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Television

What types of TV services are available?

There are 3 basic choices: Terrestrial, cable or satellite.

Terrestrial, i.e. an aerial antenna on the roof or in your living room, provides comparatively poor service and just a few, basic channels, but is free.

Cable and satellite now both offer 'digital' service, i.e. clearer picture, multiple formats, interactive onscreen programme information, the option of e-mail and shopping services and, of course, tons of channels.

How expensive are those digital services?

The 'Sky Family Pack' (satellite), for example, offers 52 TV channels (plus 11 radio channels) and costs £18.50 per month. Bigger packages with tons of movie, sport and entertainment channels can cost as much as £38 per month.

Cable rates are similar. The set-top boxes required to receive these digital programmes are usually subsidised, although there may be sign-up and/or installation fees.

A nice supplementary service is HomeChoice, the "TV You Control", with its video-on-demand, start/stop-when-you-want service and a huge selection of movies, music and other TV programming. The service was launched in early 2000, packages start at £6/month.

How do I get TV service?

Ask your building's porter or your landlord for available options, or contact the following TV service providers and check if they service your building:

Sky  08702 40 40 40

NTL  0800 052 1234

Telewest  0500 500 100

HomeChoice  0800 092 4444

Do I need to get a TV license?

Every person owning a TV needs to pay an annual fee called the TV license. It is currently £116 per year (for a colour TV). Revenues are used to support the non-commercial activities of the BBC. If you don't pay the fee you are breaking the law and may face fines.

TV Licensing  0870 241 6468

Can I take a TV from one country to another?

There are three major TV formats. PAL is used by the UK, Ireland, Germany, Australia, Switzerland, Spain, Skandinavia, eastern Europe, South Africa and many others. Secam is used by France, Greece, Russia, the countries in the Middle East and many others. NTSC is used by the U.S., Canada, countries in Latin America, Japan and many others. All three systems are incompatible. So, you will not be able to operate a TV in the UK that you bought in a country not using the PAL format.

Should I get a widescreen TV?

Old-style TVs with its screen format 4:3 will - over time - be replaced by widescreen TVs (16:9). TV programming will increasingly be offered in the widescreen format. But it may take a few years before we can enjoy the full benefits. 

Already, TVs with screens larger than 29" are available only in widescreen. Widescreen TVs are quite expensive, but there are other advantages besides the more attractive screen format. Ask lots of questions.

Will my old video tapes be compatible to VCRs bought in the UK?

PAL and Secam tapes are compatible. However, neither of them are compatible with NTSC. So, to be able to operate your old tapes recorded in the U.S., Canada, Latin America or Japan, you will need to get a "multi-system VCR".

Will my old DVDs be compatible to DVD players bought in the UK?

DVDs are encoded with "Region Codes" (to prevent e.g. DVDs bought in the U.S. to be smuggled to other parts of the world before those countries have started releasing them). North America is Region 1, Europe and Japan are Region 2, Asia Pacific is Region 3, Australia, NZ and Latin America are Region 4, Africa, Russia and eastern Europe are Region 5 and China and Hong Kong are Region 6. (Region 0 DVDs play on any DVD player.)

If you bought DVDs outside of Region 2 (Europe, Japan) and would like to play them in the UK, then you will need to get a "multi-zone DVD player". They cost a little bit more and there are manufacturer's guarantee questions you should ask about.

How do I hook up electric equipment to different power systems and plug types?

Europe uses 50 Hz and 240 Volt systems, the U.S. and other countries use 60 Hz and 115 Volt systems. They are incompatible, but you can use transformers, or power converters, to adapt e.g. U.S. electronic equipment to the UK power system. Plug adapters are sold by most shops selling electric equipment.

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