TV GOES SKY HIGH

Television entered a new era today when Sky made its first live public high definition broadcast.

Malcolm Baird, son of the inventor of the television John Logie Baird was on hand at the successful transmission to members of the UK press in London’s Soho this morning.

Described as being the biggest revolution in TV picture quality in decades, High Definition broadcasts use at least four times the amount of picture data than today's 'standard definition' telly - making for clearer, sharper images with a greater sense of depth.

Sky plans to launch its HD service to customers early next year, offering special high quality picture versions of Sky Sports, Sky Movies, Sky One and Artsworld.

HD versions of The Discovery Channel and MTV are also rumoured to make up part of the launch with other channels set to follow throughout 2006.

As well as a satellite dish, and a special new receiver box similar to the current Sky+ digital recorder, subscribers will also need a plasma, LCD or rear projection TV that is 'HD Ready’ in order to view the broadcasts.

Cable broadcasters Telewest and NTL are both expected to launch rival HD services in the near future, while the BBC also aims to test the format on digital terrestrial TV in London next year.

HDTV is already widely available in Japan, Canada, Australia and South Korea and the US, while Microsoft’s soon-to-be-released Xbox 360 games console also uses high definition technology to provide ultra-realistic graphics.