HDTV shopping advice "broadly accurate"

Ofcom-commissioned research has found that "broadly accurate" advice is offered to people shopping for a high definition television.

A mystery shopping exercise conducted by Continental Research found that in the majority cases, information provided in stores, on the phone and by online shopping sites was accurate but "there was significant confusion amongst some retail staff over the current and future availability of HD services on Freeview, and - to a lesser extent - terrestrial TV".

12% of in-store mystery shoppers were left with the impression that an HD Ready set would show high definition pictures from analogue terrestrial TV, and 14% of in-store shoppers were given the impression that HD sets would show HD content via existing Freeview channels.

Nearly a fifth of in-store shoppers were only told that extra equipment, such as a Sky HD or V+ device, was needed to receive HD services when they asked; 7% were incorrectly informed that no additional equipment was needed.

Among the "potentially misleading or incomplete information" offered to consumers were examples such as: "When I asked if there were any HD channels on Freeview, he [an in-store sales adviser] said 'there are a couple of BBC ones, and I think National Geographic'" and "I was told that because it was a digital signal with Freeview everything was high definition".

The mystery shoppers said that they felt inaccurate answers were a result of lack of training rather than "an attempt to deliberately mislead".