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BBC, Sky unveil HDTV plans In the UK, the BBC and Sky have confirmed that they will offer high definition services in time for the World Cup, despite many European operators struggling to meet consumer demand. The BBC said that it would be screening its World Cup games as well as Wimbledon in high definition. The first live HD broadcast will be the opening World Cup game between Germany and Costa Rica on June 9. All tennis matches from Wimbledon's centre court and court one will also be available in HD beginning June 26.  The BBC will provide HD as an extra service alongside conventional analogue and digital broadcasts but it can only be watched on HD-ready TV sets, alongside HD set top boxes and HD services from satellite or cable providers.The broadcasts are part of a BBC trial running for 12 months, and will be available to homes with an HD box as a non-subscription channel. Other programmes ear-marked for HD transmission later this year include Planet Earth, Galapagos and some Proms concerts. On the back of the BBC's announcement, pay-TV giant Sky said today that it has started allowing customers to preorder high definition set-top boxes, which will retail at £299. Installation of Sky HD will be free and begin in May. On top of Sky's digital subscription, which costs between £15 and £42.50 per month, there will be a £10 charge. "When Sky HD launches later this year it will offer the biggest revolution in TV picture quality in decades, offering a mix of picture and sound closer to a cinematic experience. Sky HD will capture every detail, facial expression and movement offering images that are much more life like with four times the picture detail of Standard Definition," the company said. The news comes after a report was published by Screen Digest last week which claimed that European pay-TV operators are struggling to meet consumer demand for high definition-capable set-top boxes. Premiere in Germany, TPS in France, Sky Italia in Italy, Canal Digital in the Nordic territories are the some of the other players which will be broadcasting the games in HD. But European pay-TV operators have only just started to ship HD-ready set-top boxes, with delays blamed on a shortage of the necessary MPEG-4 chipsets. Without the right set-top boxes, households with HD-ready TV sets will not be able to watch them in HD quality. Jules Grant 24 Mar 2006 © C21 Media 2006 
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