Digital TV is great. But it loses its charm when it gives you reception problems.

This guide will look at some of the most common digital TV reception problems you may encounter and how to solve them to improve your digital TV reception.

Remember: Always switch off the set top box, TV or any other device at the mains before you unplug any cables or plug any cables back in.

Digital Terrestrial TV (DTT) - From Freeview, BT Vision or Top Up TV

Problems: The digital TV picture on my TV keeps breaking up and has poor sound.

Possible causes:
This is a very common problem with digital TV. It can be caused by a poor signal or bad weather.

Solutions:
- Check if your neighbour with a different TV aerial has the same problem;

- Switch off the digital box/TV at the mains first and check the aerial and scart leads are securely plugged into the back of your digital TV or set top box;

- Do the picture/sound problems happen when a light switch or something electrical is turned on? - It could be electrical interference. Digital TV signals are sometimes affected by electrical interference, but the signal tends to be more robust after digital TV switchover and isn't affected as much as before. However you probably will still get interference occasionally if a light is switched on for example;

- Your TV aerial may not be pointing directly at the TV transmitter and might need re-aligning - Consult a CAI (Confederation of Aerial Industries) approved aerial installer;

- Your TV aerial may be in a poor condition or the coax cable could be damaged - you may need a replacement TV aerial - seek advice from a CAI approved installer.

Problem: The picture on my TV is going a green colour and the picture/sound is dropping out.

Possible causes:
This problem is normally caused by scart leads not being connected properly. If the scart lead is only hanging out of the socket your digital TV picture may go green or different colours.

Solutions:
- Switch off the digital box/TV at the mains first and check the scart lead is plugged in properly and is secure;

- If you are using an older Cathode Ray Tube TV with a Freeview digital TV set top box and the TV screen displays lots of different colours or the picture is going on and off, then your CRT TV tube could possibly be failing. Consult an approved television engineer.

Problems: I am missing some of my digital TV channels.

Possible Causes:
There may be maintenance work on the TV transmitter that you get your digital TV from, this could mean some digital TV channels are temporarily unavailable.

Solutions:
- Retune your digital TV box or digital TV;

- Perform a complete reset of your digital TV box or digital TV - There might be a problem with the box or TV;

- If you get your digital TV from a relay transmitter and not a main transmitter you may not be able to get the full amount of digital TV channels. Unfortunately relay transmitters don't transmit as many digital TV channels in some areas.

Digital Satellite TV - Sky, Freesat From Sky and Freesat

Problems: The picture from my satellite TV is breaking up.

Possible causes:
This is a very common problem with digital TV. Again, it can be caused by a poor signal or bad weather.

Solutions:
- Reset your digital satellite receiver box

- If that fails to solve the problem, contact your digital satellite TV provider for help

Problems: There is no signal on my satellite TV whenever there is heavy rain.

Possible causes:
This is a very common problem with satellite TV. The signal from the satellite in space is blocked by heavy rain causing the signal to decrease and the picture to break up, or go off completely.

Solutions:
- There is not much you can do about this, unfortunately this is a problem encountered with satellite TV. The problem should sort itself out when the rain stops;

- If the problem continues after the rain has passed, contact your digital satellite TV provider for help.

Cable TV and TV over a telephone line - Virgin Media and BT Vision

Cable TV differs from provider to provider. It is not easy to give a solution to one particular problem because it may not work with every cable TV or telephone line connected TV set-up.

If your cable TV box develops a problem the best action would be to try and reset the cable TV box. If that doesn't solve the problem it is best in the case of cable boxes to contact your individual cable TV provider. Virgin Media normally comes round to your house and fixes the problem for free.