Three high definition digital channels are available through Freeview: BBC HD, ITV 1 HD, Channel 4 HD, as well as a fourth channel, S4C, available only to viewers in Wales. The intended launch of a Fifth HD channel in 2010 has been cancelled, but if Channel 5 can get another license for HD they may be able to launch in 2012.

Apart from BBC HD, which currently shows a selection of specially picked HD programs, these channels will have exactly the same schedules as their standard definition versions. Viewers who receive the HD version on an HD TV will be experiencing them in much better quality, however.

These HD channels are gradually becoming available across the UK, and should be available nationwide by the time the digital switchover is completed in 2012. London has been receiving HD Freeview TV since 2009, but viewers in other parts of the country are still waiting for their first glimpse of an HD channel- and may have to continue waiting for another couple of years.

Some parts of the country already have a Freeview HD signal. During 2010, it will be expanded to cover parts of Wales, the Midlands, the South West, the North and Scotland, including the Shetlands and Orkney. The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands should also be receiving HD Freeview channels by the end of the year. Most of the larger cities in the UK should be receiving Freeview HD by the time we enter 2012. The service will be brought to most of the remaining parts of England during 2011, including large parts of the North, the South East and the Midlands, with the final few areas in England and the whole of Northern Ireland getting their HD signal during the following year.

It is estimated by Freeview that 16 million homes in the UK will be able to receive high definition Freeview channels by the end of 2010. In 2012, once the switch to digital television has been completed, about 98.5 percent of the UK population should be able to watch HD channels through the Freeview service.

In order to watch Freeview HD once it is available in your area, you will need a High Definition Freeview receiver and an HD television. The box is attached to both the TV and the aerial. Freeview HD is delivered using MPEG-4 coding and the DVB-T2 HD standard. Most digital tuners currently use DVB-T technology, which uses the MPEG-2 format. These will not be able to receive the HD channels, so you may need to buy a new Freeview box, even if you already watch the standard definition channels.

HD televisions which have built in digital receivers are not yet able to receive the HD channels. If you have a digital HD TV with a Freeview tuner, you will still need to buy a Freeview HD box. Digital televisions with incorporated Freeview HD DVB-T2 receivers will be released in the near future.

Your Freeview tuner will also receive the regular Freeview channels, including offerings from the BBC, Channels 4 and 5, and the ITV. Reception can vary depending on where you live. You will need a Freeview box, or some other means of using digital television signals once the digital switchover occurs in your area, if you want to continue watching TV. In order to watch HD channels, you will need a Freeview receiver than is compatible with HD.

Author Bio: For more information about Freeview HD in the UK, please checkout Freeview HD If you want to know more about watching TV on the internet, please checkout Internet TV.

Category: Computers and Technology
Keywords: freeview hd,freeview,tv, hdtv,internet tv,streaming tv,television,technology,tech,electronics