Sony and Panasonic are both hellbent on convincing us their forthcoming super-duper 3D television sets are the future, but before we all start selling off the children and re-mortgaging our homes, how about a little taster of what it might be like? Channel 4, the British answer to a question nobody ever asked, is about to offer up a selection of 3D programming this month, which it dubs as a return to "good old fashioned fun." The menu includes a documentary about the Queen's coronation (in other words, ancient history), a magic show, and even a couple of goodies like Flesh for Frankenstein and Friday the 13th, Part III. If we find can remember to get down to the local Sainsbury's and grab ourselves a free pair of those rad-looking three-dee glasses, you might even be treated to our eyes-on impressions. Watch this three-dimensional space!

[Thanks, Mitch T]

No one ever said the spoils of high-definition came free, and no one knows that better than Dutch commercial broadcaster SBS. The outfit is reportedly holding its hand out and covering its face while asking for payments between €2 to €3 per year, per subscriber, from cable operators in order to pay for HD broadcasts. That's according to Eric Eljon, MD of SBS Productions, who hopes to begin high-def simulcasts within a few months should a deal be reached. In The Netherlands today, there is no license fee at all, with the public broadcasting system paid for out of the general budget; additionally, there's currently no way to recoup the massive increase in cost when switching to HD via advertising alone. C'mon, cable carriers / consumers -- just think of the HD starved children.

[Thanks, Wouter]

We already caught Panasonic gloating about its H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC-related Emmy earlier this year, but now the full list of award winners are getting their moment in the spotlight. TV Technology is reporting that a number of entities, outfits and agencies responsible for fostering growth in the high-def arena are set to accept Emmy awards on the eve of CES 2009. Some of the big winners are the Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service, Advanced Television Systems Committee, the Advanced Television Test Center and the Advanced Television Evaluation Laboratory, all of which helped in "devising the standardization of the ATSC Digital System." Also of note, the Metropolitan Opera was gifted with an award for its achievement in HD "cinema-casting," and awards are headed to Toshiba, Sony, Panasonic, Hitachi, Philips, Molex, Japan Aviation Electronics and Intel (among others) for their work on HDMI. Glasses up to the victors!

Finally, someone with a little sense. It's no secret that we aren't fond of the way European carriers are treating high-def. Rather than investing in more HD channels / bandwidth and waiting for the rush of subscribers, they seem to be waiting for the rush before coughing up any loot. Peter Angell, director of Production & Programming at Host Broadcast Services, has come forward to confess that he is "disappointed that UK and European broadcasters have not embraced HD; flat-panel sales have gone through the roof, [but] the bit that's missing is the broadcasting [of signals]." He continued on to urge these very broadcasters to look to MPEG-4 / H.264 distribution systems to combat the bandwidth dilemma, though we've no clue how much impact one man will have. In somewhat related news, we're also told that 3D for the 2012 London Olympics is "a possibility," but we'll go ahead and warn you not to bet the farm on that one. No harm in hoping, though!

[Image courtesy of Hexus]

While some cable companies have already committed to keeping analog signals around for three years after the impending 2009 digital TV transition, a judge in the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit made it universal. The ruling demands that cable providers "must continue to carry the same broadcast channels that over-the-air viewers receive once those stations make their federally mandated conversion to digital signals in February." In other words, they either switch to an all-digital system or carry both the digital and analog signals of local stations for three years (after the DTV cutover). Judge Judith Rogers asserted that cable companies at large had either already implemented an all-digital system or were "moving in that direction." Hopefully after this, more will make that move with renewed haste.

[Image courtesy of AussieBloggers]

Rest assured, Canadians -- your tax dollars are hard at work. So long as you consider the delivery of more HD hockey "work," that is. Believe it or not, the taxpayer-funded CBC has thrown down nearly $24 million on a pair of broadcasting trucks "so it can show hockey games and cultural events in high-definition." According to CBC spokesman Jeff Keay, it decided to purchase them because doing so provided "better value for the taxpayers" given that it would "cost more to lease them." Granted, it does cost around $55,000 total to broadcast a hockey matchup in high-def, but still, $24 million is a lot of cheese. Ah well, one more reason to buy into HD, right? Wait, you sort of already have if you're Canadian...

[Image courtesy of Flickr]

For Jefferson City-area DISH Network subscribers not positioned anywhere near the KRCG-TV tower, the past few months have been extraordinarily long. On July 2nd, the channel was removed from the satcaster's lineup after talks failed regarding a retransmission agreement. Thankfully, cooler heads have at long last prevailed, and as of last week it has rejoined the lineup in spectacular high-definition. The deal between DISH and Barrington Broadcasting Group, the station's parent company, also paves the way for DISH to launch two more of its stations this month: WEYI (NBC) in Flint, Michigan and KHQA-DT (ABC) in Quincy, Illinois. Oh, happy days.

