And you thought you were up to date with your plasma screen? High-definition is this year's TV buzzword, writes Karlin Lillington.
We've seen wide screen, home cinema, flat screen, plasma screen and now, coming to a goggle box near you, is The Next Big TV Thing: HDTV.
If you are groaning in despair at yet another confusing acronym for some form of technology you didn't know you should want, relax. Just as with DVDs, HDTV - high definition television - is likely to be a broadcasting and manufacturing standard in Europe before long and will sneak in without you having to do much of anything - except probably, buy a new TV.
The imminent arrival of HDTV is one reason why salesmen and women in electronics and department stores are attempting to lure you into considering HDTV sets already. Even though no one in Ireland is broadcasting in the format yet, you can still watch HD-quality DVDs on them and enjoy the far better picture quality - while dreaming of one day watching Fair City in glorious high definition.
HDTV is a superior quality digital format for viewing television, on which the picture will be about six times better than old-style sets, according to Sony Ireland, which is marketing several HD models already.
HDTV also gives a superior picture on any HD-capable cathode ray TV - the bulkier style sets that still dominate most people's sitting rooms. However, such sets require a set-top box to convert the TV signal from the digital format in which it is broadcast, into the analog format used in traditional sets, says Philip Brennan, general manager of the Digital Consumer Business Unit at Dublin company Silicon & Software Systems, which manufacture the HD set-top boxes and components for HDTV sets.
On a dedicated HDTV set ("HD ready"), sound and picture quality are superb, and the wider sets can broadcast films at their proper height and width ratio, unlike conventional TVs. Nonetheless, most analysts believe the bulk of HDTV purchases in Europe will be HD-capable cathode ray sets, because they cost about a third less.
Analysts believe 2006 will be the year for HDTV set sales to take off, because the World Cup in Germany will send sports aficionados into the shops in search of a set to wring all possible visual glory from every dribble and pass. "HDTV is excellent for watching sports," says Brennan, "So there's a big battle to get it ready in time to launch before the World Cup."
Is HDTV the same thing as "digital TV", which we've all been hearing about for the past few years? Kind of. It is a form of digital TV - the high end of the market as far as quality goes, but advocates would like to see it become the industry standard for digital TV. And it looks like that will happen, later if not sooner. Already available in the US, Canada, Japan, South Korea and Australia - with about half of all US primetime television going out in the format over 40 channels - HDTV is set to be broadcast to about five million European homes by 2008. Some Belgian and German homes can already receive broadcasts of some programmes via satellite, and Sky is set to be the first HDTV broadcaster in Ireland, simultaneous with its HDTV launch in the UK in "the early part of this year" according to Sky.
Initial offerings will include sports, arts, entertainment, movies, and several programmes on Sky One including 24, Bones, and Stargate. The company has not yet released pricing for the service or set-top boxes.
Overall, after some uncertainty, HD does look to be the future of TV. In the UK, where digital television is already generally available, the BBC intends to produce all of its content in HD by 2010. HD is also on the cards from M6, TPS and TF1 in France.
Germany's multichannel pay-TV platform PremiereWorld has had HDTV channels available since November 2005.
This fits with predictions from analyst Datamonitor which say France, Germany and the UK will lead the European HDTV charge, with the first broadcasts going out over satellite and cable networks. (NTL is already known to be looking at HDTV delivery through its cable network.) Most terrestrial broadcasters will probably have to wait until the analog network is finally switched off, in order to free up the capacity for them to broadcast in HD.
HDTV is likely to fit in with terrestrial broadcast plans here as well, though it requires specialised equipment for filming and will demand a large capital outlay by broadcasters. The only problem is, the game plan for any type of Irish digital television is still unclear and running behind initial schedules. However, the Government has made a commitment to introducing digital TV generally, and digital is on RTÉ's agenda, presumably with HDTV to follow.
But will Irish people and their fellow Europeans really be ready to fork out around €4,000 for a HDTV flatscreen set? Brennan thinks so. "People didn't think plasma screens would be doing this well, and just look at that market," he says. "If you are thinking of buying a new TV, I think you should really be looking for a HD-ready TV set."
