What are the benefits of DTV?

For a variety of reasons, a digital TV (DTV) system is much more economical in terms of the amount of bandwidth it uses than an analogue one. Thus, for instance, you can typically fit up to ten digital TV channels (in some cases many more, depending on the technology used) into the space taken up by a single analogue channel.

This is why, in an analogue TV home, viewers in the UK can only generally receive five TV channels at most. If you subscribe to a digital TV service like Sky Digital’s or digital cable, on the other hand, you can receive several hundred different channels – or, in the case of the Freeview over-the-air digital TV system, you can receive up to thirty channels for free, and another 11 pay-TV ones from Top Up TV.

In addition to the extra channel choice available, digital TV signals should in principle offer better picture and sound quality than analogue ones. Sadly, this isn't always the case because there's a trade-off between quality and the number of channels you can squeeze onto the platform. It is safe to say that on the BBC channels, at least, the quality will be superior.

Other features include the ability to receive TV pictures in widescreen format, and to interact with TV programmes. In early 2006, this range of features will be expanded by the advent of High-Definition TV (HDTV) broadcasts from BSkyB.