Digital Switchover UK

Use our quick guide to Digital Switchover to help you through the biggest change to UK television for decades. After the switchover any analogue TVs (they can only receive BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and five) will be useless unless they have been converted to receive digital signals.

Our guide walks you through:

• What is digital TV?
• How to switch to digital TV
• Your digital TV options
• When your region is switching

If you've got Freeview, Virgin (or any other cable service), BT Vision or Sky, you've already converted, but if you have analogue sets in the spare room they won't work unless they have been converted too.

The switchover will be completed in the UK in 2012.

What is digital TV?

With digital TV, sound and pictures from the broadcaster are converted into a digital code and sent through an aerial, satellite, telephone line or cable. This digital signal is then turned back into sound and pictures by a digital box (for example, a Freeview or Sky box) or a digital television set.

Do not confuse "Digital TV" with High Definition (HD). To receive HD channels you must have an HD ready TV and subscribe to HD channels.

How to switch to digital TV

If you only have analogue TV you need to plan what to replace it with. Use the Help section at the Digital UK website to help you decide how to get your digital TV signal. Your options are: aerial, satellite dish, cable, phone line or combined aerial and phone line. Digital UK has plenty of help and advice.

What digital TV costs

This is down to your choice of service and equipment. You can spend as little or as much as you like depending on whether you want to pay a monthly fee or a one-off payment and on how many TV sets you intend to convert.

The payment options are:

1. One-Off Charge and Free Services

There are three free services, Freeview, Freesat and Freesat from Sky. All of them involve a one-off payment for equipment.

Freeview

To get Freeview there is a one-off payment for the digital box (they start from around £20) or digital TV. There is no monthly subscription. Integrated digital TVs (iDTV), which have Freeview built-in, are available from around £150. Freeview+, Freeview's digital TV recorder, allows you to record programmes (while watching another channel) and pause live TV. You may be able to self-install Freeview equipment by simply connecting your digital box to your existing TV and rooftop aerial. However, in some cases your aerial may need upgrading.

Depending on where you live, you will receive over 40 TV channels (some people have access to only around 15). The service includes over 20 free digital radio stations and interactive services through the remote control red button.

The HD service is subscription-free and will be available when your region switches to digital. However, you need a Freeview HD digital box or Freeview+ HD digital TV recorder and an HD ready TV. Freeview HD will give you access to four subscription-free (HD) channels from the public service broadcasters (BBC, ITV, and Channel 4).

Visit www.freeview.co.uk for more information.

Freesat

A one-off payment for a digital box (from £30) or Digital TV (from £450). If your home does not already have a working satellite dish, installation of a new satellite dish will cost approximately £80. There is no monthly subscription and no contract. Requirements are: a freesat digital box and a fully installed satellite dish.

To watch Freesat in HD you will need a Freesat HD digital box connected to an HD-ready TV or a TV with Freesat HD built in. The service will give you over 115 TV channels including entertainment, movies, news, lifestyle, BBC iplayer, and subscription-free HD from the BBC and ITV. Visit www.freesat.co.uk for more information.

Freesat from Sky

A one-off payment of £175 including standard digital box, dish (if required) and standard installation (this is done by a Sky installer). The service includes over 240 digital TV channels including entertainment, movies and music, but no HD.

Visit www.sky.com/shop/freesat/home for more information.

2. One-Off Fee Plus Monthly Subscription

BT Vision and Top Up TV both offer "mixed" options for digital TV, with a one-off set-up charge and then additional optional subscriptions.

BT Vision

To get BT Vision you need BT Total Broadband with BT Home Hub wireless router and you must live in a Freeview area. You can self-install BT Vision (it takes about half an hour or so) or a BT engineer can visit your home (you will be charged for this). Freeview channels are included as standard, and the service includes the Vision+ digital TV recorder which allows you to pause, rewind and record up to 80 hours of TV.

The subscription is from £6.99 to £19.99 per month, or you can pay per view from 39p. Between 15 and 40 Freeview channels plus Sky Sports 1, Sky Sports 2, ESPN and on-demand films (charges apply). There is a catch-up service for the five main channels for the past seven days. A selection of on demand films and TV programmes is available in HD. Visit www.bt.com/tv for more information.

Top Up TV

Top Up TV gives you between 15 and 40 Freeview channels and extra channels (for example, Warner TV and Paramount Comedy) through its Top Up TV digital recorder, which costs from £39.99. You can choose from a range of different sized hard disks with recording space from 120 hours up to 180 hours.

The monthly subscription to TV Favourites (additional television shows to supplement your Freeview choices), PictureBox Movies or ESPN costs from £7 a month, and there is a one-off connection fee of £20. The Top Up TV Anytime digital TV recorder is available from major electrical retailers and supermarkets. There is currently no HD TV service. Visit www.topuptv.com for more information.

3. Monthly Subscription

Sky and Virgin are the main companies offering subscription services.

Sky

Subscription packages range from £30 to £62.25 a month (minimum 12-month contract required). The standard installation, which is done by Sky engineers, is usually free. For HD, you will need an HD-ready TV and a Sky+ HD box, which has all the Sky+ features with double the storage capacity of a standard Sky+ box. Visit www.sky.com for more information.

Virgin

This service is delivered through a fibre optic cable network. Services can be bundled with a phone and broadband package or bought separately. It costs from £6.50 to £24.50 a month. A Virgin phone line is required (£12.99 a month if bought separately). You can receive up to 160 channels, depending on which package you choose.

HD is available. There is an activation fee of £49.95 and a monthly charge of £5 (waived if you subscribe to the XL package).

Virgin is only available in Virgin-cabled streets. Visit www.virginmedia.com or more information.

When your region will switch to digital TV

The switchover started in 2008. The remaining regions to switch are:

Visit Digital UK for more information on the switchover timetable.

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