High Definition Television in India News\Updates

[W i d e S c r e e N]

Fellow Members, this thread is an effort to enlist developments related to High Definition Television "Industry" in India.

Dish TV to Launch HD platform by year end

SOURCE New Delhi (PTI), May 2008: With high definition technology catching the imagination of premium quality video and audio lovers, direct-to-home service provider Dish TV will launch high definition (HD) platform by the end of this year. The company, which recently announced free set top boxes (STBs) for its subscribers, has plans to introduce the latest Motion Picture Expert Group 4 (MPEG) technology enabled STBs along with the HD platform for broadcasting. It is also holding talks with TV channels for production of HD content.

"We will launch HD platform along with MPEG 4 coming Diwali for the subscribers. We are also talking to a 2-3 TV channels and get into commercial arrangements for High Definition content," Dish TV Managing Director Jawahar Goel told PTI. Existing DTH players Tata Sky and Bharti Telemedia, which are soon expected to announce their entry into the domain, are also equipped to provide HD platforms to its audiences.

"We have the HD technology ready with us, but there is no content in India at the moment. We will bring the technology in the market whenever the market is ready for it," Tata Sky Chief Marketing Officer Vikram Mehra said. Similarly, Bharti Telemedia Executive Director N Arjun said, "The equipment which we are using is HD enabled, at the moment we will launch the service in standard definition but going forward will bring in HD."

National Geographic Channel HD to be added to NGC India

SOURCE May 08. After a decade-long presence in the country, National Geographic Channel (NGC) India, part of the NGC Network, is set to add four new channels including Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Adventure, Nat Geo Music and Nat Geo HD (high definition). NGC India currently operates NGC and the History Channel, and claims it is making a profit from its India operations.

NGC has been here for the last 11 years and History Channel for about five years. We are adding four more high-quality channels because they are new offerings for the NGC group globally. The four channels have been launched in last couple of years and we think we have been quick in bringing them to the Indian viewers.

Discovery Networks plans to launch Discovery HD

SOURCE New Delhi, July 31 Discovery Networks plans to launch three new channels next year, taking its portfolio to six. The three channels are: a science channel (Discovery Science), a channel dedicated to bikes, cars, boats and “all things motored” (Discovery Turbo) and a High Definition channel (Discovery HD) which would be a premium service and probably cost consumers more than their average channel.

The High Definition, said Mr Johri, was a medium tailormade for Discovery which featured great cultural and wildlife footage. The audience of high definition television owners, though very small, was a significant one, he added. Declining to share investment figures, Mr Johri said the company would spend as much as was required for a successful launch of any channel. Distribution costs he admitted had “gone through the roof”, however, he said advertising interest was still high.


Posted News in this Thread,

• Big TV touches half a million subscriber-mark, promises HD Broadcasts
• Big TV charts plan to bring HD content into India
• Dish TV, TataSky plan to roll out DVR technology
• MTNL and Aksh announce Multi play and High Definition Television viewing for Indian customers on Fibre To The Home (FTTH)
• Indian Carriers Commit to FTTH
• ESPN Star Sports to telecast Champions League Twenty20 in HD
• Sun Direct ushers in high definition TV viewing

News

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...3&subclass=087
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...t/13357212.cms
http://news.google.com/news?client=o...=1&sa=N&tab=wn
http://www.indiantelevision.com/head...dlineindex.htm

http://www.engadgethd.com/
http://www.lyngsat.com/


DISCUSSION BOARDS AND THREADS

http://zulm.net/
http://www.indiabroadband.net/direct...te-cable-iptv/
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=680748
http://www.hashhu.com/forums/index.php?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_television
http://www.indiantelevision.co.in/in...toryoftele.htm


\ ON FORUM
Reliance's DTH (Blue Magic\ BigTV) to use MPEG4?
Bollywood's First Blue Ray Released
Twenty20 Australia Vs India 720p HDTV pics (56K warning)
RCom, Microsoft to launch IPTV
India's Prasar Bharati plans for HDTV in 2010
HDTV In INDIA ??
Blue-Ray Disc and HDDVD
Blu-ray Vs HD DVD
Basic Guide Purchase a new System

[hellgate]

thats gr8 new.at last we'r goin HD.

[naveen_reloaded]

Should be stickied for sometime!

Please update this thread regularly..

[NIGHTMARE]

thanks

[iinfi]

will they change all the existing STBs which they v provided for MPEG 4. or it is not needed?

[hellgate]

the stbs that dishtv is providing now r mpeg 2 rt,not mpeg4.

[naveen_reloaded]

I dont think they will change stb for free.. I heard that hd stb cost nearly 5-8k...
Don know for sure...

[The Conqueror]

Amazing...

[ax3]

great effort @W i d e S c r e e N .......

[shadow2get]

@W i d e S c r e e N
Gr8 News ... have been waiting for HD broadcast to happen from a long time.
Thanks & keep it updated.

