Thanks Brian for the link clarifying teh difference between and . I don't consider myself a luddite in these matters, but I was utterly unaware that there were two types of , DVB-T and DVB-T2, and that even newer hardware is required to receive the latter.

Imagine if they stopped petrol overnight. Everyone goes out and buys gas powered cars in preparation, to find that alongside the gas pumps there are electric charging points. And that eventually you'll have to replace your gas powered car with an electric one.

It feels a bit like DVB-T2 has been snuck in.

How long until DVB-T2 becomes the norm? Will I need to sign up to something like to receive it? Or even go as far as replace my not very old telly?

I don't think that the retailers and the Digital Folk have been very clear on this point.

The message has been throughout, "analogue is switching off, you need a digital telly or ." Not, "we're switching analogue off and introducing a further type of digital signal."

Not impressed.

But thanks again Brian.

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Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) Full Freeview transmitte
Thursday 22 September 2011 9:38AM

Thanks Brian. I don't expect the world to stand still, far from it. But you'd be surprised at how many of my friends, all in their early 30s, IT literate and by no means luddites either, have been caught out by this.

This is due to the message which has been pushed by the campaign. Which was, broadly, "You will need a digital TV to watch telly after 21 September 2011". Which is true. But ignores the fact that, "You will need an even newer telly to watch the new digital after 21 September 2011."

From reading around on this subject, it appers that DVB-T2 relies on an entirely different chipset, which has only been installed in new TV equipment for the past 18 months or so. I don't consider my two and half year old Samsung Freeview digital TV to be old or outdated, and I'm obviously disappointed that the HD channels are using an entirely different platform. Especially it was old to me as being "future-proof."

In the meantime, all of the literature pushed through my door about the switchover contains the BBC HD logo. But makes no distinction between HD ready and .

A lot of people will be caught out by this, and be angry that their relatively new hardware is already out of date.

I appreciate it's progress, but I rememebr Betamax was better than VHS, but VHS won out due to its market share. Surely the powers must be must appreciate that the overwhelming majority of digital TV sets in the UK are DVB-T and not DVB-T2?

Frankly, I shouldn't have to keep buying a new box every 3-5 years.

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