Should I buy Freeview HD for Christmas?

It isn't just for the first high definition EastEnders on Christmas Day, Freeview HD is the gift that keeps giving

^{Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV 26th November 2010 at 07:17}

What are the benefits?

Four high definition channels

Everyone gets:

• BBC HD. All the programmes on this channel are in high definition, and comprises of simulcasts of BBC TWO, BBC three and BBC FOUR shows, narrative repeats of these shows (rebroadcast within the first week of showing on a main channel) plus some high definition BBC classics.
• BBC One HD. This channel shows high definition versions of most programmes on BBC One, with a commitment to move towards 100% high definition output over the coming years.
• ITV1 HD (or STV1 HD or UTV1 HD). As with BBC One HD, this is a high definition version of the most popular commercial channel.

Plus one of:

• Channel 4 HD. Again, a simulcast of the main Channel 4 channel in high definition, but again where available, and not in Wales.
• Clirlun (S4C HD). In Wales, a high definition version of the Welsh language channel S4C.

Christmas Day EastEnders will mark the first broadcast of the BBC soap in high definition.

Better pictures for sport

One of the main improvements in high definition is the ability to provide much better motion for sport compared to standard digital television.

Clearer pictures for documentaries and drama

Many of the most popular high definition shows are documentaries and drama where the clarity of the picture gives a distinct edge to the viewing experience.

Movies

As movies have always been created on 35mm film (rather than videotape), this means that any movie created since the 1920s can be shown in high definition.

All existing Freeview services

In addition, you also get all of the existing Freeview channels.

Better overlap handling

Another benefit of Freeview HD boxes is that they deal much better than standard boxes when you live in an area served by more than one transmitter. These boxes now prompt you to select your BBC and ITV region, older boxes just guess.

Christmas Day installing

Freeview HD is very, very easy to install. All you will need is:

• A high definition television set. Any set with "HD Ready" or "Full HD Ready" markings will work. A limited number of very old high definition sets may not have these markings, so you may have to check for the presence of an HDMI input socket.
• Your EXISTING aerial connection. A rooftop aerial is already required for reliable Freeview reception, so as long as normal Freeview (or Freeview light) is being received, Freeview HD will normally work (see coverage below, however). YOU DO NOT NEED A NEW AERIAL TO USE FREEVIEW HD.
• A power point.
• An HDMI cable. This will normally come with the box, but if you are hoping to install the set-top box on Christmas Day you might want to ensure that the cable is there. Remember that, as HDMI is a balanced high-speed digital connection, there is no benefit paying more than a few pounds for a cable as screening (or gold connectors) will made no difference whatsoever to the quality of picture transferred. As with most digital components, it will work - or not.

Recording and live pausing with Freeview+HD

As well as the basic Freeview HD boxes, you can also purchase Freeview+HD boxes, which contain a hard disk drive (as found in computers) and two digital tuners. This allows, much like the popular Sky+ and Freeview+ boxes you to:

• Record a whole series of a show with a single button press
• Record one show whilst watching another one live
• Record two shows while you watch a recording from the drive.
• Set a show to record by pressing a button when you see a trailer for it.

Freeview record/play/pause devices DO NOT require a special aerial to work.

Where will it work?

It will definitely work in any region that has switched off the analogue signals and replaced them with digital only, which is:

• South West England (the old ITV WestCountry area, mainly Cornwall ,Devon and the Dorset coast)
• Wales
• Granada-land (Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire, Cheshire and the Isle of Man)
• Border England (Cumbria)
• The old ITV Grampian area (Perthshire, Angus, Kincardineshire, Aberdeenshire, Banffshire, Morayshire, Nairnshire, Inverness-shire, Cromarty-shire, Ross-shire, Sutherland, Caithness, Argyll)
• The West region (Bristol, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Somerset).

There is also a pre-switchover service from a few main transmitters:

• Greater London – from the Crystal Palace transmitter only.
• Birmingham, West Midlands – from the Lichfield transmitter only
• Edinburgh, Glasgow and the central Scotland belt (Renfrewshire, Lanark-, West/Mid/East Lothian, Stirlingshire) – from the Black Hill transmitter only.
• Leeds and West Yorkshire – from the Emley Moor transmitter.
• Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear, Durham and Northumberland - from the Pontop Pike transmitter.

In the above cases the service is not provided from any relay transmitters, and the lower power levels provide service only to the core transmitter area.