Opinion divided on HDTV appeal

An industry event designed to promote high definition television (HDTV) has highlighted strong disagreements centring on the technology's popularity in Europe.

Film producers and hardware vendors are firmly behind the technology, which offers twice the resolution of standard television broadcasts.

Although HDTV programmes are being screened in Asia and North America, customers in Europe are holding back from investing in the technology, and broadcasts via satellite only started this year.

But speaking at the HDTV Sony event, Sony Europe president Chris Deering said: "Once you show HDTV people are hooked. Viewers become instantly thirsty for the big screen television experience. We are on the cusp of a change as fundamental as the shift to colour from black and white."

This optimism, however, is not shared by industry experts. Datamonitor has produced a report on HDTV in Europe which predicts a slow start for the technology in the home.

The analyst predicted that HDTV will penetrate some 4.8 million European households by the end of 2008, up from 50,000 in 2003.

However, Deering insisted that the change will be "far more dramatic than the predictions".

"Although the consumer market will develop slowly, due to the high price of consumer equipment, broadcasters/producers should prepare and must begin to substantially upgrade their equipment and infrastructure from today," he said.

Deering cited the rapid spread of the company's Playstation as an example of how quickly new technology can spread. He also confirmed that all of Sony's film archive was being remastered for high definition viewing.