Catherine Smadja, head of strategy at the BBC, said the Corporation is to start regular DVB-T2 HD broadcasts in November 2009.
The new multiplex should eventually be available to 98.5 per cent of the UK population.
High Definition TV News
Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of Dream Works, believes that 3-D HDTV is the future of the TV and movie industries.
Fittingly he made his comments in a speech that was beamed by satellite across the Atlantic and displayed in glorious 3D HDTV at the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) 2008 in Amsterdam.
Much has been made of the role the high cost of Blu-ray Discs has played in hampering the high def format’s uptake.
Yet if reports from Engadget are borne out, VUDU is shortly to offer HD downloads " equal in quality to Blu-ray movies"
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Wireless High Definition Special: Over the coming weeks hdtv.biz-news.com will be interviewing representatives from the competing wireless high definition TV systems to assess their current state of readiness and future viability.
To kick things off, Steve Wilson, principal analyst at ABI Research, which recently produced a report Wireless Video Cable Replacement Market and Technologies, gives his opinion on wireless HDTV developments.
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Cumulative sales of HDTVs to date surpassed 10 million in the UK, according to a report by GfK Retail and Technology.
In the first six months of 2008, more than 2 million were added and the market research firm expects the cumulative total to be approaching 15 million by the end of 2008.
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Pace plc, a developer of digital TV technologies, has made the first set-top box capable of receiving and displaying DVB-T2 HD content.
DVB-T2 brings efficiencies of between 30-50 per cent in its use of spectrum compared to DVB-T and is expected to be a key enabler to the roll out of high definition TV in the UK over Freeview.
Netflix has hired Bill Holmes, a five-year veteran of digital-media company DivX, to help build its video-streaming business.
His appointment is the latest in various moves by the company to build on its 8.4 million subscriber base with its streaming services.
Test transmissions in the UK have successfully received high def pictures compliant to the DVB-T2 standard using a real-time demodulator.
The BBC, which performed the tests, says this is the first time anywhere in the world that a live end-to-end DVB-T2 chain has been demonstrated.
As a next-generation display technology, the first OLED (organic light emitting diode) screens were never going to come cheap.
For the introduction of the first OLED to the European market, Sony is said to be putting a €3,500 (US$5,000) price tag on its XEL-1 when it becomes available before Christmas.
Reports on Blu-ray’s progress – and difficulties – on the road to becoming the mass-market video format are legion.
Monica Juniel, vice president of international marketing for Warner Home Video, added an interesting statistic into the mix during her presentation at IFA 2008 in Berlin last week.