Some more modern televisions come with a digital receiver or digibox built in, so they will automatically receive the new signal.
If you have no digital receiver but your television has a Scart connection, it will require no adapting — look for the socket at the back, into which you normally plug your DVD player. Then you will need to buy a Freeview digibox, which typically start at about £25. This will give you a minimum of about 18 channels, depending on the strength of signal in your area. You must have a Freeview digibox for each television set in the house.
The Scart connection became a UK standard in 1996, but nearly a third of televisions do not have one. However, you do not have to buy a new set.
Instead you will need to purchase a digibox that has a type of adaptor called an “RF through loop”, which must be connected to an analogue video recorder. These typically start at about £25.
Alternatively, you can buy a digibox with an “RF modulator”, which will plug into the aerial socket at the back of your TV, but these are less common. These generally start at £25.
However, the signal with an RF through-loop or RF modulator will not be as good as the one through a Scart socket.
Some areas, including Peterborough, Northampton, Ipswich and Weymouth, now get a very poor - or even no - Freeview signal.
In that case you could subscribe to a satellite service such as Sky or a cable connection from Virgin Media. Again, if you have several TV sets, you will have to pay for extra equipment to connect them to the digital service.
