http://www.advanced-television.com/2005/news_archive_2005/Feb28_March4.htm BSkyB advances HDTV launch British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) has appointed Thomson as the initial manufacturer of the set-top box for its forthcoming High Definition Television (HDTV) service and confirmed that it is on track to launch in 2006. Speaking at the DVB World conference in Dublin, BSkyB's Chief Operating Officer, Richard Freudenstein, revealed that Sky's HDTV box would feature a similar Personal Video Recorder capability to the existing Sky+ box. Freudenstein said that offering PVR capability as a standard in the HDTV arena will ensure that Sky+'s 6000,000 subscribers would continue to enjoy control and flexibility in association with the highest-quality programming. Freudenstein added that the step change in picture quality would help BSkyB to achieve its target of 10 million customers in 2010. "Innovation and technology leadership are at the core of the Sky brand," he said. "By introducing HDTV, our ambition is to raise the bar again. We want to re-affirm that the digital satellite platform is the home of the highest-quality viewing experience available." Sky's HDTV channel line-up will include a combination of sports, movies, entertainment and documentary programming, and will support both 720p and 1080i picture formats. Broadcasters will be able to choose the format which is most appropriate to their individual requirements. Sky's HDTV broadcasts will use MPEG-4 advanced compression coding. BSkyB expects that sales of 'HD Ready' TV sets will accelerate as equipment prices continue to fall and the availability of HDTV programming grows. Although BSkyB's HDTV box can be connected to any kind of TV set, customers will require an 'HD Ready' TV set with a flat-screen display of 26 inches or more to enjoy the full benefits of HDTV picture quality. BSkyB estimates that almost two million 'HD Ready' sets will have been sold in the UK by the end of 2006. Back to top ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.