Picture resolution in television has always been a problem. Depending on where you are in the world, the resolution of your TV broadcasts were widely different, with the US using NTSC (480 horizontal lines interlaced), while Europe and Australia use PAL (576 horizontal lines interlaced). Even today, if you buy a US DVD, you’ll only be able to watch it at 480i.

With high definition though, resolution becomes a constant globally (although refresh rates – which are part of the NTSC/PAL standards – are another thing all together). You either get 1280 x 720 progressive or 1920 x 1080 interlaced or progressive, no matter where you are in the world.

The first HD broadcasts occurred in 1996 in the US, although at that stage there weren’t HD TVs to enjoy the experience, instead being watched in special theatres capable of receiving the HD signal. Europe launched HD broadcasts in 2004, eight years later.

In Australia, High Definition has been relatively slow to roll out. Originally mandated to be a part of the launch of digital television in 2001, the free-to-air networks managed to get out of broadcasting true HD content thanks to the Australian Government’s false belief that 576p was high definition. In 2003, the Government changed their tune, requiring networks to broadcast 1040 hours a year of high definition content in the major cities around the country, although that could still be 576p content.

In fact, it was only in 2007 that the networks were able to launch an HD channel that broadcast completely different content to their SD offering. Ten was the first to announce their HD multi-channel plans, although Seven actually launched first in October 2007. Ten’s HD channel launched in December 2007 and Nine followed in March 2008. On the upside, the huge uptake in HD televisions meant that all three networks are broadcasting in 1080i, rather than the 576p some were passing off as HD.

Today, HD is now starting to truly make its mark. The Ten network launched One HD, a channel dedicated to HD sport earlier this year. Seven and Nine both have HD channels. Foxtel, which launched HD in May 2008, recently expanded their HD offering to more than 15 HD channels.

Considering how quickly we’ve gone from nothing to having a pretty wide selection of HD, it means the next few years will be pretty exciting for high quality TV pictures, especially as more and more HDTVs make their way into homes.

History of TV is Giz AU’s month-long look back at the development of the world-changing medium and its influence on our daily lives.

Pumped through a Wii PC emulator, these images are just upscaled versions of the SMG’s existing graphics—in other words, you’re not even seeing what advanced hardware/graphics engines can do with additional texture or lighting. But with a boost in sharpness alone (more pixels), the Wii looks simply splendid in HD. Edges are smooth and objects are crisp, which is really all you need with Nintendo’s trademark artistic style. Yeah, I hope that analysts predicting a Wii HD aren’t totally full of it.
See lots more shots in their native rez at: [NeoGAF via Kotaku]

JVC latest projectors—one at 8K (8,192×4,320pixels) and the other at 4K (3,840×2,160pixels)—come with 10,000 lumens of brightness and produce a 5500:1 contrast ratio.

JVC has also created a prototype of their new 4K handheld camcorders, which shoot in 4240p and was made to be more of a broadcasting camera. Although release dates and prices are yet to be announced, they are rumoured to cost under $US200k, which is not that surprising considering that this cutting-edge technology is aimed more at professionals. [Akihabara New via CrunchGear]

The question is – is this really what Channel 9 thinks of HD? As much as I Dream of Jeannie was a classic in its day, it doesn’t quite stack up to 1080p HD quality. Or are Channel 9 just testing the waters for their second SD channel which is set to launch later this year? Considering the lack of fanfare about this change of programming, the answer to that question looks to be a resounding yes.

Now we just need someone – anyone – to start giving us good quality TV shows in true HD, rather than just sport or (admittedly brilliant) nature documentaries.

[TV Tonight]

“I’d also expect that within the next 12-18 months that High Definition film and television content will be available through the Playstation Network.”

We’ve been watching the US enjoy HD movie and TV content via Xbox Live and the Playstation Network for years now, and all we’ve heard to date locally is that it’s something that is being looked into. Sure, the 12-18 month timeframe is as good as saying “sometime in the future”, but it’s the closest thing we’ve got to a release date yet.

We’ll try and get some more on this in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

Here’s the clip:

As David Knox over at TV Tonight so aptly puts it: D’oh!

[TV Tonight]

In fact, a recent survey revealed that one in five HDTV owners can’t even tell the difference between standard def and high def. But what about you? Can you really tell the difference?

[Image via HDTV on the Dish]

You need to upgrade to the iQ2 PVR in order to receive the HD channels, and despite the fact that Foxtel has an installation cost of $200 for the iQ2 plus an ongoing subscription fee, the PVR itself almost makes the whole setup worth it. You can record two seperate programs while watching a third, while a fourth tuner downloads on demand programs straight to your box that you can watch at your leisure. Next year, Foxtel promises to update the box to enable the ethernet port for viewing IPTV content as well, offering even more content.

When you first get the HD+ service setup, you’ll almost certainly spend the better part of the first week watching nothing but the HD channels. But then, after a while, you’ll find your interest waning, especially if you don’t watch a lot of sport. In the three months I’ve been trialling the service, I watched ESPN HD once, just to check it out. It looks fantastic, but is very US-centric in its sports coverage. Fox Sports HD is better for Aussie content, but (and this is a very personal preference) lacks Rugby Union coverage, which is my football code of choice. Which essentially adds up to two sports channels I practically never watched.

Box Office HD is nice – $6 for a HD movie rental is a pretty good price. As with all the HD channels, video quality is pretty spectacular, and the On Demand aspect works an absolute treat. Despite the disappointment of the film itself, I Am Legend was enjoyable to watch thanks to the graphic detail you get from watching films in HD.

Discovery HD and Nat Geo HD were switched on a lot more frequently than the sports channels, and some of the documentaries they showed were breathtaking – one particular show on the Ice Hotel in northern Sweden had me sitting there with my mouth agape for an hour, so amazing was the picture. BBC HD, on the other hand, doesn’t know what it wants to be, jumping from documentaries to BBC series like Robin Hood to opera concerts… and it’s obviously very British. Aside from the magnificent Planet Earth documentaries, BBC HD just seemed to want to be something for everyone and ended up not offering too much at all.

And that’s the biggest problem with Foxtel’s HD+ at the moment. There’s a lack of variety – it’s all sport and documentaries, with a little bit of British thrown in. And there are repeats: I saw BBC’s Planet Earth air probably three or four times over three months, and that’s just what I actually noticed myself.

Where are the classic TV shows like Lost or Heroes in HD? In fact, where’s any of the American and Australian entertainment programming? For Foxtel customers who get their Pay TV via underground cable, there’s at least access to the free-to-air HD channels through the iQ2. For people like me who get their Foxtel via a satellite on the roof, we have to wait until next year after the launch of the Optus D3 satellite before we can enjoy the FTA HD channels through the iQ2. If you want to be entertained with comedy or drama from the US or Australia, the HD+ is sorely lacking at the moment.

Foxtel have already announced that they plan to launch even more HD and SD channels once that Optus D3 satellite is launched into orbit and activated in 2009. And that will be the point that Foxtel’s HD+ service really becomes an attractive proposition. At the moment, despite the amazing picture quality the five channels on offer and the ability to watch HD movies on demand is not enough to justify the expense, no matter how good the iQ2 PVR is or how much you love HD…

[Foxtel on Giz]

AU: Note that in Australia, we still don’t have HD TV shows, and probably won’t until our broadband situation improves…

[Pocket Lint]