Freeview has Virgin 1, Virgin 1 has Chuck, ergo Freeview is awesome.
No here it doesn't, we're on a relay transmitter and therefore we only get PSB channels.
Digit Al - Waste of time and money
- Thread starter PiKe
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No here it doesn't, we're on a relay transmitter and therefore we only get PSB channels.
Caporegime
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We don't get the switch here until 2012. 
The sooner the better as the signal here atm is terrible.
The sooner the better as the signal here atm is terrible.
You may want to check that date out as we don't go digi until 2011 but that is when analogue is turned off and we have no choice.We don't get the switch here until 2012.
The sooner the better as the signal here atm is terrible.
Bought a new TV 4 weeks back to upgrade to Sky HD and was surprised to find that when I plugged the normal aerial cable into our communal socket we already had digi for those who want it. Automatically downloaded another 60 channels and 3 time since then when switching on there have been a few more waiting to be auto downloaded.
Caporegime
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You may want to check that date out as we don't go digi until 2011 but that is when analogue is turned off and we have no choice.
Bought a new TV 4 weeks back to upgrade to Sky HD and was surprised to find that when I plugged the normal aerial cable into our communal socket we already had digi for those who want it. Automatically downloaded another 60 channels and 3 time since then when switching on there have been a few more waiting to be auto downloaded.
Freeview Site said:
The "you can't receive the Freeview channels in your area now" is a load of balls though as I can get the majority of them.
The title of this thread is "Digit Al" - that being the name of the CGI robot that is the face of the switchover (no, the bearded goon is not!). Do you mean the robot, or do you just mean "Digital TV" in general?
The money has gone on TV adverts about the switchover, to Headcount (a PR company that is organising the "in-person" information (the roadshow where teams of people go out to towns and so on and hand out leaflets, do postocdes looks ups and gernally try to get as much exposure about the switchover so people arent left going "Well I never knew about it") as well as subsidising the discounted prices for the equipment for people on the switchover scheme (for elederly or disabled people). Other money goes on paying people to do thier jobs with regards to the switchover working at DigitalUK.
Out of interest, do you know why it is a 2 stage switchover starting with BBC2?
have a look at this and see if she falls into any of the categories - http://www.helpscheme.co.uk/
If she does, get her to ring up and ask for the help.
My mate at work wondered this too. Although he has sky so missed all of the messages that were only broadcast on border.
I personally thought they'd made it fairly obvious - although the annoying text that sat at the top of the screen for a few minutes at a time while something interesting was on was a tad annoying.
Yeah, people with Sky are already digital so they don't need to know/ need to care.
The messages at the top of the screen are annoying, but they DO help to make people aware of what is happening. The more they are on, the less chance people will say "Oh, I knew nothing about it"... again.
It appears a few times in the evening, during prime time, is only up for 20 secs or so, then disappears for a while.
Its (like said above) to make the pictures better, to free up space for more channels, as well as getting the singal out to more people (so that people who cannot receive a signal now should be able to when it is digital). It is also more enegry efficient so will keep power costs down.
No it wasn't. The adverts are funded primarily by the government (through taxpayers), as well as the BBC and ITV via the TV licence fee (there was an increase in the pirce to pay for this). The money has gone to what I have said above.
They will be making a few extra towers, but not many. This is because they will be boosting the digital signal when switchover happens (and the analogue is turned off) so that the signal is transmitted further and stronger so that most people's pictures will be perfect.
Wait until after switchover, you might find you get a few more channels then.
Or just goto www.ditigaluk.co.uk and use the postcode checker on the right hand side. You might also want to look at changing which transmitter you are recieving from as the main transmitters will be broadcasting all, whereas the repeater stations will only be transmitting half that number (due to it being financially stupid to spend money on something that will only benefit a few people)
Bought a new TV 4 weeks back to upgrade to Sky HD and was surprised to find that when I plugged the normal aerial cable into our communal socket we already had digi for those who want it. Automatically downloaded another 60 channels and 3 time since then when switching on there have been a few more waiting to be auto downloaded.
Sounds like your TV has an inbuilt digital Tv tuner
Some people will not be able to recieve it who have the same postcode as you. Also, it depends which transmitter you are tuned into.
How old must your TV be if you dont have a digital tuner? When did the big high street retailers last sell analogue TVs.
Also, with the switchover, doesn't the digital signal get boosted and so even the worst rooftop aerials would be able to pick up freeview since digital signals are so much better.
Also, with the switchover, doesn't the digital signal get boosted and so even the worst rooftop aerials would be able to pick up freeview since digital signals are so much better.
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I work in the trade and recently areas near where we are went digital, this was Weymouth, Bridport & Beaminster. The sheer amount of people that asked what was going on was enough to make you self harm. There was adverts everywhere, leaflets drops, radio broadcasts and they still didnt know what was happening.
Yet people still complain because some of them don't get all of the channels due to receiving from a relay transmitter. They still got around 30 channels compared to the original 4.
As was said previously, the analogue bandwidth is going to be sold of for certain individuals to make millions.
