Freeview HD: the complete guide

Millions of homes in the UK currently have HD ready TV sets but still only watch television in standard definition. But this is set to change this year with the arrival of Freeview HD.

Freeview HD is a service that will provide not only the same standard definition channels that Freeview currently hosts, but also high definition offerings from the BBC, Channel 4, ITV and, eventually, Five.

These new high definition channels will be free and there will be no subscription necessary. Although anyone wanting to view the new service will have to buy a new Freeview HD-compatible set top box (STB) or, when they are available, a television with a new DVB-T2 tuner that can deal with the high definition transmissions.

Old Freeview (DVB-T) tuners – in both televisions and set-top boxes – will not be able to decode Freeview HD signals and will only be able to receive the existing standard definition (SD) channels.

When will Freeview HD arrive?

The new Freeview HD service is being rolled out over a three year period, with some regions potentially having to wait until the very end of 2012 before they can get the service.

The first Freeview HD transmissions were switched on for the Granada TV region in December 2009. But the availability of the HD service was limited to the Winter Hill TV transmitters in the North West (covering Preston, Blackburn, Bolton, Manchester and Liverpool). At the same time, Freeview HD also began broadcasting from the Crystal Palace transmitter group in South London.

The roll-out will continue throughout 2010 as the UK continues to go through the digital switchover process. Black Hill for Glasgow and Edinburgh, Pontop Pike for Tyneside and Sunderland, and Emley Moor for Leeds, Bradford, and mid Yorkshire are scheduled to come online by March 2010.

Freeview MD Ilse Howling has suggested that 16 million UK homes would have the service by the end of 2010. By the time the digital switchover is completed in 2012, 98.5% of the UK should be able to receive Freeview HD.

More recent news reveals more transmitters that will get Freeview HD by June 2010:

West and Central Wales (Blaenplwyf transmitter), Swansea (Kilvey Hall), Cardiff and Newport (Wenvoe) and around the Winter Hill relays will all be up and running by March 2010.

In April 2010, Carmarthenshire (Carmel), Exeter and parts of Devon (Stockland Hill), Bristol, Somerset, Dorset Wiltshire and Gloucestershire (Mendip).

May sees Shetland (Bressay) and Orkney (Keelylang Hill) join the Freeview HD party and June 2010 brings North Wales (Long Mountain, Moel-y-parc, Presely), Caithness and North Sutherland (Rumster Forest).

This would mean that millions could potentially watch the World Cup in 2010 in high definition. For others the wait will be longer – although most major cities should be covered by the end of 2011. Check the Freeview website and the rollout map to see when your area will be HD-capable.

What channels will be in HD?

As the first service in the Granada TV region was rolled out last year, Freeview HD only carries two channels – BBC HD and ITV1 HD. The BBC already shows several of its flagship programmes in HD on Freesat, including: Hustle, Being Human, Survivors and Mad Men. When ITV1 HD fully launches on Freeview HD in the Spring, it will take the form of an upscaled simulcast of the existing standard-def ITV1 channel.

Channel 4 HD is expected to make the move on to the service by the end of 2010. While Five is expected to bring its high definition channel to the market later in 2012, with a slot already reserved for the broadcaster by the communications watchdog Ofcom.

There was also talk of a fifth channel becoming available on Freeview HD at some point in the future. But it's likely that the planned BBC, ITV, C4 and Five channels will swallow up all the available bandwidth, squashing this particular rumour.