Digital TV aerials for digital terrestrial TV services (digital TV from Freeview) are optimised for receiving digital TV signals from local television transmitters to display digital TV on your telly.

Many retailers now advertise their TV aerials as 'digital TV aerials'. It doesn't mean that you have to go out and buy a new 'digital TV aerial' just to receive digital TV services from Freeview, a 'digital TV aerial' is basically optimised for better performance on digital TV and there is really no such thing as a 'digital TV aerial' in the UK.

Any TV aerial can receive digital TV signals, it is the Freeview set top box that decodes the digital signal and displays digital TV pictures on your TV. The existing TV aerial that you used for analogue TV will also receive digital TV from Freeview, it just may not be as reliable depending on its physical condition and age.

Since the digital TV switchover in the UK started there have been some instances of consumers being told that even though they have a good working aerial for their analogue TV, they will still have to buy a brand new 'digital aerial' to get Freeview - this is not true. In some cases the existing TV aerial may need to be replaced but only if it is faulty or in a very poor condition, but if your existing TV aerial gets a good strong signal from a main TV transmitter on analogue TV, it should also be able to receive a good strong signal from Freeview digital TV as well.

Of course it might be a good idea to upgrade your TV aerial to an aerial optimised for digital TV signals if you want to get the best performance possible, but the decision is yours. The best option when choosing a TV aerial is to get advice from a CAI (Confederation of Aerial Industries) approved installer. Also take a look at Simplifydigital's guide to digital TV reception for more information.

Other types of digital TV 'aerials' are satellite dishes. Sky and Freesat provide digital satellite TV in the UK.

Sky is a subscription based service and Freesat is a free service. Freesat runs alongside the Freeview service using satellites instead of TV transmitters to deliver the digital TV signal. Digital satellite TV is generally more reliable than digital terrestrial TV from Freeview. This is because the coverage from a satellite is far greater due to the fact it is high up in space over the UK. If you find you are not in a good area for receiving Freeview, then Freesat may be a better option.

Another way you can get digital TV without a satellite dish or a TV aerial is by getting cable TV.

Cable TV is a method of delivering digital TV to our homes. Cable TV is delivered using high speed fibre optic cables capable of handling vast amounts of data. The cable runs under the street and is normally only available in urban areas of the UK. Services such as on-demand digital TV, high definition digital TV, interactive services and ultra-fast broadband as well as home phone are all available on fibre optic cable.

On the Isle of Wight there is a cable service called Wight Cable who provide home phone, broadband and cable TV. But the main supplier of cable TV in the UK is Virgin Media. To get Virgin Media you need to be in a Virgin Media cabled area. You can check to see if you are in a Virgin Media cabled area on our website.