Then you will get people moaning that their LCD/Plasma TV is not as good as their last set because it goes blocky with fast movement on digital TV, despite the fact that their new television will pick-up the discrepancies due to the higher resolution screen AND the fact that the digital broadcast is technically 8 times worse than analogue.
Yet people still complain because some of them don't get all of the channels due to receiving from a relay transmitter. They still got around 30 channels compared to the original 4.
As was said previously, the analogue bandwidth is going to be sold of for certain individuals to make millions.
Then you will get people moaning that their LCD/Plasma TV is not as good as their last set because it goes blocky with fast movement on digital TV, despite the fact that their new television will pick-up the discrepancies due to the higher resolution screen AND the fact that the digital broadcast is technically 8 times worse than analogue.
Wait what?
True but unless you have direct line of sight to the mast and no building nearby you would rarely get a perfect picture due to signal reflections.
Soldato
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We've got an LCD TV from when they first came out and that only has an analogue tuner....
Yea if ever the TVs left on after the PVRs turned off it uses it's analogue tuner and the amount of ghosting/shadowing due to signal reflections makes me cry!
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What do you mean by "worse"?
What aspect is worse, I genuinely don't understand.
I also have a 32" HD LDC tv which only has an analogue tuner, bought in 05 I think, maybe 06.
Digital Freeview has been a load of fail for me so far, my parents house (Falkirk area) barely gets anything more than 1-4 & E4 and only recently has it got the five channels and bbc 3 & 4, the signal is still crap most of the time freezing and pausing quite a lot and sometimes the signal is too low to actually watch.
My old flat was even worse, freeview only got the ITV channels some of the 4 channels the Five channels and BBC4 didnt even get BBC 1 & 2. Using analog got a very fuzzy channel 1-4. Though this could have been because it was in the signal shadow of arthurs seat
My old flat was even worse, freeview only got the ITV channels some of the 4 channels the Five channels and BBC4 didnt even get BBC 1 & 2. Using analog got a very fuzzy channel 1-4. Though this could have been because it was in the signal shadow of arthurs seat
My TV is only about 3 or 4 years old and it hasn't got a digital tuner. But then it is a 32" Widescreen CRT (I couldn't afford an equivalent LCD at the time), although most of the time I personally still prefer a properly set up CRT to most flatscreens!
One thing I was surprised to find recently is that flatscreens generally use more power than a CRT. Although I've only seen it with one I could look at the back of, looking at the specs on various other sites, it seems the general power usage of a 32" LCD is around 120-130 watts. Whereas my "old fashioned" 32" CRT widescreen only uses 95 watts
. Really environmentally friendly these new screens eh 
? And you can't use the excuse of a set top box using extra power because i've got a HDD/DVD recorder with a built in digital receiver which i'd buy anyway. Although I might need an extra box to be able to watch other channels while I'm recording - either that or buy another HDD recorder but with twin tuners. 
As for the digital signal, I don't mind it but it can be a bit poor at times. I could receive all the channels till recently, but I think I need a wider band aerial now. Doesn't matter to me though as I didn't watch any of the channels that have gone missing anyway! I do like the way I get a proper widescreen signal from digital though. The thing I don't like about digital is that it's all or nothing - at least with analogue you could still get a picture even if it was a bit snowy. With that low amount of signal on digital you'd get nothing whatsoever. Prime example of why I find it a bit annoying happened a few weeks ago - was watching TV early (about 8am) one morning and all of a sudden the digital signal disappeared for about 10 minutes for no reason whatsoever (and it wasn't anything to do with my digi receiver) - put the TV on analogue and it was fine. Plus I still find digital text slow and somewhat frustrating to use, I find CEEFAX/Teletext still much better
.I'm still not completely convinced about digital yet!
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I hope so, just checked the postcode for the place I'm moving to over the weekend and, despite only being just down the road from where I am now, it reckons I won't get any signal. I really, really hope that's not true...I can't afford Sky any more and I'd hate to go back to 4 or 5 crap channels again.
All Digital broadcasts are compressed, you can fit 8 digital channels to one analogue channel. OK so not strictly 8 times worse but you get my drift.
[[EDIT]] This may have changed, but it was what I was told a year or so ago.
Yeah I know what you mean, people rarely get a perfect picture but still complain about the digital quality.
Because the digital broadcast is compressed (see above) you can see more discrepancies with a LCD/Plasma tv, due to the fact the screens are a higher resolution. When I say discrepancies I mean things like blocky motion and blur.
With High Definition broadcast you don't get this (as much) as the broadcast is not as heavily compressed as Digital.
No-one used to complain about the analogue signal (apart from snow etc).
This is very true. Most of the places you input your postcode, like the Internet or big chain stores is absolute rubbish.
If you really want to know whether you get a digital signal ask your local Aerial installer.
Many times people have come in to work and said "We don't get a digital signal here as we don't switch until 2012".
If fact the vast majority do get a signal, we recommend them to a good local Aerial installer.
Caporegime
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Yep, I bought and installed a digital aerial myself. Parents still don't know
If I leave them to do anything it will never be done.Simple to do and cost me £50.