TRADING standards chiefs in Middlesbrough are giving advice on buying TV sets, with the introduction of digital television.

Middlesbrough Council's trading standards section has been looking into the sales methods being used by retailers of televisions, and undercover officers have been visiting stores in the area.

Most homes receive analogue broadcasts through TV aerials, but there will be a switch from analogue to digital broadcasting between 2006 and 2010.

Buyers have a choice between a widescreen television, costing about £500, with a cable or satellite subscription of £34 a month, or a fully-integrated digital television, which receives digital transmissions and produces digital pictures and sound.

These cost between £1,000 and £2,000, and are different from those described as "half digital", which only produce digital sound.

Consumers also have to decide between analogue, digital, dolby digital and nicam models on offer.

Trading standards officers are advising the public to decide exactly what they want before buying, and to remember that "half digital" TV sets will not receive digital pictures. Many products are more expensive when they have just been launched, and prices often drop in time.

A conventional TV fitted with a digi-box will receive the digital signal and will continue to do so when the analogue signal is switched off.

Oliver Johnson, commissioner for environment on Middlesbrough Council, said: "This is a very technical sales area, involving significant expenditure.

"People usually keep their television sets for between eight and ten years, so it's important that they make an informed choice. Hopefully this research will help them to do that."