New research has come out from Buckingham Research, which provides some interesting insight into the HDTV market in the UK.

One of the most important facts to be established was that although nearly all the people questioned (99%) were aware of the existence of HDTV (hardly surprising), only 11% of them were looking to purchase an HDTV of their own during the course of 2009.

A total of 695 people participated in the survey, which took place online, and the questions were geared towards issues to do with HDTV and their feelings towards it.

14% said that although they were aware of HDTV, they did not understand it. Also worrying was that, of the 99% who were aware of HDTV, 53% of them have no intention of taking out a subscription, with only 19% either having a subscription or intending to take one out.

However, on a more positive note, 48% of the interviewees said that HDTV made watching TV more enjoyable. However, 45% of people said that there were not enough HDTV channels currently available.

Paul Nola, the managing director of Buckingham Research, said that although awareness levels are high, “the real challenge lies in getting consumers to trial the service”, the aim being that once people have tried it they will want to stick with it. There are suggestions that the recession has prevented uptake from increasing this year, and that it could be a while longer before it really takes off.

However, it is clear that HDTV will probably become the norm in the future, and the benefits that it has will no doubt catch on over time. When exactly the biggest period of growth is going to arrive, however, is unknown.