The Year of High Definition for Europe

In the media world we currently talk a lot about DTT - Digital Terrestrial Television, especially here in France, where "TNT" (the aptly chosen acronym for Télévision Terrestre Numérique) will bring around 15 digital channels to  35%  of French TV households starting on March 31st, and soon able to cover more than 80% of the total households. While this move towards affordable and mass-market digital TV is getting in shape, High Definition (HD) is here today as we speak.

No more vaporware. No more promises. After a failed attempt in the 90s in the analog world (HDmac), and after enviously looking for years at Japan, Korea and the USA where HD is a commercial reality, Europe is making strong and concrete moves to push what is the next technological breakthrough and a real commercial opportunity.

The EICTA (European Information & Communications Technology Industry Association) has recently announced the creation of a "HD ready" label. At the national level, industry groups such as the HD Forum in France are jointly driving essential technical standardization, communication and marketing initiatives to build a positive and dynamic framework for HD. Of course, nothing matters without content : the good piece of news is that on satellite, cable, DSL and even DTT, major European operators in France, Germany and UK have announced that they will begin providing HD channels starting the second half of 2005.

HD is putting together innovative technologies (of which MPEG-4 AVC/H-264 is an essential component) and creating a new dynamics for the audiovisual sector by fully taking benefit of an end-to-end digital value chain.