Television as you know it is changing. It is going completely digital, bringing you more choice, improved services and better quality. The Government and broadcasters are firmly committed to switching all UK broadcasting to digital - this is called digital switchover and was outlined by Ofcom in February 2005 and confirmed in the governments pre-election manifesto for 2008 - 2012.

Within the lifetime of your new television, the UK's television signals will be switched to digital. What this means is  that you will require a digital television  or digital set top box to be able to continue viewing.

You may already have digital - from Sky, Freeview or cable. But in future every television and  recording device in your house will need to cope with digital signals. So if you are buying a new television or recording device today, you need to think about your digital choice

There are many ways to receive digital television and you will need to decide the best option that suits you: digital terrestrial (free service from Freeview or subscription from Top Up TV, digital satellite (free or subscription service from Sky) or cable (subscription based service from ntl: or Telewest).

The reception of all Freeview services are dependent on your location so please check the www.freeview.co.uk website for full details and enter your postcode. Alternatively, you can text your postcode to 83331 (standard rates apply). Channel availability subject to your geographical location and signal strength. Please note, even if you are currently unable to receive Freeview, all out digital televisions still come with an analogue tuner meaning that they will work both before and after switchover

Your Aerial is essential to your viewing pleasure. Ensure that your aerial connection is as good as possible. Aerials tend to have been installed a long time ago and may have degraded. You may also have to upgrade your aerial to a wideband aerial in order for you to receive a digital picture. Go to www.freeview.co.uk in order to find out.

If you are thinking of buying a new TV that is for a bedroom,  kitchen or a analogue television for the lounge. You will need to consider your scart requirements. Think about whether you have a VCR, DVD player, games console. These all need scart sockets and so does a set top box. One of the key advantages of a integrated digital television is that there is no need for an extra scart lead, no extra plug socket needed and no extra remote control to lose down the back of the sofa!

With Digital TV you also get digital radio. There are currently 20 digital radio channels available through your iDTV or STB…. List of stations with Key Logos like E4, ITV2 etc..

Recording your favourite TV programmes has also become a lot easier with digital television. You no longer have to worry about setting timers, all you have to do is select the programme you want to record via the EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) make sure the televsion is plugged into a smartlink VCR , DVD Recorder or Hard Disk device and hit the record option; it really is that simple - see our demonstration here.

Your digital television/Freeview box will only have one digital tuner. Therefore, in order to watch a different freeview channel at same time as recording a freeview channel, you need to connect another freeview box to your set up.
In order to keep wires to a minimum you may wish to purchase a DVD recorder and integrated freeview box like the RDRGXD500.

The reception of all Freeview services are dependent on your location so please check the www.freeview.co.uk website for full details and enter your postcode.

The phrase Digital Radio causes confusion. DAB is commonly mistaken for radios with a digital display, digial radio services such as radio stations found on Sky and Freeview and Internet radio stations.
Although many radio stations found in these ways can also be found on DAB, the distinction is to do with the way DAB is transmitted.
Its transmitted in a similar way to FM radio (i.e. with a transmitter over the air) but it uses multiplexing (combining lots of signals into one) to give you more channels than you can squeeze onto an FM radio.
Also because its "digital", its less suseptible to interference, hiss, atmospherics and "multipath". (RF signals arriving at a location via different transmission paths, usually referring to a combination of direct and reflected signals)

Information about when software upgrades for IDTV's can be found on the Digital Television Group website at www.dtg.org.uk.

Top Up TV is accessible via our IDTV's with some provisions. Please click on the below link to see a table for what model is compatible. You will note that 1st generation is only compatible with old On Digital/ITV Digital CAMS and NOT the Top Up TV CAM.

If the INFO WRITE process has not finished for the first recording when the second programme starts, the second programme will not be recorded. This can be avoided by setting a timer recording to capture both the programmes as one recording.

You need to get a specialist aerial installer to check the aerial and signal quality being received. Also using a loft aerial is not ideal and you instantly lose about 30% of the signal this way. This is mostly due to signal issues. Where customers have this problem we should ask if the aerial has been checked. For all sets we quote the following signal levels for reliable reception:

at least 55 db uV (Digital signal level)
at least 42 db (Digital carrier to noise ratio)
no more than 75 db uV (Adjacent analogue signal)

Occaisional break-up is caused by a phenomenon known as impulse interference, caused by such things as light switches, thermostats and refrigerators, having a good level of signal will certainly help as will ensuring that the aerial cables and connections are in good order and properly screened cable is used.

Software updates WILL NOT solve picture blocking type issues.

No and no conversion or modification will be available.

CTV - Colour Television
IDTV - Integrated Digital Television
LCD - Liquid Crystal Display
PIP - Picture in Picture
PAP - Picture and Picture
PAT - Picture and Text
OSD - On Screen Display
EPG - Electronic Programme Guide
MHEG - Multimedia and Hypermedia Expert Group
PDC - Programme Delivery Control
PCMCIA - Personal Computer Memory Card International Association
DRC - Digital Reality Creation
DRC-MF - Digital Reality Creation Multi Function
RP - Rear Projection
VPS - Vertical Picture Stabiliser
PAL - Phase Alternate Line
NTSC - National Television System Committee
SECAM - Systeme Electronique Couleur Avec Memoire
NICAM - Near Instantaneous Companded Audio Multiplex
ZVEI - Zentralverband der Elektrotechnik und Elektronikindustrie e.V
BBE - Bachus Berry Engineering
CRT - Cathode Ray Tube
RGB - Red Green Blue
SCART - Syndicat des Constructeurs d'Appareils Radiorécepteurs et Téléviseurs RF - Radio Frequency
PVR – Personal Video Recorder
HDD – Hard Disk Drive
DVDR – DVD Recorder