital channel for transmission.  Some people miss the look and feel of the original Teletext, but this means that you do not need a special television to view the service.

Digital Television has also enabled the ability to transmit and receive high definition television pictures (HD TV) with a suitable television set and set-top box.

This is a digital television signal.

Why the Switch Over to Digital?
With the information technology age, people want more choice as to the number of channels which they can watch, as well as access to more facilities, such as improved teletext services.  There is insufficient space on the already clogged airwaves around us, and so a decision has been made to turn off all analogue TV signals and free up all even more room for more channels and more choice.

How do I get Digital TV?
In order to watch Digital TV, you will need a decoder box (although this is built into some televisions already). A decoder box is called a Set Top Box (as that is where you will normally find it!). There are various methods which can be used to connect a decoder box to the digital television signal and you have a choice of provider:

Sky: This provides a Satellite TV service - you will need a satellite dish in order to pick up the signal from their satellite transmitters.  You purchase the set-top box from Sky as part of your subscription.  Again, there is a range of satellite television packages, you can subscribe to freesat from sky to receive a range of free to air channels (although you have to purchase the set top box and satellite dish, costing £150).

VirginMedia: This is a cable TV service where the signal is transmitted down fibre optic cable direct to the home - it is only available to areas which are lucky enough to have been cabled with Virgin Media (formerly Telewest / NTL) - normally the major towns and cities in the UK.  VirginMedia also offer the enhanced TiVo set-top box with a wide number of features.

BT Vision: This uses broadband and the existing telephone network to transmit television signals - however, the areas are currently limited as not all telephone exchanges have the necessary equipment.  Your ability to use the network also depends on the distance you are from the telephone exchange.  Presumably, the quality and speed depends on the speed of your Broadband and will be affected if you are using the internet at the same time. A set-top box is provided as part of the monthly subscription.  They do not offer a free package.

SAORVIEW: This service is transmitted by radio waves as with the analogue TV signal.  You therefore do not need any other equipment other than a set top box (or TV set with a build in decoder).  You need to purchase the set top box separately, although these are available from around €50.  This is a totally free service once you have purchased a suitable decoder, however the range of channels is more limited than with other services.  As with Freeview, you may need to purchase a new aerial.

Freeview: This service is transmitted by radio waves as with the analogue TV signal.  You therefore do not need any other equipment other than a set top box (or TV set with a build in decoder).  You need to purchase the set top box separately, although these are available from £25 upwards.  This is a totally free service once you have purchased a suitable decoder, however the range of channels is more limited than with other services.  As the digital switchover takes place, you may find that some channels are not transmitted at full power until the analogue signal is switched off - you may also need to purchase a higher gain (wideband) aerial in order to be able to view all of the channels without them breaking up.  Oddly, Freeview set-top boxes also suffer from having too strong a signal, which can also lead to pictures breaking up and this has affected many people once their area is switched over to digital!

Freesat: This provides a Satellite TV service - you will need to purchase a satellite dish in order to pick up the signal from their satellite transmitters and set-top box which then need to be professionally installed - the equipment and installation costs around £150.

Top Up TV Active: This is an enhanced Freeview service which requires a specialist set top box with a built in hard disk (a Personal Video Recorder - PVR).  There is a monthly subscription but it is different to other services, in that the additional channels are downloaded to your PVR overnight, for you to watch the next day.  You can however still watch the standard Freeview channels at the same time.

Which Provider Should I Choose?

It depends to some extent on how much you are willing to spend - digital television comes at a cost.  Freeview, Freesat and SAORVIEW are all without monthly subscription charges, but have larger upfront costs, and have only a limited number of channels, with Freesat offering the most channels.

By far, the biggest digital television provider in the UK at the moment is Sky, covering over 98% of the UK, and having over 7.4m subscribers.  This is a satellite television service provider and one of the best known brands in the field.  However, you may need to check planning restrictions in the area as to where you can locate a satellite dish on your house.

Next in line has to be the fast growing Freeview service (which provides digital television via a standard aerial) which covers 73% of homes in the UK and reports that 5.25m boxes have been sold so far.  However, these figures are not really comparable with the other providers, since many homes will have a Freeview box for a second television set, whilst using another digital television service for their main television.  Plus, because there is no actual subscription to Freeview, some of these boxes may be to replace broken boxes or older models, and there is no way of knowing how many households have a Freeview box.

