freeview tv

Supposedly, Digital Terrestrial Television (what's called "Freeview" in Britain) should be available everywhere in Italy by the end of this year. (Or so the Wikipedia article says. It also points out that the deadline has been pushed back previously...) If you're buying a new flatscreen TV, it should have a digital television decoder built in. My experience of five different flatscreen televisions with DTT is that you select the country you're in as part of the set-up, so it should be the case that a new television bought in Britain will work in Italy. The other thing to consider is the aerial. First, you might need to get a larger, more efficient aerial than the one currently on your house in order to receive DTT. While an analogue television was watchable to some degree with a fuzzy picture due to poor reception, with DTT it's generally the case that you either have a good signal at the television or it's unwatchable. You can get "High Gain" aerials both in Italy and in Britain. I've seen virtually identical models for just about the same price in Asda and OBI. Aiming the aerial directly at the transmitter is important with DTT, particularly so if you live in a rural area some distance from the transmitter. Again, you'll either have a good signal or the TV will be unwatchable. If you want to do the installation of the aerial yourself, probably the easiest thing to do is take your cue from the aerials you see around you and point yours in the same direction. Alternatively, if you don't fancy fiddling around on the roof, there will be companies in your area who will sell you the aerial and install it for you. Finally, just in case you weren't aware of it, Italian law requires anyone with a television to buy a licence. Al

If you buy a TV in Italy the shop reports your address and you have to pay the annual fee.  If, on the other hand, you bought a 'monitor'  ahem ... in the UK you'd be fine.   I don't know about Freeview in Italy but that would obviously be for Italian TV - cheesy  shots on moronic gameshows etc. If you want proper UK TV for free you can get Freesat on a big dish at the moment although the footprint might reduce when the old Astra bird gets replaced. www.astra2d.com/italy used to be a good source of information.

The technical quality of the programmes you'll receive on a digital TV in Italy should be as good as what you see in Britain but, as sagraiasolar says, the quality in the widest sense is a matter of opinion. Two things to consider, though: First, just about any exposure to people speaking Italian is a Good Thing if you're trying to learn the language or develop your skills. Second, if your brain starts to hurt from that effort after a while, it is possible to get some programmes in their original language if you've set your television correctly. I've seen at least one American cop series with the dialogue in English rather than, as is the norm, dubbed into Italian by actors who, to my ears, sound very unconvincing and sometimes wildly melodramatic. Al

thanks for replies, i'm thinking about ordering the item in the link below from amazon, checking it's OK and then sending via courier. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Digihome-LCD32913HD-32-inch-Widescreen-Freeview/dp/B005CO90NC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1348504387&sr=8-2 just wondered what you think of this and its suitability, it says that it has menu in 19 different languages. Allan, as long as i get some digital channels such as news etc. i'll be happy, my wife likes some of the game shows. I've got a feeling that the ariel would need upgrading, i'll have to check it out next time i go over there. if i have to pay for a licence, then i'll have to even though it will be reluctantly as i'll only be there for 8 weeks max per year.  

I haven't spent a lot of time researching but, if I were you, I'd be a tiny bit concerned that the TV you're considering apparently is not sold on Amazon's Italian site. That doesn't mean it won't be compatible here, of course; there are lots of reasons why Amazon might not sell the model in Italy. While I think the odds are pretty good that just about any DTT capable TV would work here as well as in Britain, personally, I'd want to see that model on sale somewhere in Italy before I hauled it over. Al

I would bring any old UK sky box and, if you can get one, a 1mtr dish, point the dish at Astra (28.2 east) and you'll get all english tv and sky news (and a few other channels as wel)l. The only problem is that it may not last for long, but it works fine here in Southern Le Marche (at the mo !) S

We've had the Italian version of a freeview box now for around 3 years in Sardinia as with the UK you get dozens more channels most of them rubish.

thanks for the info, i'll take on board what what's been said. now i'm not as warm on taking a tv to italy from uk, i've seen some good deals on amazon.it but because i'm not certain about DTT in the area i'm going to visit some local stores when i'm over there next to research. Allan. maybe i should have titled this post DTT TV instead of freeview, which is what i'm really looking to get.

Although we don't have it, we've rented places at least 4 years ago and they had DDT boxes attached to their TV set-up. Don't know where they bought them (they were English), but they were picking up Italian TV...

Hi I have looked in to the topic of accessing UK tv channels in Italy at length! The solution I will be going with as advised by my Italy based estate agent we are working with at the moment is to purchase a FreeSAT box in the UK to take with us and then have a 1.5m satellite dish installed (we are based in the Luigiana area).  This will cost 700Euro for the dish and installation. I will probably just buy a TV at Euronics when in Italy, that way we will also be properly licensed at the point of purchase. This is my first post so hopefully this will link to the original topic correctly! Let me know if anyone knows of a local aerial/satellite installation firm that could do it cheaper! Lisa