The BBC will begin trial broadcasts of high-definition television (HDTV) next year, director of TV Jana Bennett has confirmed. Highlights of its schedule will be made available in high-definition format to selected digital satellite and cable viewers from mid-2006. The BBC also aims to test the format on digital terrestrial TV in London. Current series Bleak House and Rome have been made in HDTV, which requires a compatible TV and receiver.
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BBC director general Mark Thompson has pledged to deliver free-to-air HDTV on all BBC digital platforms "as soon as practical", which is expected to be by about 2010.
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Sky also plans to launch its own HDTV service in 2006, which will include live Premiership football. The HDTV system is already available in Japan, Canada, Australia and South Korea and the US, and compatible HDTV sets are already on sale in the UK.
"Our promise to our licence payers is to give them the highest quality television, so the time is right for the BBC to get involved in high definition."
This is the move I have been waiting for. It is about time britain moved into the realm of superior quality digital televsion.
