Digital; TV

[naja46]

Can anyone help me please ? I want to buy a new digital TV with incorperated Freeview & DVD player for my boyfriend . He lives in a bedsit & currently watches a portable TV with one of those indoor loop aerials . There is no outside aerial on the premises so he doesnt have an aerial point in his room .
Would a new digi TV work without an outside aerial ? I dont want to buy one then find he cannot watch it but I really have no idea about how these things work so any advice would be very welcomed . Thanks !

[Buenchico]

All TV transmitters (whether analogue or digital) have always been designed to ensure that viewers can get good reception if they've got a good quality EXTERNAL aerial. While some people have been able to get decent reception from indoor aerials that has never been the intention of broadcast engineers. (i.e. nobody has the right to complain about their signal quality if they're only using an indoor aerial).

If your boyfriend is getting GOOD (not just 'acceptable') analogue reception now [i.e. without any 'snow' on the screen] the chances are that he'll probably also get decent digital reception AFTER the digital changeover is COMPLETE. However the fact that he's still able to watch analogue TV shows that he's living in an area where the old analogue transmitters are still working. In those areas the digital transmitters are currently using reduced power (in order not to provide interference to the analogue transmissions), which means that there's currently much less chance of getting a usable signal with an indoor aerial. It might be best to wait until the switchover to digital is complete in his area (when he'll get full-strength digital signals). You can check when the analogue transmitters will be switched off here:
http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/when_do_i_switch

Chris

[jomifl]

As reported elsewher on AB it depends on the signal strength. An indoor ariel may pick up some stronger channels but you certainly won't get them all. If he lives near a regional transmitter then it might work quite well, but if not he would need a booster at the very least. If you don't know how good the reception is you can get an idea from looking at the roof ariels, if they are quite long and complicated looking with rows of over a dozen little sticks poking out sideways then it is probably a poor reception area

[jomifl]

try this link too
www.ukfree.tv/transmitters.