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Ever since its first introduction in the 1930s when the service we know as television was first broadcast it has used analogue transmission to get the signal from broadcast mast to your living room. This analogue method of broadcast is not very efficient, and the broadcast signal is subject to interference and loss of quality.
The arrival of the digital age heralded a new desire for more variety, better quality and bigger screens, adding to the pressure on analogue to deliver beyond its capabilities.
Analogue has served us well, but the demand for more and more digital services, which have been broadcast simulanteously for a few years now with the popularised Freeview Services (as well as by satelitte and cable), has increased. The digital signals need to be ramped up to reach everyone with the optimum performance.
In order to provide the increased capacity and power to digital TV, the analogue brodcasts of BBC1, BBC2, ITV and Channel 4/S4C will cease in a rolling programme across the UK and will affect us here in Blackpool in 2009.
In order to receive TV services after the switchover to digital, all these televisions will need conversion either through the addition of a set-top box - or by replacement, with a television (iDTV) which has an in-built digital tuner.
Another popular route to receiving digital programmes is via a cable or satellite digital service.
The switchover, which will take four to five years to complete, and will take place region by region.
The Granada region (the Northwest) due for switchover in 2009, will be given a minimum of two years’ notice) about when the switching process will be actioned in their region.
To find out more about
Digital switchover regional rollout take a look at the link below or check out
http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/ A Regional Rollout Order Map is available on the DigitalUK website.
In each region, consumers can expect changes to take place over a period of weeks. This could happen as follows:
- Messages appear on screen saying that from next month one analogue service (for example BBC TWO) will no longer be available
- On the named date, the analogue service stops and the digital multiplex carrying BBC TWO (and also BBC ONE, BBC THREE, CBeebies) will move to the frequency channel vacated by analogue BBC TWO
- Shortly afterwards, messages appear on screen saying that some or all of the other analogue services are about to stop
- On the named day, or days, BBC ONE, ITV1, Channel 4 (or S4C in Wales) and Five stop transmitting in analogue, and the multiplexes carrying these digital services move to the frequency channels vacated by the analogue service