The arrival of HD programming on the BBC iPlayer is being touted as a brave new dawn for on-demand programming. In some respects, it seems churlish to demur. After all, just think how much better Mad Men’s 1950s hues are going to look on your PC screen. Then there’s the BBC’s nature programmes, which will seem ten times more epic and eye-poppingly dramatic.

However, anyone considering watching the broadcaster’s programmes in HD would do well to be mindful of a few things. Not least the fact that watching an hour of HD programming uses around 600Mb of your download limit, compared with just 300Mb previously. So, if you’re a regular user of the service you could find you use your limit very quickly. Or worse still, incur a whopping, unexpected charge.

We recommend that you monitor your usage closely. Or switch to an unlimited download deal, if you’re a really heavy user. Alternatively, if you decide, like us, that not all of the programmes on offer really merit being seen in HD, you can always pick and choose which shows you use the service for. You can do this by watching shows in the small screen option, rather than the larger display.