[desiibond]

What I really want is Ftv on HD

[Davidboon]

great at last we gonna get hd television content, waiting to see discovery in hd

[abhijit_reddevil]

Good! At last I can utilize the full potential of my LG 32" LCD TV (32LC7R).

[thewisecrab]

Finally
HD invades India (still some time left, but what the heck )
It'll be fun to see Nat GEO in HD
Cable operators show it with horrible quality
But,
Will existing operators be able to provide this service? (eg. Win Cable, Set Top Box providers, DTH providers, etc.)

[amrawtanshx]

Originally Posted by desiibond

What I really want is Ftv on HD

[NIGHTMARE]

guys hear some news the IPL broadcast on only Big Tv

[W i d e S c r e e N]

Thank You all for support
I would try and keep this as up-to-date as possible but, please help out.
The "NEWS" bookmarks will get u to pages dedicated to this Industry and would be able to provide reliable news updates.

Originally Posted by thewisecrab

But, Will existing operators be able to provide this service?

from your cable operator a fibre optic cable straight to your home which will give you broadband, tv,

[naveen_reloaded]

I think he was asking whether the current players like dish ,tata can give this feature... To which i would say NO!.
Coz their stb is not compatible to recieve HD signal...

So i thing they will start giving stb for 2-5k...

[W i d e S c r e e N]

Big TV touches half a million subscriber-mark, promises HD Broadcasts

SOURCE Big TV, the DTH arm of Reliance Communications, has touched the figure of 500000 5subscribers within two months of its launch. The company is now targeting five million subscribers within the first year of operations and plans to double its channel bouquet from 200 to 400 by next year.

Big TV had already tied up with Thomson Headend Systems for a complete head-end system to boost its number of channels. To augment its growth plans, it had already booked four more transponders of the MEASAT satellite, which would take its total transponder capacity to 12.

The world’s latest MPEG4 technology platform on Big TV enables it to offer double the number of channels in the same transponder capacity as against established DTH players.

On future plans, Mr. Kapoor said the company would launch DVR (digital video recorder) by December-end and also plans to launch interactive cricket and interactive news by then. By mid-2009, the company expected to have launched 15-20 high definition (HD) channels.

[desiibond]

I think even at this point of time 90% of Indians use non-HD Television sets and I don't think there will be heavy FullHD broadcast till the 90% share comes down to atleast 60%.

[parthbarot]

i thnk we should wait for this news to be true... ...may be BigTV can't give full HD...wht u say?they giving MP4... so lets hope wil have HD in a year or so...

regards,
Parth.

[Zangetsu]

India Shining

[sam9s]

TATA SKY ..... "Tum Kaha Ho"....

[paroh]

They are not able to maintain the dvd so how will they provide HD quality. It is just like that mtnl or bsnl providing 2mbps with 400mb of limited download

[comp@ddict]

Originally Posted by desiibond

What I really want is Ftv on HD

GO FTV

[VarDOS]

wow...waiting for year-end...

[IronManForever]

Originally Posted by W i d e s c r e e n

Big TV, the DTH arm of Reliance Communications, has touched the figure of five subscribers within two months of its launch.

Great achievement.

[naveen_reloaded]

Instead of going to HD first, why wont they ask the indian channels to improve their quality, coz it sucks big time..,

Only sun network is giving quality video...and sound!
Others suck

[W i d e S c r e e N]

@ IronManForever,
Sorry, typo at Source.

Should've been "500000 subscribers within two months of launch" .



Big TV charts plan to bring HD content into India

SOURCE Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) owned Big TV, that has recently entered the nascent but highly competitive direct-to-home (DTH) segment, is planning to offer high definition (HD) content in India by buying thousands of hours of programming from international channels and packaging them here. With widescreen, crystal clear cinematic picture and surround sound, HD content is expected to attract niche viewership once it catches on in the country. Such content is created through special cameras and high-end technology.

Although dearth of HD compliant TV sets and HD content have stymied the growth of HD services in India, that is set to change by the turn of the year. While television manufacturers like Sony are planning to bring HD-compliant TV sets to India, a few HD channels are also expected to be in place by then. Arun Kapoor, president, Big TV, said, “We can buy a few thousand hours of programming from international channels and package them in India as a channel.”

Broadcasters like Star, Sony and ESPN have HD content internationally, which could be brought to India, say industry sources. Niche services like HD content are crucial for attracting viewership in top Indian markets. As such, in the DTH business, average revenue per user (ARPU) is very low at Rs 200 per subscriber, said Kapoor. Big TV has identified that the revenue in the top 100 markets in India will be driven by value-added-services and HD content and are high ARPU markets, while the revenue for the rest of India will be driven by subscriptions.

“Next year, Big TV hopes to showcase 15-20 HD channels. Currently, the set-top-box of all DTH players except for Big TV is Mpeg 2 compliant which does not support HD content.

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[rosemolr]

HD Era Had Already Started!