You remember when your disks became digital and became called CD? And when your video tapes became DVD? And your new cordless phone used digital transmission? And your latest photo camera is also a digital one. You always got a better and repeatable sound or picture quality plus new functionality that was not possible before.

The same change is currently appearing in the TV broadcasting world. By replacing the analog video transmission by digital means, you get: no more electrical disturbances from household appliances, no problems by weather conditions, you get larger pictures through modern flat screens, new picture formats (16:9), higher picture resolution (HDTV). So in short words: digtal TV improves your viewing experience.

The second benefit is coming through better transmission efficiency through digital systems. This means you can receive much more channels while the broadcasters still use the same frequence bandwidth as before. Hundreds of channels are available on satellites or cable. And if you still use an antenna, digital terrestrial transmission provides about 25 channels.

But that is not all, you also get new functionality. It starts with electronic program guides with a much richer and deeper information than the older videotext systems. And by connecting your digital TV system to a PC you can watch videos and pictures that are stored on your PC.

Digital TV broadcasting also improves your recording experience. Previously, you had to use and archive brick-like video tapes which did wear out after some time and pricture quality decreased. And if you wanted to time-shift your viewing just by some minutes – it did not work. You had to wait until the recording did end. Now, with digital recording, you can record and watch simultaneously – either two different programs or you can watch what has been recorded 3 minutes ago. Just rewind the latest soccer goal or ski jump. Or pause while a phone call is coming in. And the best thing: it is the same quality as it would have been watching life.

What do you need to get the benefits of the new digital TV world? As a minimum, a set-top-box. This is the digital receiver for either terrestrial (DVB-T), satellite (DVB-S), cable (DVB-C) or DSL (IPTV). If you want to benefit from the new functions of recording, the set-top-box should be a “PVR” (personal video recorder) type, that allows for time shifting. Finally, to get the the best impression out of digital transmission, a modern HD ready TV screen is recommended.