Following the launch of BS digital satellite broadcasting in December 2000, digital terrestrial broadcasting to the Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya metropolitan areas began in December 2003. As of the end of 2006, digital terrestrial broadcasting had been introduced in all of Japan's prefectural capitals. The year 2006 also marked the start of "One-Seg" broadcasting for mobile devices. Plans call for digital terrestrial broadcasting to reach all homes in Japan by 2011, at which point both BS satellite and terrestrial analog broadcasts will be terminated. At that point Japan will have completed the transition to all-digital TV broadcasting.

NHK has developed a variety of digital broadcasting-based services. The two pillars are Hi-Vision HDTV, with its breathtaking visual clarity and superb sound quality, and the power of data broadcasting to provide on-demand information.