To be able to watch TV in Alta Definición not only one TV set compatible with these characteristics is necessary, but also a specific decoder, which sometimes is included in the modem given by companies of Internet and television of payment. The exit gunshot to this new norm has given the World cup of Soccer of Germany. All the parties have been recorded in technology HD of 1080 lines of horizontal definition, what supposes two million pixels, five times more than they are offering us promptly obsolete 625 lines.


The World cup of Germany opens the satellite HDTV

The Cup of the World of soccer of Germany 2006 will go down in history for being the first big event that has been transmitted to the whole satellite planet using the technology of the Television of Alta Definición (TVAD or HDTV in English). 64 parties have been registered by a score of cameras, all of 1080i/50 (1920x1080 to 50 pictures interlaced per second), in format Widescreen 16:9. Those who have had the option to enjoy this new visual technology will have managed to see a few captures with a resolution of even 7 times higher than the DVD.

In fact, if we concentrate on the history of the television from his birth in the middle of last century until our days we will see that the big sports events have always taken advantage to "throw" a new technology that overcomes the existing one. This way, we are that the World cup of soccer of 1954 of Switzerland was the first tournament of international ambience that was televised in Europe, obviously in those most advanced countries that had technical infrastructure. The World cup of Germany of 1974 was the first one of the color television. 1982, that of Spain, supposed the big boom of sales of TV sets in color in our country. The Olympic Games of Barcelona 92 it served so that Japan was already proving the High Definition, although in analogical system. And now, with the World cup of 2006, the HDTV in digitalis.

The payment platforms with major number of subscribers have made use of this soccer World cup to throw to his subscribers his offer in HDTV. The reception has been such, that in the United Kingdom the platform BSkyB has not come on time to provide all his interested subscribers of the necessary recipients to be able to receive the norm HDTV. Across the satellite Nilesat (7th West) could have received openly the channel Art World Cup, offering the parties of the World cup in Alta Definición. Other operators, like the German Premiere, or the Frenches CanalSat and TPS also have started some channels in satellite Alta Definición and for little across the TDT, turning the Gallic country in one of few countries of the world in beginning this type of tests. In Spain, responsible for Digitalis + they have already announced that it reckons for the Sogecable platform of starting before the year to finish a channels offer in HDTV, which will bear also the distribution of new decoders with this technology provided with a hard disk for recording of 160GB. Apparently, from Sogecable a big investment wants to be realized changing to more than one million subscribers his already obsolete recipients. It is of supposing that the process will last several months, it even might overcome the year. Other countries as Portugal, Holland and Austria have projects on the table.

France also has experienced the television system in Alta Definición in the prestigious Parisian tournament of tennis of Roland Garros, who was celebrated this last June. For it one arranged the use of a special frequency across which it was possible to see the result of the High Definition thanks to the standard MPEG-4, a form of compression of the information that allows the diffusion of between 5 and 12 Mbps per second. These tests will continue in the tournament of tennis of Wimbledon.


The history of the TV of Alta Definición

The first tests in Europe in high definition go back at the end of the 80s. It was in analogical system and therefore there was no video compression. The only way of transmitting a sign of high definition was for satellite given the necessary band. The JJOO of Barcelona 92 were transmitted in this system although the potential hearing was minimal for the scarce number of existing devices in those moments. Now, already well-established the digital technology topcoat for satellite and cable, they begin the first digital emission and in high definition in the European continent. In September, 2003 the first emission was born in tests of the channel Euro 1080 across the satellite Astra1B.

At present between the three most commercial orbital positions of Europe we find more than one score of 22 channels that they are expressing in Alta Definición. In the satellites Astra 2nd, 2B and 2D co-posicionados to 28,2nd this one, the British operator Sky Digital (BSkyB) offers 10 channels, the majority openly. The codified ones are Sky Sports, National Geographic Channel and Sky Movies 9. The rest in FTA there are the BBC (in tests), Discovery Channel, Sky Box Office 1 and 2, Sky Retail, Artworld 1 and Sky One. In the Astra placed to 19,2nd this one, the offer in HDTV is directed basically to the German market with 9 channels. Here we can find Premiere HD Movie, Premiere HD Sport and codified Discovery Channel. Openly we can see Prosieben, Sat 1, Anixe, several promotional channels of Astra and other of Channel + France. For his part the orbit of Hot Bird in 13th this one offers us 3 channels in HDTV. These are M6 and remaining promotions of the platforms TPS and Sky Italy. If for the time being this offer in satellite Alta Definición is scarce it is foreseen that in the next months it goes increasing gradually.


The revolution of a better quality of image

The clear super images of the HDTV do not appear by magic art. The television of high definition (HDTV) is a new type of television system that includes progress both in the production and in the reception of television transmissions. The proportion of the image in HDTV is of 16:9, to comparison of the system current NTSC whose proportion is of 4:3, it does that the ambience of the theater in the hearth (Home Theatre) is trustworthy to the room of the movies. The movies will retain his sizes and original resolutions, and the sound can be produced across five channels of digital audio, producing “digital quality”.

Although the technology that this year is fashionable in Spain is the TDT, the Terrestrial Digital Television, already we can begin preparing ourselves for that there will become fashionable the next year, the HDTV, the television of high definition. Although we already have enough products compatible with HDTV available, probably the consoles of new generation will be those who will do that this technology detaches definitely in our country.

The TDT (at least in Spain) does not offer the necessary band to be able to express in high definition. For it, the most habitual systems to see HDTV will be the cable and the satellite, in the latter case in expectation of what on this matter it could offer Digitalis +.


(© SatCesc, 27/07/06)