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andygrif · 27-04-2004, 14:02

Not really sure which category this post should go in, so mods, please feel free to read and move accordingly!

Here's an interesting story....

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds14311.html

It talks of the BBC spearheading the 'possible' future of HDTV in the UK, but also about the digital switchover, due by 2010.

OK...so a couple of points arise from this:

How would ntl deliver this kind of service? It's clear that right now the present boxes (and maybe even infrastructure) would not be able to deliver HDTV signals to your TV. I guess the next obvious question is...who would pay for it? The government, NTL, the BBC or the customer?

How does it work in places like Japan and the US, where they already have such a service - are viewers paying even more for HDTV versions of their channels/programmes?

Would broadband be the way to deliver this? (I would guess broad-er band than available right now)

The next issue for me is why the BBC announce this now, why they are linking it to switchovers (then saying people that would take HDTV would not contribute to the switchover, becuase they would be likely to have switched over already), but mostly - why are they not combining the two projects?

By that I mean that realistically we should have an HDTV offer available now, so that take up is strong come 2010 should we not?

Discuss?

27-04-2004, 14:02	#1
andygrif Inactive Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 2,820	Future of TV? Not really sure which category this post should go in, so mods, please feel free to read and move accordingly! Here's an interesting story.... http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds14311.html It talks of the BBC spearheading the 'possible' future of HDTV in the UK, but also about the digital switchover, due by 2010. OK...so a couple of points arise from this: How would ntl deliver this kind of service? It's clear that right now the present boxes (and maybe even infrastructure) would not be able to deliver HDTV signals to your TV. I guess the next obvious question is...who would pay for it? The government, NTL, the BBC or the customer? How does it work in places like Japan and the US, where they already have such a service - are viewers paying even more for HDTV versions of their channels/programmes? Would broadband be the way to deliver this? (I would guess broad-er band than available right now) The next issue for me is why the BBC announce this now, why they are linking it to switchovers (then saying people that would take HDTV would not contribute to the switchover, becuase they would be likely to have switched over already), but mostly - why are they not combining the two projects? By that I mean that realistically we should have an HDTV offer available now, so that take up is strong come 2010 should we not? Discuss?