| BBC HD | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Launched | Trial: 15 May 2006 Full: 1 December 2007 |
| Owned by | BBC |
| Picture format | 16:9, 1080i (HDTV) |
| Website | http://www.bbc.co.uk/hd/ |
| Availability | |
| Satellite | |
| Freesat | Channel 108 |
| Sky HD | Channel 143 (IN H.264/MPEG-4 AVC) |
| Astra 2D | 10847V 22000 5/6 |
| Cable | |
| Virgin Media | Channel 108 (VIA V+) |
| Foxtel HD+ (Australia) |
Channel 203 |
BBC HD is the high-definition television channel launched by the BBC on a trial basis from 15 May 2006, with the first HD originated programme, Planet Earth, shown on 27 May. Events 1252 - Pope Innocent IV issues the Papal bull Ad exstirpanda, which authorizes but also limits the Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 800 - Charlemagne judges the accusations against Pope Leo III in the Vatican Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The aspect ratio of an Image is its width divided by its height High-definition television (HDTV is a Digital television Broadcasting system with higher resolution than traditional television systems (standard-definition Freesat is a British Free-to-air digital Satellite television service developed by the BBC H264 is a standard for Video compression. It is also known as MPEG-4 Part 10, or MPEG-4 AVC (for Advanced Video Coding) See Also Astra 2A co-located satellite Astra 2B co-located satellite Astra 2C co-located satellite Virgin Media Inc (formerly known as ntlTelewest, after a merger of NTL Incorporated with Telewest Global Inc V+ (previously known as TV Drive) is a product from Virgin Media which provides Personal Video Recording (PVR and Foxtel is an Australian Pay television company formed through a joint venture between Telstra, News Corporation and Consolidated Media For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. High-definition television (HDTV is a Digital television Broadcasting system with higher resolution than traditional television systems (standard-definition Events 1252 - Pope Innocent IV issues the Papal bull Ad exstirpanda, which authorizes but also limits the Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Planet Earth is an Emmy Award and Peabody Award -winning BBC Nature documentary series narrated by David Attenborough and Events 927 - Simeon the Great, Tsar of Bulgaria, dies 1120 - Richard III of Capua is anointed
The broadcasts are generally two to five hours per day, and include simulcasts with BBC channels, such as Michael Palin's New Europe and Hustle (also on BBC One), and replays of HD programmes such as Planet Earth, Bleak House, Torchwood, and Hotel Babylon. Michael Palin's New Europe is a travel documentary presented by Michael Palin and first aired in the UK on the BBC in 2007 and in the US on the Travel Hustle is a British television comedy-drama series made by Kudos Film & Television for BBC One in the United Kingdom. Planet Earth is an Emmy Award and Peabody Award -winning BBC Nature documentary series narrated by David Attenborough and Bleak House is a fifteen-part BBC television drama serial Adaptation of Charles Dickens ' novel Bleak House, Torchwood is a British science fiction Drama Television programme, created by Russell T Davies and starring John Barrowman Hotel Babylon is a BBC television drama series based on the book of the same name by Imogen Edwards-Jones, first shown in January 2006 Live coverage of events such as The Proms, Wimbledon, the Eurovision Song Contest, the World Cup, and the Concert for Diana have already been shown, with the first live event to be broadcast being the opening game between Germany and Costa Rica which took place on 9 June 2006. The Proms, more formally known as The BBC Proms, or The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily Orchestral The Championships Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon, is the oldest Tennis tournament in the world and is widely considered as the most prestigious The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th instance of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament Concert for Diana was a concert held at the new Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom in honour of Diana Princess of The German national football team (Die deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft From 1950 to 1990 the team was also informally called West Germany in English as since The Costa Rica national football team, nicknamed La Sele, is the national team of Costa Rica and is controlled by the Federación Costarricense de Fútbol Events 53 - Roman Emperor Nero marries Claudia Octavia 62 - Claudia Octavia commits
When high-definition programmes are not being shown, the channel broadcasts a looped preview containing clips from BBC HD programmes.
