Freeview mode switch hits old boxes, TVs

TVs manufactured as late as 2004 may stop receiving digital terrestrial television due to a transmission mode change designed to improve Freeview coverage.

The change, from 2k mode to 8k mode, is likely to happen at the completion of switchover in 2012 except in some parts of the UK - particularly in the south east of England - where constraints on the amount of spectrum that may be used for digital TV broadcasting may necessitate a mode switch in 2011.

Although the 8k mode is generally more robust and less susceptible to impulse interference from household electrical goods, some older digital terrestrial boxes and integrated digital TVs do not support it.

A full list of affected devices is available on the Digital Spy forums; some, such as ONdigital sets from 1998 manufactured by Alba and Bush, are upgradeable; others such as the Nokia Mediamaster 9850T are not.