Next there are the cable companies.  There are really two cable operators in the UK, Virgin Media and Kingston Communications.  Kingston Communications covers only the Hull area and we have no experience of them and therefore cannot really comment on their service. Cable can offer full video on demand services (unlike Freeview or Sky), and also offer Catch-Up Facilities to all customers, whereby popular content from a few channels is stored centrally for a week and can be watched via the set-top box at no cost at a time to suit the viewer. 

The other main digital television services operator is BT Vision - both offer a combined television and broadband internet service. This service offers both 80+ television and radio channels as well as video on demand (with over 1,000 films, 3,000 music videos and hundreds of TV series all of which can be watched at a time to suit yourself.  However, the service is currently limited to BBC One and Channel 4 series.  This provides television channels  via your telephone line (using a broadband connection.  However, it is limited to the London area and Stevenage at present, which means that it only serves a small percentage of the population.

Digital TV Services Overview and Installation

The main competitors for digital TV and telephone services  are Sky or Freeview together with a BT landline, or a mobile phone.  If you want to use the interactive services, then you will need a land-line to allow two-way communication and this therefore forms one of the big bonuses for cable TV services. Unlike Sky, using the interactive part of cable television does not tie up your phone line nor incur any phone charges.  Freeview also only offers the free to air channels (approx 45 television and radio channels) and do not offer any pay per view channels or films.  On the other hand, you can easily switch your packages once you have subscribed to cable TV (you need to give 30 days notice).

The BT Vision service is broadcast over the DSL/ADSL broadband network, which does mean that the number of houses covered is currently limited and you do have to subscribe to the broadband service as well. That said, packages for 1Mb broadband, plus the TV service and free evening and weekend calls start from £27.50pm, which makes it quite competitive, compared to a similar service from Sky and Virgin Media.

You also need to compare the cost of the basic digital cable TV and phone line from Virgin Media, as against the cost of buying a Freeview box out-right (from £25) or subscribing to a Sky package.  On top of Freeview and Sky, is the BT monthly line rental for a phone alone (approx £11pm inc. VAT). Call charges are generally around the same as BT calls, although there are a large number of different packages available to subscribers of both telephone services which may decide which telephone package is cheapest for you - see our comparison of telephone charges.  Although you can use Sky and Freeview without a phone line, you will lose the right to a cut price installation of Sky unless you keep a land line connected to the set-top box for the first 12 months of the contract. 

Installation costs are in the region of £100 for Sky and £50 for Virgin Media for both the TV and telephone service.

Both Sky and VirginMedia normally offer various offers to new customers, such as cut price (or free installation) and low cost installation of second telephone lines.  Sky regularly offer deals such as a free Sky+ box (which allows you to record a second channel to a hard disk), a free Marks & Spencers voucher (worth £25), free broadband and wireless router, and inclusive evening and weekend calls, if you sign up to one of their packages from £20 per month (plus telephone line rental).

Digital TV Services

The range of television channels vary greatly between providers and when you look at the number of channels provided in a package, you have to beware that this does not always break the figures down between actual television channels and digital radio channels which are also provided.  A close look at the various channel line-ups is also recommended as there are a large number of highly specialised channels, shopping channels, music channels and +1 channels (which are the same as the original channel, but delayed by one hour).  It is all too easy to get persuaded to part with £30-£40 pm for 100 -200 channels to find that most of the channels are ones which have no interest for you.

How To Connect More Than One Television Set

Most households have more than one television set and so you have to consider that if the analogue transmission service is switched off in the future, how are you going to connect all of your televisions to the digital service.  If you own only digital television sets (or put a digital television card in your PCs) and are happy with Freeview, then you will be able to use the Freeview service in each room (although a portable aerial will probably not be sufficient)

If you do not have a digital television set, then you can also consider connecting a digisender to your main set top box and attach a receiver to each television set.  This will enable the secondary television sets (with the receiver) to view the same channel as is on the main set top box - you will also need to consider a two-way system (an infra-red repeater/sender system) which allows you to change the channel on the set top box from another room, although you will still only be able to watch one channel on all televisions.  Cable subscribers will also need to ensure that the digisender is compatible with a cable set top box and may need a redeye convertor because the cable set top boxes use a different set of codes (IRdA)  to those sent by standard remote controls.  One digisender which works straight out of the box with cable television is the AEI Digisender Gold.  This will also provide remote control of DVD and PVR functions, allowing you to also watch those remotely.

