BBC to switch off red button text

Yes - though any TV sold pre-2009 won't have a Freeview HD tuner in it (as the standard didn't exist until then) - so there were three years+ of HDTVs sold before you could buy a Freeview HD TV, and it wasn't mandatory until 3 years ago. My first and second HD TVs - both still in use - don't have any HD tuners in them. My first HD TV with an integrated Freeview HD receiver was my first UHD set.

Arguably PSB Muxes 1 and 2 are the last muxes that should go from DVB-T to DVB-T2.

HOWEVER - there is definitely some sense in migrating the COM4-6 muxes from DVB-T to DVB-T2 and from MPEG2 to H.264 compression - even if they stay SD. That would free up significant amounts of spectrum, whilst driving uptake of DVB-T2 receivers, without removing BBC TV services from licence fee payers...

My set, a Sanyo 14" refuses to die and so I continue to use it. CRT's are still much better at producing a decent picture from the pisspoor 544x576 SD resolution that most non PSB Freeview channels provide.

I still used a CRT as my main set until 2014.

I'd broadly agree with both this and your previous post. (I'm fairly certain this subject has come up before.)


Looking at the digitaluk.co.uk website it indicates the PSB multiplexes are BBC A, BBC B, and D3&4. 'BBC A' uses DVB-T and contains most of the BBC channels. 'D3&4' also uses DVB-T and contains ITV/STV/UTV, Channel 4, and Channel 5. 'BBC B' already uses DVB-T2 as it contains the HD channels for BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5.

The commercial multiplexes are SDN, ARQA , ARQB, COM7/8. According to digitaluk.co.uk at present only COM7/8 uses DVB-T2, whilst the rest still use DVB-T.

As already mentioned it's only in the last few years that TVs have been built with Freeview HD as standard. Previously whilst a TV could be described as being HD it might only have the standard Freeview (DVB-T) reciever built in (as I found out the hard way). It would be unreasonable to turn off DVB-T completely, as most people won't be too happy if they had to replace most of their TVs (and some people couldn't afford to).

However converting all the commercial multiplexes to use DVB-T2 would make sense, and still give people with older TVs access to the basic Freeview service of PSB (SD) channels.

The next upcoming event is the closure of COM 7 and 8 (indeed they have already closed in parts of the South West, and Border regions) They are on frequencies (Ch 55/56) that have to be handed over to mobile phone use (Europewide) from June 30th 2022.

They always were intended to be temporary, created 5 years ago to drive the take up of DVB-T2 receivers.
I don't think that's particularly worked well, but they are the home to BBC 4 HD and BBC News Channel HD, so new homes will need to be found for them (If the BBC decide to continue them in HD on DTT)
I should add, audiences for both those services are tiny.

I know someone who still uses a big old 4.3 tv brought in 2002 or 2003 I think.

Still an SD CRT at my parents house used regularly today. It's an early 16:9 model that dates from the early 2000s, but was bought second-hand in about 2010 after their old model - a wooden sided 4:3 from about the 80s - finally stopped working.

Also remember watching black & white television at my Grandma's in about 1993! Their main set went colour in the early 1980s (still surprisingly late) but they had a cheap b&w portable in the other room.

As some have said, many people still have CRTs in bedrooms & kitchens, and won't want the hassle of having to buy and plug in a DVB-T2 STB

I finally got rid of my final (bedroom) CRT earlier this year, despite having a spare 40" LCD available to replace it for quite a while. I just needed the assistance of my mate to help me carry the 'lumbering beast' down two flights of stairs so the council could collect it and take it to the 'CRT graveyard'.

It would also be very complicated to explain to the public - it would be the less well off more affected. A much more disruptive change than digital switchover.

I imagine then my Uncle 40 something inch tv from 2010/2011 doesnt have a hd tuner.

I can't think of any CRT TVs that had digital tuners built in, so by definition any in use are already being fed by DVB-T1 boxes, so it's a case of a box swap

Our living room TV is even later (around 2012/13) and doesn't have a HD tuner either.