Freeview hi-def set for pre-Xmas switch-on

High definition is about to go mainstream with the launch of Freeview HD services on 2 December. The Granada region in England’s North-West - including Manchester and Liverpool - will be the first area in the UK to receive BBC HD, ITV HD and Channel 4HD when the Winter Hill transmitter starts to broadcast in MPEG-4.

London’s Crystal Palace transmitter will follow in late December, while Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Birmingham and Leeds should be covered well before June 2010.

That’s a magical date for consumers, because that month’s World Cup in South Africa will be broadcast in high definition on both BBC HD and ITV HD.

By the end of 2010 the BBC is hoping that Freeview HD will be available to 16 million people, though it’s the world Cup that could put a spike in sales of new Freeview HD set-top boxes and integrated TVs.

The likes of Humax, LG and Panasonic are expected to sell Freeview HD set-top boxes early in 2010, though Sony demoed a Freeview HD-equipped LCD TV at September’s IFA.

With the BBC keen to introduce iPlayer to the Freeview service, the new generation of Freeview HD set-top boxes are likely to feature an Ethernet port.

Freeview HD is scheduled to take around three years to rollout to the whole of the UK, and broadly follow digital switchover - only transmitters that have gone digital-only can broadcast HD channels. 2012 should also see the arrival of the Five HD channel.

Retailers could have a tough time explaining the ‘HD switchover’ process to consumers, especially in the early days; with no Freeview HD set-top boxes currently on sale, Freeview HD is likely to have a very soft launch in December.

September’s ‘big retune’ helped clear Multiplex B - the spectrum reserved for high definition DVB-T2 broadcasts across the whole of the UK - of all SD streams, though that’s meant sacrificing a video stream on the BBC’s Red Button service and the BBC News Multiscreen stream.
www.freeview.co.uk/freeview/Services/Freeview-HD