[Thanks, Joshua]

Wireless HD is having a tough time catching on in the consumer market, but that doesn't mean that things are as dreary in the commercial realm. Fuji Television Network and NTT Corp. are testing out "non-compressed HDTV video transmission using a wireless technology based on the 120GHz milliwave band in live feeds from the Beijing Olympic Games." By utilizing the technology, the duo has demonstrated "simultaneous, wireless transmission of multiple HDTV video channels without delay," essentially enabling camera toting employees to capture footage from more places by being able to walk around untethered. Being able to record spontaneous outbursts from jubilant victors no matter where they are at the Games? Score.

With scads of cable providers slowly but surely converting markets and delivering channels via switched digital video, we reckoned now was an excellent time to dust off the terminology dictionary and dig in deeper. Fittingly, Jarad agreed:

"I've seen that lots of markets are being switched over to SDV lately, and I've noticed CableCARD users are generally upset whenever this happens. Why is that? I thought SDV was supposed to free up space so that more high-definition channels could be distributed on the current network?"

If you've suddenly found yourself wondering the same, head on past the break for the low-down.

Starz Entertainment has been making some pretty big moves of late, the most recent of which involves Motorola. The latter firm has announced that it will be "implementing a four-channel, high-definition MPEG-4/AVC encoding system" for Starz, which it will use to migrate away from its current MPEG-2 installations. It's reported that the change will enable Starz to "expand its HD offerings for subscribers," and as predicted, the system is being first implemented for the outfit's existing HD channels: Starz HD, Starz Kids and Family HD, Starz Edge HD and Starz Comedy HD. Oh, and if you were wondering, the recently unveiled Encore HD will be launched "concurrent with this migration."

Talk about a let down. According to a new report from Variety, Daniel Bilalian -- France Televisions' director of sports programming -- has announced that "HD transmissions would not be available for this summer's Olympic Games on any of the pubcaster's channels." The article also notes that French networks in general have been slow to move towards high-definition, with only Canal Plus putting forth a proposal for premium HD transmissions (from pay-TV providers). Still, it's noted that private networks TF1 and M6 have "committed to airing at least 80-percent of their content in HD by the end of 2012," but it's not like we're really down with twiddling our thumbs for four more years waiting for it to happen.

Smithsonian has already landed a deal to get its high-definition content seen overseas, but now it's looking to share content with our neighbors to the north. Smithsonian Networks has announced a new deal with leading Canadian HD broadcaster High Fidelity HDTV that will see its HD material aired on Oasis HD, Equator HD and Treasure HD -- three of the all-HD channels operated by High Fidelity in Canada. According to the release, Smithsonian Networks programming will be added to the broadcast schedules of the aforementioned channels "within weeks," so at least you folks up there won't be waiting too terribly long to enjoy, eh?

Just after hearing that the Ellen Degeneres Show would be going HD in a few short long months, another daytime favorite (or not, depending on perspective) will also be dipping its toes in the wondrous waters of off-site high-definition. Reportedly, the infamous chit-chat show is set to tape a week of episodes from Sin City next month, as it swoops in on Caesars Palace in Las Vegas from June 23rd through 27th. The excursion will mark the first time The View has broadcast in HDTV while on location, though no details of further involvement were mentioned.

[Image courtesy of Yahoo!]

Just months after BBC HD headed to Taiwan on Chunghwa Telecom and Vastar Cable began HD IPTV trails in the same region, in comes word that local public broadcaster PTS has fired up its first OTA HDTV trial. Currently, the signals are only covering the metropolitan areas of Taipei and Kaohsiung, but if all goes well, we could see it spread to other regions in the near future. Reportedly, the Taiwanese government has provided PTS with an $88 million subsidy in order to "establish a nationwide HDTV broadcast network in three phases," and from what we can gather, the HiHD channel will enable residents to watch the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics in high-definition later this summer. 'Grats, Taiwan!

[Via DigiTimes]

Can you believe it? No really, can you believe ATSC has been kickin' around in TV sets and on street corners for a quarter-century now (okay, so maybe just "established" for that long)? Sure enough, the Advanced Television Systems Committee gathered on Thursday to celebrate its silver anniversary and to take a long hard look at what the future holds. Needless to say, quite a few folks will be getting acquainted with the standard now that the analog shutoff is getting dangerously near. The meeting also touched on taking ATSC mobile with ATSC-M/H and the "next generation of services for fixed receivers" with ATSC 2.0. We know, it's probably all you can do to hold back those tears after hearing of this momentous occasion, but once you're over it, why not chime in below with your fondest ATSC memories? Remember that first digital-tuner TV you got? Yeah, good times.