Subscribers can benefit in a number of ways if they take advantage of a digital TV deal from the likes of BT, Sky and Virgin Media, an industry watcher has said.

A digital TV package from Sky can have many plus points, it has been claimed.

People who have never taken out a digital TV contract in the past should not be worried about doing so, Janny Walters said in a blog for site Moviematics.

Thanks to functions such as a "user-friendly on-screen TV guide", the technology involved is "definitely better" than analogue TV, the writer commented. She added that the service tends to be relatively easy to operate.

The overall viewing experience of people who sign up for digital TV deals with the likes of Sky, Virgin Media or BT Vision, should be enhanced Ms Walter added.

"The digital TV signal ensures you get going with better picture quality, enhanced and vibrant pictures and quality sound from Dolby 5.1," she said.

Between now and 2012, more than 1,000 analogue transmission sites across the UK will be turned off and replaced with digital services.

The first part of the country to completely switch to digital in 2007 was Copeland in Cumbria.