[WillPS]

Question:  Would the existing Freeview hardware (boxes, TVs, etc) be able to cope with whatever the next option after MPEG2 (MPEG4?) is without a need to replace the whole lot?

We saw with the ITV Digital boxes for example that while they continued to work after ITV DIgital collapsed, at some point down the line the technology changed and those boxes are good now only for door stops.

The technology was old even in late 2002 when Freeview launched. I think there had been test transmissions from Crystal Palace over that summer where 8k/Mode 3 was proven (or was that just 64QAM? so long ago now)...

The reality was that ITV Digital boxes (and IDTVs sharing the same hardware) represented the majority of the potential viewership, and remained so for a good few years until STBs came down to <£50 and new tellys had it built in. Not sure how many would still have been using them at DSO (which was when Mode 1 and 2 were finally resigned to history).

All Freeview HD certified equipment supports MPEG4. If you meant whatever is after that then the answer to your question is "it depends but probably yes"; if for no other reason than TV manufacturers are very much in to built in obsolescence and desire to patch firmware on equipment sold years ago is nil.