The BBC needs your views on its HD future
On the 9th June last year the BBC officially launched their trial HD channel which has been available via satellite, cable and terrestrial (in London) broacasting. The highlights included sporting events such as the World Cup and Wimbledon, as well as documentaries and drama such as Planet Earth and Bleak House. Those of us who have had the opportunity to watch it the last year have certainly appreciated the quality of the images.
The original trial was due to end this month but the BBC trust have now launched a "public value test" to determine what the future of HD from the BBC will be and they have extended the life of BBC HD in the meantime. According to the new proposal, BBC HD will grow to a full service by the end of 2008 with programs from 3pm to midnight. There will be more material broadcast simultaneously with the SD versions on the other BBC channels and a lot less repeats than the current offering.
The service would continue to be available via satellite and cable with a special nighttime service on terrestrial digital channels. Sadly most of the intergrated freeview receivers sold in HDTVs will not be HD capable so special external equipment will be needed. However, the BBC offers a range of other options including internet broadcasts via iPlayer for those with sufficient bandwidth. iPlayer has now completed trials with a limited number of viewers and was approved by the BBC trust in April for launch later this year. iPlayer uses peer-to-peer streaming video technology similar to that offered by Joost. It will be possible to store programs on the PC subject to DRM limitations which allowing viewing for up to 7 days, so even if you dont have the bandwidth to stream HD content live you can record it and watch it smoothly later. Services like this will give a great boost to the media PC industry in the UK.
Another platform for BBC HD will be Freesat which the BBC have developed in co-operation with ITV. This service has also been recently approved by the trust and will be launched in 2008. It will offer a viable alternative to BSkyB satellite which is currently the most common way to receive BBC HD. Although BBC HD on Atsra satellite is Free-To-Air it hooks into Sky's EPG. If you have a Sky HD box without a Sky subscription you can still watch BBC HD but you cannot record it. Other HD satellite recievers are available but they cannot receive much other HD content apart from BBC HD so few people use them. With the launch of Freesat the situation will change dramatically.
For the BBC to not extend its HD service would be like them sticking to black and white in the 1970s and would leave the UK lagging in video technology. yet the BBC have still not made a final decision and are requesting opinions from UK license payers. If you want to contribute you have until 19th June. The proposal documents and consultation forms are available here.