Why are all TVs on sale not digital?

Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV 1st October 2014 at 21:42

There are several "reasons":

• The UK is a world-leader in using the "DVB-T" digital terrestrial transmissions, a European television standard.
• The UK's population is only 0.9% of the global population, and this makes us "small change" in terms of global television production.
• About 30% of the UK population cannot receive Freeview yet, and this won't change until switchover starts, and switchover will not be complete until 2012.
• Most of the set-top boxes are made by non-TV manufacturers, who have no interest in their market being taken away by TV being presold with Freeview.
• TV manufactures are in cut-throat global competition, and are reluctant to add "expensive" bits to their televisions unless they can sell the sets for a premium.
  
  
  HD transmissions have already started on digital satellite (but no reception equipment is available yet), and the BBC will be starting test DVB-T ("Freeview") later this year.
  
  "HD ready" televisions are on sale (needing a DVI input), but will still require a set-top box to decode the transmissions.