Dirty Harry
Active Member
Is there anywhere you can find out when certain channels will add an HD version ? BBC HD is superb but thats all i get through the Panasonic G10 at the mo, a very limited service it seems but hopefully not for too long 
Well when you think about it the bulk of the free mainstream channels comes from 3 main broadcasters all of which for various reasons don't have the cash to invest heavily in HD especially when it does not generate any significant new revenue.
The only real thing we know is that DTT HD should be with us within a year if Freeview HD doesn't stumble then we should see a more recognisable HD offering from the BBC, ITV and CH4 with Five if they get win the license, these channels you would assume would be then mirrored on Dsat.
You should get ITVHD as well and be able to manually add LuxeHD to a Freesat tuner equipped telly.
Is ITV HD through the red button mate ?
A recent article I was reading (I'm afraid I can't remember the source) was suggesting that the additional costs of HD production are around 10%, though that obviously depends on the type of show, and it can be much higher in some cases.
So, in one way, the question boils down to "When will major broadcasters think its worth adding 10% or more on to the cost of every programme?"
And that's not likely until there's an upturn in advertising, for the commercial channels at least.
given the pressure on funding that the likes of the BBC have, I think it's amazing we get as much HD out of them as we do. We'd all like to see more HD, but in the present climate I think waiting for natural equipment replacement is the most sensible thing for many broadcasters, including the BBC, rather than investing heavily for what's still only a minority of the viewing population.