Initially the trial lasted 12 months, after which the BBC Trust agreed to a Public Value Test (PVT) which began on 21 May 2007 and the BBC extended its own HD trial, which was to end in June, until the end of the PVT process. Events 878 - Syracuse Italy is captured by the Muslim sultan of Sicily. It was announced on 19 November 2007 by the BBC Trust that following the PVT they had approved the BBC Executive's high definition television proposals to allow the launch of UK's first free-to-air, mixed-genre public service HD channel. Events 1095 - The Council of Clermont, called by Pope Urban II to discuss sending the First Crusade to the Holy Land [1]
BBC HD was moved from a trial service to a full service on 1 December 2007. Events 800 - Charlemagne judges the accusations against Pope Leo III in the Vatican
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Technical details and availability
BBC HD was first available to viewers of the Astra 2D satellite (Sky HD EPG No. See Also Astra 2A co-located satellite Astra 2B co-located satellite Astra 2C co-located satellite 143) and Virgin Media cable service subscribers (EPG No. Virgin Media Inc (formerly known as ntlTelewest, after a merger of NTL Incorporated with Telewest Global Inc 108) with suitable reception equipment. The channel was also broadcast as a digital terrestrial (DVB-T) service from London's Crystal Palace Transmitter until May 2007, enabling the channel to be viewed by a selected trial group of 450 homes. DVB-T is an abbreviation for Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial; it is the DVB European-based consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of The Crystal Palace transmitting station is a Broadcasting and Telecommunications site in the Crystal Palace area of the London Borough of Bromley
Both the satellite and terrestrial broadcasts were free to air, which means that anybody with the required equipment (for example, an adequately powerful personal computer with a DVB-S or DVB-T interface and suitable software) were able to view the channel during the trial. Free-to-air (FTA Television (TV and Radio broadcasts are sent unencrypted and may be received via any suitable receiver Free-to-view DVB-S is the original Digital Video Broadcasting forward error coding and modulation standard for Satellite television and dates from 1995 DVB-T is an abbreviation for Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial; it is the DVB European-based consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of The broadcasts are typically at a resolution of 1440x1080, and encoded in H. 264/MPEG-4 AVC.
The BBC has, therefore, been the only terrestrial broadcaster so far to offer a "platform neutral" HD offering. ITV's trial HD channel was not available by satellite, but was carried on cable. Channel 4 and Five carried out broadcasts in HD, although these were very limited and only available as part of the closed Freeview trial in London.
The channel is not currently available via the digital terrestrial service. The BBC claims a lack of available bandwidth on this service.
BBC HD service
The BBC has been approved to provide a service of nine hours per day, 15:00 to midnight, with some flexibility to extend beyond this to allow for the coverage of significant live sport or other events. The BBC Trust stated that the service should be available on cable and satellite as soon as the service licence was effective, and the channel had its official launch on 1 December 2007. Events 800 - Charlemagne judges the accusations against Pope Leo III in the Vatican The decision to provide an early Freeview four-hour overnight schedule has been put on hold with the preferred option being to provide the full nine-hour service as soon as possible, this will be reviewed in spring 2008 when there will be greater clarity over spectrum bandwidth and broadcast standards for DTTV. Freeview is an operator of free Digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom, using the DVB-T standard
The BBC HD channel will be a mixed-genre service. Its aim, as far as possible, will be to showcase programmes produced in HD from the schedules of other BBC channels. These will be broadcast in HD end-to-end, not converted from standard definition (SD). Any individual programme may contain up to 25 per cent of non-HD material converted from SD — for example, archive shots in a documentary.
The content will come from across the BBC's portfolio of television channels. It was found by the BBC Trust from the PVT that there was considerable support for BBC HD to show programmes in prime time that would most benefit from the uplift to HD, and not to be just a channel that would simulcast BBC One programmes at this time.
Sports coverage
So far, the BBC has broadcast the 2006 World Cup, Wimbledon, Open Golf, England football internationals, action from the FA Cup and Six Nations rugby in high definition. The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football, run by and named after The Six Nations Championship (referred to as RBS 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons known before 2000 as the Five Nations Championship, is an annual international The US Masters golf from Augusta National was screened in HD for the first time in 2007. The Masters Tournament, also known as The Masters or The US Masters (outside of the United States is one of four major championships in men's Augusta National Golf Club, located in the American city of Augusta Georgia, is one of the most storied and exclusive golf clubs in the world Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
The Euro 2008 Championships are also being broadcast by the BBC.
International
It was announced in September 2006 that BBC Worldwide plans to broadcast an international version of BBC HD in the near future. Events in September It is the start of the academic year in many countries in the Northern Hemisphere. During the first broadcast of BBC World News America, it was announced that BBC America HD will be launched in 2008. BBC America is an American Television network owned and operated by BBC Worldwide Americas, and available on both cable and satellite No exact date is known as of now. In Australia, an Australian version of BBC HD will be broadcast on the Foxtel HD+ service to launch later in 2008. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Foxtel is an Australian Pay television company formed through a joint venture between Telstra, News Corporation and Consolidated Media In late 2008 BBC HD will be also launched in Poland. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland It has been reported that it will focus on documentaries and drama.
BBC HD preview trailer/filler
During its trial period, BBC HD rarely used trailers for specific programmes as it was a test channel. Between the programmes, two different fillers are used of varying lengths. The music used for the filler is "The Ball" by Craig Armstrong. Craig Armstrong (born 1959 is a Scottish Composer of modern Orchestral music Electronica and Film scores Career
See also
References
External links
- BBC HD at bbc.co.uk
- BBC HD International
- How to receive BBC HD at bbc.co.uk
- Report on the digital terrestrial HD trial at bbc.co.uk
- Information about the London HDTV trial and screenshots of BBC HD
- BBC HD at TV Ark
- BBC Trust Public Value Test Final Conclusions document
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