Several television operators, equipment manufacturers, network operators and service providers, as well as different European and national workgroups, attended a workshop on high definition television and the introduction thereof in Europe, organized by the European Commission, in Brussels, on 21 January, where the opportunity for introducing the digital high definition television (HDTV) in Europe was discussed.
In the scope of this workshop, several technical options for the implementation of the HDTV in the European space were approached, the participants having agreed that the coexistence and interoperability among the available HDTV specifications should be promoted.
European HDTV broadcasting systems shall be able to support both the 720 lines progressive scanning (720p) and the 1080 lines interlaced scanning (1080i) format. Television equipment shall support both formats. In the longer term, the use of the 1080 progressive format is also foreseen, even though it is more costly. High definition equipment should also support MPEG-2 as well as the new advanced compression coding systems, such as MPEG-4 part 10 and VC-1.
An European conference on the HDTV is scheduled for 7 June 2005, in Luxembourg, co-organized by the Luxembourg Presidency of the EU and the Commission.
Further information:
- Fair wind for digital high definition television in Europe http://www.europa.eu.int/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemlongdetail.cfm?item_id=1648
Related information on ANACOM's website:
- Wide screen and high definition television under discussion https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=253261
- Digital television https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?categoryId=2963
