Do you feel that you are being dragged kicking and screaming into the digital
age? We think nothing now about consulting digital watches which keep excellent
time, and offer many more facilities than those with hands that go in a circle,
while still being affordable. This is a good example of what the revolution is
all about. Many items of technology have gone digital without people quite
realising what is happening. Telephone systems are a good example.
One reads and hears and sees much about how wonderful digitally broadcast television will be, with hundreds of channels to choose from and much better quality pictures and sound. It has been possible to buy a set-top box and receive digital TV since October 1998. It is, in fact, possible to get one free if you sign up to receive Sky digital services or those from ONdigital. These are pay-to-view channels. The dedicated digital TVs are just creeping into the shops and they are expensive at the moment though it is reasonable to expect them to fall in price as time goes on, as has happened with other new technology products.
The cable companies also offer multi-channel digital TV and both the BBC and ITV broadcast digital programmes (free to air) with more channels to come (there are about ten at the moment), though you may have to fit a new aerial to receive them. What about our familiar present TV services? They take up a lot of spectrum which the digital broadcasters would love to get their hands on because they can fit much more into them using new technology. Inevitably they will be switched off!
Does this mean you will have to buy a new set or, at the very least, obtain a set-top adapter, to continue to watch East Enders? Well, yes, eventually. However, Culture Secretary, Chris Smith, has promised that the present system will continue until digital TV is both universally available and affordable, and that could take some time, perhaps ten years. What he has actually promised is that everyone who currently can receive the free-to-air analogue channels (99.4% of the population) must be able to receive them in digital form, and the price must be within reach of those on low incomes.
In order to monitor progress the Government will conduct checks every two years against the key criteria of affordability and availability with the help of a Viewers Panel on which "The Voice of the Listener and Viewer (VLV)" will be represented.
The digital broadcasting network is spreading throughout most of the country but there will be difficulties, VLV points out in its autumn bulletin, with the last few per cent of viewers who live in remote areas or where there are reception problems. The VLV also points out that, in law, viewers have no legal right to receive broadcast signals so, the Editor suggests, it is an important consumer issue to ensure that these last analogue viewers are not abandoned.
It seems obvious that the greatly increased variety of TV being offered has to be paid for somehow. Already more than 1.2 million viewers have opted for pay-TV to watch sport and films. They obviously think it worth paying for. For the rest of us who may want to watch the BBC Community Channel or other free-to-air channels, what Chris Smith said at a seminar for the VLV was that there should be no unacceptable costs to those on low or fixed incomes who should have access to the free-to-air channels at reasonable prices. There is time for the market for digital converters and new sets to settle down and there is advantage in buying a fully digital set in that the sound and picture quality will, we are told, be better than with an old set and a converter.
The vision however goes further. The Prime Minister has said that everyone will have an e-mail address in five years' time. It is expected that this will be accessed in different ways and one is via your friendly familiar interactive digital TV set.
But what about Radio? The BBC has been broadcasting digital programmes for several years but no one, apart from some very died-in-the-wool enthusiasts or professionals, has had a radio capable of receiving them. What an odd situation. The future is exciting as, we are told, digital radio will provide much better reception than the present system and there will be add-on facilities. However digital radio receivers are very slow in appearing in the shops, and will be in cars probably before the living room. They may already be available.
Think of how many analogue radio receivers there must be, most cars and lorries have one and every household has several. It is not surprising then that the new system is slow in gaining popularity. Also, there is no foreseeable cut-off date for analogue radio. Some prophets have suggested that the Internet will replace radio but this seems more unlikely even than the idea that the Internet will replace books, magazines and newspapers. Radio will surely remain as popular as ever and perhaps will increase in popularity when listeners realise the improvements that digital radio will bring. I am looking forward to getting one.
John Brown
Since writing the article about digital services I have discovered in a
leaflet about BBC digital radio that several firms are already manufacturing
digital radio tuners. They are Arcam, Cymbol, TAG McLaren Audio and Technics.
In-car digital tuners are manufactured by Blaupunkt, Clarion, Grundig, JVC,
Kenwood, Pioneer and Sony. PC Cards, to allow you to receive digital radio via
your computer, are manufactured by Bosch. For the latest information visit the
BBC digital radio website at www.bbc.co.uk/digital radio.
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