Ireland’s Digital TV Switchover
Read our useful guide on the planned digital television switchover which is taking place on 24th October 2012 – find out what the switchover means for you:
- What is the digital switchover?
- How will the digital switchover affect you?
- What exactly is digital television?
- What are the advantages of digital television?
What is the digital switchover?
From 24th October 2012, Irish television is no longer going to be available on the old analogue system following the switchover to digital.
This means that if you view television with an aerial (internal or external) you are using analogue and will lose reception of Irish TV channels following the switch off on 24th October 2012.
If you watch Irish channels via a pay TV supplier such as Sky Ireland, your viewing will be unaffected by the digital switchover.
How will the digital switchover affect you?
To continue to watch Irish TV channels without your old aerial you will have to upgrade your television equipment to receive the digital network.
Options include signing up to one of the many pay TV providers such as Sky Ireland among other operators.
While there are one-off digital options that will give you continued access to Irish television channels, you will pay a fee for a set top box and you may need to buy a special aerial that can receive the digital signal.
Suppliers such as Sky Ireland will operate as normal with their installation and subscription arrangements giving you the same extended choice of channels as before. The digital switchover will not place any extra requirements on new customers who wish to sign-up to Sky Ireland or existing Sky customers as the mini-dish will continue to receive Irish channels as normal.
Get ready for Ireland’s digital TV switchover with Sky Ireland.
What exactly is digital TV?
Digital television is a more efficient way of sending and receiving a signal as the pictures and sounds within a television signal are coded into computerised data.
This data is then transmitted via digital which means the information is transmitted without interference or any kind – a much improved picture and sound compared to the old analogue signalling system is the end result.
What are the advantages of digital television?
The benefits of digital television include the availability of more services such as more television channels, radio channels; on-screen channel guides, interactive services and High Definition television (HDTV) channels. With analogue turned off, digital signals will strengthen allowing for improved broadcasting capability throughout Ireland.
Digital television is already available all over Ireland via pay TV suppliers over satellite and cable networks. These suppliers provide a wide range of extended channels from Ireland, Britain and the USA with a variety of international channels available too.
The one-off digital TV service, Saorview will provide access to Irish channels but without the extended choice and you will need to buy extra equipment to upgrade to digital or even buy a new television.
Suppliers such as Sky Ireland will not be affected by the digital switchover and will not require their customers to purchase any extra equipment to receive Irish TV channels after the digital switchover on 24th October 2012. Also, new customers won’t have to worry about tuning in their own digital signal as professional engineers look after this when you order from Sky.
If you want to avoid having to buy any additional equipment in preparation for the digital switchover, you should consider signing-up to a subscription service such as Sky Ireland.