Is buying an IDTV a good idea?
There are different views about this. IDTV proponents say that purchasing an IDTV is the logical thing to do if you’re planning to upgrade your main TV set today. They are marginally more expensive if buying a conventional (i.e. non-flat-screen) set - although that price differential is rapidly coming down - and increasingly, flat-screen receivers have a DTT tuner built into them by default. Sony flat screens above 23-inch, for example, are all IDTVs.
IDTVs also offer a lot more channels (potentially as many as 50 compared to 5), plus better picture quality and sound, as well as a small range of interactive TV services.
IDTVs are also much more future-proof than ordinary analogue TV receivers, for a variety of reasons. Most importantly, they will continue to function after analogue TV is switched off in 2012 (in some regions of the UK, this will begin happening as early as 2008).
But because IDTVs are required under European legislation to include a connector called a "common interface" (a 'CI slot' for short), they can also adapt to new types of service and technology. This slot can, for instance, take a smartcard which allows access to paid-for services such as Top Up TV. Standard TV sets and Freeview decoders are unable to do this.
One could also argue that, in a sense, IDTVs are more future-proof than decoders because many of them incorporate the right connector to attach them to a modem (a so-called RS232 interface), offering the possibility of future two-way interactive services. Most Freeview decoders do not have such connectors, either.
In addition, new types of technology are increasingly being built into CI-compatible smartcards - such as MPEG-4 (a new digital TV technology which would allow reception of many more Freeview or Top Up TV channels and, in principle, HDTV); and wireless connectivity, which would allow video to be relayed to other devices in the house or even provide access to broadband.
For all that, there are still those who think purchasing an IDTV today is a bad idea because digital TV is evolving so fast that the set-top box technology inside it will rapidly become obsolete. Much better, they say, to upgrade to a high-end analogue widescreen TV or HD-Ready flat-screen display and plug a digital set-top box into it. Then, when the set-top box becomes obsolete in three or four years, or you wish to switch to a different provider (e.g. Sky Digital or cable) all you have to do is change the set-top box, not the TV set - which is a lot cheaper.
Interestingly, Humax is beginning to introduce a modular design into its IDTVs which means that they can be upgraded simply by replacing a detachable module, so this deficiency is already being addressed.
This does remain an issue with some of the older IDTV sets, however, which it seems some manufacturers have decided not to support with over-the-air software upgrades. This is actually part of a larger problem that relates to DTT in general (see 'What are the disadvantages of DTT?' in the DTT FAQ).
Both the anti- and pro-IDTV views are tenable ones. IDTV.co.uk's personal view is that the anti-IDTV position is, in any case, rapidly being undermined by the fact that DTT tuners are being built into TV sets by default. But until such time as it is impossible to purchase analogue TV sets any more, it is up to consumers to weigh up the pros and cons and come to their own decision.
For prospective IDTV buyers who want to see what’s available in terms of over-the-air digital set-top boxes before making up their minds, see our Freeview set-top box listing. |
