[opendtv] Re: News: BSkyB advances HDTV launch
- From: "Donald Koeleman" <donald.koeleman@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2005 14:41:12 +0100
News Alert
BBC brings forward HDTV
"2008 Olympics is a great driver"
by Chris Forrester
The growing apparent enthusiasm for HDTV across Europe, and in the UK in
particular, has meant the BBC has looked urgently again at its HDTV
timetable. John Varney, the BBC's Chief Technology Officer, talking
exclusively to Inside Satellite, said: "Our thinking has changed in that we'
re asking ourselves how soon we might launch a HD service. We may be looking
at something relatively quickly."
Varney admitted there was much to be done, including absorbing 40 HD cameras
just purchased from Sony, as well as staff training. He also admitted that
the BBC's initial HD broadcasts "might not go to many people", but "Doing
this has come about because of the change in the consumer environment.
Domestic HD camcorders are now out there at £2000 and below, HD screens.. I
was in [electronics retailer] Comet a week ago and they've already got the
new Samsung 50" HD-DLP set with quite stunning images and much cheaper than
a Plasma. We're less than 18 months away from HD-DVD formats being widely
available. So, 18 months from now broadcast TV is going to look like the
poor relation. People will be able to shoot their holiday videos in HD, rent
Hollywood movies in HD, and we won't have a HD service."
The BBC's HD efforts will focus entirely on satellite for the time being.
"No decisions yet as to when, but we are mindful of Sky's plans for HD and
then there's our own Freesat platform, which would be an ideal place from
which to launch HD because the bandwidth is there, but no date has yet been
decided." Varney explained that despite sharing the rights (with the ITV
commercial network) for next year's upcoming soccer World Cup out of
Germany, it was unlikely that the BBC could show HD signals.
Varney explained that he has now been joined by the BBC's HDTV 'mentor' Andy
Quested, and together they are embarking on a series of internal training
and briefing sessions on HD.
Read the full interview in Inside Satellite; exclusive to subscribers
© 2005 Broadband TV News
----- Original Message -----
From: "Craig Birkmaier" <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "OpenDTV Mail List" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, March 03, 2005 12:09 PM
Subject: [opendtv] News: BSkyB advances HDTV launch
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
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