*Important Update News For All UK Freeview Viewers - Click Here
Digital freeview television has been live for a while in the UK and was first mass publicised by the failed "On Digital/ITV Digital" episode.
What emerged though was a revamped free to view digital television platform which meant that anyone with a digital set top box or an integrated digital television (IDTV) and an up to date TV aerial would be able to receive a new breed of free terrestrial digital channels.
What Is Freeview Digital Television?
Freeview is managed by an organisation called DTV Services Ltd, a company owned and run by five shareholders, the BBC, BSkyB, Channel 4, ITV and National Grid Wireless. The Freeview service provides free-to-air digital TV channels, radio stations and interactive services through terrestrial aerials direct to your home television set.
It is a basic free digital TV service offering TV channels and radio stations for just a one-off payment to purchase your digital equipment and no contract.
Check Out All The Current Available Channels By Clicking Here (PDF file)
How Do I Receive Freeview Digital Television?
Digital set top boxes or IDTV's enable you to receive digital radio stations via your television attached to a terrestrial aerial.
If you wish to record Freeview programmes, it is worth considering a Freeview PVR, similar to a set top box, but with hard drive onto which programmes can be recorded in digital quality.
Where Can I Get Freeview Television Equipment?
This equipment can be bought from department stores and electrical shops such as
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What Is The Cost Of Freeview Digital Equipment?
The cost of an adequate set top box can cost less than £30.00, however the price you will pay to receive free to view digital terrestrial television depends on whether you want a stand alone set top box or a fully integrated digital television (IDTV).
What Are The Key Considerations When Buying a Freeview Box? SCART Sockets: All Freeview boxes have at least one SCART socket, but if you need to connect more than one device via SCART leads, you will either need to purchase a box with two sockets or look at the various SCART switch boxes now available.
Card Slot - TopUP TV ( Freeview): TopUP TV was launched in March 2004. It offers an additional 10 channels for a monthly subscription. No doubt there will be other subscription systems over time. If you wish to subscribe to this, you will need a freeview box with a card slot suitable for TopUp TV.
Televisions Without SCART - RF Modulators: Although most modern televisions and plasma screens have SCART inputs, some do not. Accordingly, some set-top boxes have a built-in 'Modulated RF output'. This allows the freeview box to re-broadcast it's output onto a TV channel that your TV set can 'tune in' to. This is also useful if you want to rebroadcast Freeview to other TV sets elsewhere in your home.
Aerials: Key questions worthwhile asking yourself before you decide to purchase a freeview box are: Is Your Aerial up to scratch? How old is it? Will it last another ten years or so? can it pick up all the digital transmissions? Will it be able to pick up any extra free digital channels in the future?
Can I Get High Definition Television (HDTV) On Aerial Based Freeview?
HDTV is not yet fully available through an aerial and it seems that it could be quite a while before it is. A trial of HDTV on Freeview in 450 London homes was a successful one and the Government is now proposing to sell off the high spectrum bandwidth required, to the highest bidder.
Recently, the new Chairman of ITV Michael Grade proposed that HDTV should be available to everybody. This echoes that of members of the HDforAll campaign, which includes industry heavyweights such as the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sony, Samsung and the Dixons retail group.
