Is your TV ready for the digital switch?

Cape Town – After a long delay of moving from analogue terrestrial television to digital broadcasting, it seems like we're getting one step closer.

The South African government has said that the move will take place by July 2020 even though the deadline is June this year.

READ MORE: Government wants to cut off Free State's analogue TV signals by December

If you are watching television on an analogue set, you will lose connection when the switchover happens.

Matthew Louw, marketing supervisor of LG Electronics, says that previously, the only option to convert to digital TV was to use a set-top box – a device that decodes digital signal for the TV so that the image can be displayed.

"With the newer TV sets on the market, consumers now have the option of purchasing a TV with a built-in digital decoder. This means that the TV does not need a set-top box to receive a digital signal."

READ MORE: M-Net is switching off its analogue decoders

If you are planning on buying a new TV here are three questions he suggests you ask:

1. A set-top box or a digital-ready TV?

Louw suggests purchasing a digital ready TV, which means consumers effectively “future-proof” their TV viewing for the foreseeable future.

2. Is this TV digital-ready?

If you’re uncertain as to whether your current TV is digital-ready, or you are looking at a specific TV to buy, check for the labels usually used to describe a digital-ready TV:

•    Integrated Digital Tuner

•    Digital Tuner Built-In

•    Digital Receiver

•    Digital Tuner

•    DTV

•    DVB-T2

If you can't find one of these logos or descriptions on the TV or in the specifications, it is probably an analogue television.

3.  How do I plan on using this TV?

If you don’t currently watch any channels through a terrestrial aerial (e.g. if you only watch TV through your satellite decoder or use streaming services through a smart TV), you probably won’t think about purchasing a digital TV. Remember, however, that new channels may be launched after the switchover, so if you don’t want to miss out on those, you may want to consider a digital-ready TV.