The digital switchover is the biggest change to TV since the introduction of colour in the late 1960's. Alderley Edge will switch to digital television in two stages, on November 4th BBC 2 analogue will be switched off with the remaining analogue channels being switched off on the 2nd of December.
According to Digital UK, a third of the UK's 60 million televisions sets are still analogue yet a significant number of us have no idea what the transition actually means.
The digital TV switchover, which is a government policy, means that everyone will be able to receive digital TV through an aerial. The analogue signal will be switched off and replaced with a digital signal so in order to continue watching TV you need to ensure that all your televisions are converted to digital before the switch.
There are four options for receiving digital TV, either through: an aerial (called digital terrestrial TV), satellite television, a cable TV connection or via broadband internet.
If you decide to purchase new TV equipment with a digital box built in then you should ensure that is has the "digital tick" logo on the product. However you don't need to buy new televisions because almost all TVs, even black and white sets, can be converted with a digital box. Your television will need either a scart or RF input, if it doesn't have either of these then unfortunately it cannot be converted to receive digital TV. Most digital boxes come with scart sockets so you need to check that your TV has one, if it was made after 1996 it will have. If your TV doesn't have a scart socket then you must purchase a digital box that connects to the aerial socket (RF input).
Your analogue video recorders will still record after the switchover but most will not allow you to record one channel whilst watching another so you might want to consider purchasing a digital TV recorder. If you have an analogue TV then a digital TV recorder with a "twin tuner" is a good option as it will convert your TV as well.
Alternatively you can pick up your digital signal via satellite using either Sky or BBC/ITV. Sky is available for a one-off fee of £150 or on subscription. There is no subscription cost for BBC/ITV but an initial set up and installation fee of £80.
Though the switchover is for TV services only, many providers are offering bundled packages which combine TV, broadband and telephone. Check out Sky, Tiscali, BT Vision or Virgin Media for details.
For further information on the digital switchover visit www.digitaluk.co.uk or www.bbc.co.uk/digital/tv.
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Remember that you don't need to buy High Definition (HD) televisions or set-top boxes to receive the digital transmission. Most existing VCRs or DVD players will still work with digital, it is just the signal from your aerial that needs to be decoded before input to your audio-visual equipment.
Many will use this as an opportunity to buy a HD Ready (720 lines) or Full HD (1080 lines) television but these still need a HD source such as Virgin Media, BT Vision or Sky HD among others. For HD movies, you need a Blu-Ray DVD player.