Some mysterious television sets are starting to appear on the high street, carrying a label declaring that they are “HD ready”. HD stands for “high definition”, a quality of picture you’ve never experienced before. Naturally, it probably won’t work on the set you have at the moment, but if you were intending to buy a new one, it is worth finding a model that carries the HD label. If your present set is working fine, sit tight.
HD is wonderful. The picture is far superior because the definition is very, very sharp. HD has been around in Japan for years, and its popularity is growing quickly in America. Last week Greg Dyke, the BBC’s former director-general, described how he became an ardent supporter of HDTV during a visit to Japan: “In day-to-day use, I was overwhelmed by how good it was. Sport, arts, drama and even news all take on a new dimension.” What is worrying is that Dyke also raised doubts over Freeview’s capacity to broadcast HDTV — Freeview take-up having accelerated dramatically over the Christmas period.
Freeview is, of course, principally the BBC’s current digital outlet, where terrestrial bandwidth is limited. HD is bandwidth-hungry: one average HD broadcast will take the airspace of perhaps four standard-format channels. So the Beeb — and doubtless its commercial terrestrial rivals — is talking about HD “distribution”, media-speak for buying satellite time to replace Freeview slowly.
Sky, the satellite service, says that it will start to introduce an unspecified number of HD broadcasts next year, and intends to offer “standard” HD, with a resolution of 720 lines per picture (compared with today’s 625), and a “luxury” version with 1,008 lines. For Sky, broadcasting from a satellite means bandwidth is cheap and available.
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For viewers, HD will require two pieces of kit: an HD-compatible screen, which you can buy today, and an HD decoder, which, for domestic use, you can’t. To ensure your screen is compatible, look for that label. If it isn’t there, ask this: Does the model have HDMI input or, at the very least, DVI with HDCP? Sorry for the jargon, but it’s unavoidable. Only HDMI inputs will power true HDTV, certainly for Sky, and probably for the rest when they come along. The older DVI — a standard used for computers — will work with Sky, only if it has HDCP, the “CP” standing for copy protection. Much early HD content will be movies, and they will run only on systems that can prevent you ripping them off.
There is a growing range of screens and a limited number of televisions that meet these standards claiming to be “HD ready”, such as the 23in Sony WEGA KLV-23M1 (£730 at www.digitaldirectuk.com). Note, however, that only the Sony’s monitor is ready for HD pictures, the receiver itself is not. For the first few years of HD broadcasting you will have to buy some kind of external tuner, and on that subject everyone is keeping mum, including Sky.
The obvious answer will be a hard-disk-based personal video recorder (PVR), similar to the Sky+ box or whatever alternative the BBC camp comes up with for its version of Freeview 2. The PVR market provides interesting lessons about what works best for digital broadcasting. Sky follows the equivalent of the Apple principle — it owns both hardware and software, and makes sure, as much as possible, that they are compatible. Result: the Sky+ PVR is a joy but — if you think I’m biased because News International, the parent company of The Sunday Times, also has a stake in BSkyB — don’t take my word for it. Which? recently made it the top PVR in a competitive review, and Good Housekeeping named it “great gadget of 2004”.
Freeview adheres to the Microsoft principle: it churns out broadcasting and lets a number of manufacturers decide ways of delivery. So every Freeview PVR delivers its programme guide differently, and the quality of their on-screen output varies enormously.
Sky got it right, the Beeb got it wrong. Will the same mistakes be made when the corporation has to start all over again — spending our licence fee to roll out HD?
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david.hewson@sunday-times.co.uk