However, if you want to watch a different channel or use some of the other services available through Digital TV on another television set, then you will need to obtain another set top box.  In the majority of cases, this is what most people will require - however, it can prove an expensive option.

At present, if you have a subscription to Sky or Cable digital television, you will need to pay an additional subscription fee for each additional set top box.  This fee is fixed no matter which package your household is subscribed to (Sky charge £10pm for each additional box).  This is good value if you want access to the top packages on each box, but seems a ridiculous charge if you are only subscribed to one of the lower packages.  There is also a maximum of 3 set top boxes per household on all 3 of these systems.

Sky users might also like to consider purchasing a second hand set top box and connecting it to their system provided that they are willing to accept just the freesat channels, but cannot do this if they wish to watch the Sky subscription channels. 

The other option is to subscribe to a different service provider, for example by purchasing a Freeview set-top box.  

In all of these options however, you have to consider the additional installation costs (and whether you might need an aerial upgrade for Freeview), as well as the range of channels available and required for secondary television sets..

Low Cost E-Mail and Messenger Services

One of the advantages of having a set top box connected to your television set, has to be the ability to use the set-top box to send and receive e-mail.  This can be particularly useful for people who cannot afford to purchase a PC or find the kids always hog the family computer.

Although Virgin Media and Sky all offer the facility to send and receive e-mails through the set top box, the implementation of the service differs between the providers.  Sky users will find that using this facility ties up their phone line and they also have to pay for the time that the box is connected to the internet which can be a bit off-putting.  The Sky service also seems slow and cumbersome compared to that offered by the cable operators (although Sky do have the added facility of an address book - a feature sadly lacking on the cable version).  On the other hand, this is a completely free service from Virgin Media (provided you have the set top box of course) and does not tie up your phone line.

Recording Digital TV

Although it is relatively simple to video programs which you are watching through the digital TV service, you can only video whatever the set-top box is looking at.  This means that if you want to video one channel whilst watching another, you either have to watch the terrestrial TV service, or use a second set top box.  You have to bear in mind that if you change channel on the set top box, whilst you are videoing a program from the set-top box, you will record the changes as well!!

However, the good news is that none of the channels on cable television (including the film channels such as Front Row) are copy protected, which means that you can use a standard video recorder to record your favourite programs and films still.

One of the ways around the limitations on videoing digital TV services, is to use a Personal Video Recorders.  Sky provides these under the Sky+ brand.  Freeview users have a wide range of PVRs available although again, their features vary greatly. 

A Personal Video Recorder stores up to 80 hours of programs digitally onto a hard disk (basically you need to compare the size of the hard disk - 2Gb per hour), to be later screened on the television, or copied onto normal video tape or a DVD if you have a DVD recorder.  It also features live pause facilities, where you can pause a program which you are currently watching for up to 30 minutes, to resume later on (even if the program is still being transmitted).  A Personal Video Recorder is also the only method by which you can record one digital television channel whilst watching another (although to do this you need a PVR with twin tuners). 

The best part about it, is that the Personal Video Recorder can be taught your watching habits and video programs automatically which you would normally watch but have forgotten, or which star a given actor/actress.  They can also be set up to video an entire series of a program, without you needing to remember to program the video for each episode.  This type of functionality is one of the best selling points of digital television.   A Personal Video Recorder costs around £250, plus £50 installation fee (if you do not want to install it yourself) and £10 per month subscription (or a lifetime subscription linked to that specific Personal Video Recorder for £199). 

Video On Demand (VOD) Services

One of the catchwords of Digital Television is Video on Demand.  To some extent, this is already available on Sky through Front Row and Sky Box Office which offers Pay Per View movies.  However, this is not a true video on demand service, since each movie has a specific start time (although admittedly this is normally 15 minutes - 30 minutes apart) and once the movie starts broadcasting you have no control over it.

Kingston Communication subscribers have access to a TV on demand service where you pay a small fee to watch any TV program which has been on the television network as well as a large back catalogue of films and music videos.  The program starts as soon as you have paid for it and some of the programs are available free of charge.