PVR UK: PVR (Personal Video Recorder) and DVR (Digital Video Recorder) news, reviews and how-tos for the UK (including Sky plus, TiVo, MythTV and Freeview)

The BBC prepares for HDTV

Chrichton Limbert, Head of BBC News Production Modernisation has written an article about BBC News's High Definition Vision, on the BBC web site.

High Definition television on a large screen with 5.1 multi-channel audio is a fantastic home viewing experience. In the US, HD Sport from ESPN and Fox is particularly successful and is strongly driving TV sales. HD in Australia, Canada, Korea and Japan is also well established and growing.

Europe is following. The Premiere HD Channel launched in Germany and Austria last year and is predicting huge demand for the World Cup in HD. HD is about to start in France and Sky will launch HD in the UK later this year. A real push will come from the launch of the PlayStation3 that comes with a HD Blu-ray DVD player.

By next Christmas there will be a much wider range of easily available HD pictures - including the BBC HD test service, a limited technical trial of the practicalities of transmitting in HD, due to start later this year.

Sky unveil their HDTV PVR

Sky have released pictures of their upcoming HDTV box...

It has a hint of Inverto about it ;-)

Sky is planning to offer a range of HD channels next year starting with live premership football matches. The company also hopes to offer other sports, movies, entertainment and factual programs to customers who own a HD ready television.

Sky also confirmed that it will broadcast in 2 HD formats 720p/50 and 1080i/25 so broadcasters could choose which format was best for them.

No pricing has been confirmed as yet, however Sky has said that it will be offering a Sky+ offering that will allow customers to record HD or SD provided the customer has the appropriate subscription.

http://hd.sky.com/

Sky high-definition box to have network connection

The set-top box for the Sky high-definition satellite television service launching in the UK next year is likely to have a network port to allow it to be linked to broadband connection.

Current Sky set-top boxes have an analogue modem that is connected to a telephone line to provide the return path for interactive services.

There has long been speculation that with the growth of broadband services, set-top boxes should be able to take advantage of a high-speed, always-on network connection. It is understood by informitv that this will become a feature of new high-end set-top boxes.

Potentially, this would allow much more responsive interactive television services, particularly for transactional applications.

Sky recently revealed plans to enable a new range of web service based interactive applications that would potentially allow anyone to have a low-cost presence on interactive television. While these would require a dial-up call with an analogue modem, they would be immediately available over a broadband connection.

Separately, Sky is planning a broadband television service that will allow subscribers to download a selection of movie and sports material over the internet. This service will initially be targeted at personal computers, but it indicates the potential to supplement subscription services delivered by satellite with on-demand services over broadband.

The forthcoming high-definition service is likely to initially attract the early adopter market, with many potential customers having broadband connections.

There is also the possibility of providing network connectivity in future versions of the Sky+ personal video recorder, effectively segmenting the market into a number of price points.

With operators such as BT planning to launch hybrid services that combine broadband video-on-demand with broadcast television, Sky clearly needs to tap into the broadband market. The combination of premium high-definition programming and broadband connected interactive services could be a compelling consumer proposition that telcos may find hard to match.

Source: informitv.com

Why High-Definition TV will be transmitted in bits

HOW can you broadcast pristine high-definition TV programmes to users of giant flat-panel TVs when there are no channels allocated to HDTV broadcasts?

BBC engineers have an answer: harness unused frequencies to transmit an HDTV programme piecemeal, at low data rates, during the day and night before its scheduled broadcast.

A viewer's hard-disc-based personal video recorder (PVR) then stores the HDTV data on its hard disc and, using software designed by the BBC, stitches the pieces together ready for playback. At the programme's transmission time, a trigger signal hidden in the broadcaster's over-the-air TV signal activates the HDTV recording from the PVR. The BBC is hoping PVR makers will adopt its idea.

Source: New Scientist.