Digital on the cheap? It's an option for the digital future of free-to-air TV, but do you really need one now?(Test: digital set-top boxes)

Publication: Choice (Chippendale, Australia)

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COPYRIGHT 2004 Australian Consumers' Association

IN A NUTSHELL

* Analogue TV broadcasts ('regular' TV) are scheduled to end late 2008 or thereabouts, so at some point TV viewers will need to get a digital set-top box or a digital TV.

* If you're happy with the quality of your analogue TV reception and can live without digital TV's bells and whistles, it might pay to wait before you buy.

* If you'd like to go digital now without spending too much, the set-top boxes we tested were in general technically good. However, one of them might not be a good choice if you live in a poor reception area.

WHAT'S A DIGITAL SET-TOP BOX?

* A set-too box receives digital picture and sound signals broadcast from a digital TV network and decodes these into signals your current (analogue) TV can handle.

* It's one of the cheapest ways to watch digital TV.

Countdown to the future: gasp, shock, horror--the end of TV as we know it!

Supposedly around the end of 2008 the familiar analogue free-to-air TV broadcast system we take for granted will be phased out--although some pundits think analogue will be around a lot longer.

Whenever this finally happens, free-to-air TV will be broadcast in digital format only. This means most consumers will need either a digital set-top box to plug into a standard analogue TV or an integrated digital TV.

GOOD RECEPTION?

Since a large number of consumers will probably enter the digital TV world with a set-top box, we compared the cheapest model (under $450) of each brand currently on the market.

We tested how well the set-top boxes received weak signals and coped with interference: all models handled these tests well.

We also checked for so-called 'fall off the cliff' conditions: digital receivers function perfectly up to a point, but if noise interference or changes in signal strength (due to reflections from mountains, buildings or low-flying aircraft) cause enough picture pixellation, a sudden and dramatic loss of picture results.

So measuring various 'fall off the cliff' conditions helps pick models that won't cope in areas where reception is poor.

If you currently experience very poor reception, avoid the DIGITAL VIEW DSD-103--it fell off the cliff much earlier than the other models. Otherwise, its technical performance was OK (although the worst of the models tested), and it would be fine in areas free from severe ghosting and/or 'snow' interference in reception.

EASY TO UNDERSTAND, EASY TO USE?

Some models have their ease of use limitations. The PANASONIC is very compact, which might appeal to some, but it doesn't have any function...

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