Sky Unveils HD TV Plans

Ahead of the DisplayForum HDTV (High Definition Television) 2005 conference being held in Berlin in September, Sky TV (UK) has announced provisional details of the channels in its HDTV launch line-up, scheduled for some time in 2006.

These will include Sky Sports with full live coverage of the Premiership; Sky Box Office offering up to ten movies a week; two movie screens and HD versions of Sky One and Artsworld. 'Advanced negotiations' are apparently being help with other broadcasters such as Discovery and National Geographic.

Comparing its new (HDTV) set top box to Sky’s existing Sky+ product, chief operating officer, Richard Freudenstein, claims that offering PVR (Personal Video Recorder) capability as standard in the HDTV arena will ensure that Sky can achieve its target of 10 million customers by 2010.

According to Brian Sullivan, Sky’s Director of Customer Products and Services, "The launch of high definition will be the start of an exciting new era in broadcasting and Sky HD will offer stunning picture and sound quality for a broad selection of programmes".

This will be combined with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. The HDTV system will support both 720p (progressive) and 1080i (interlaced)picture formats and MPEG-4 compression will be used for HDTV broadcasts.

Although Sky’s HDTV box can be connected to any kind of TV set, consumers will need to upgrade to expensive HD-ready TV sets with a flat-screen display of 26 inches or more to enjoy the full benefits of HDTV picture quality.

Sky reckons that almost two million 'HD Ready' sets will have been sold in the UK by the end of 2006 and that prices will fall as demand increases. Pricing details or a firm launch date have yet to be confirmed, but consumers can pre-register interest from 26 August at selected stores.

The BBC has also jumped on the bandwagon, having recently signed a multimillion pound deal to secure extra transmission space via satellite, expected to be used for delivery of HDTV services next year.

Story source: theinquirer.net.