Posts with tag russia
Don't get us wrong, the news that Russia's first Winter Games will be in HD is great, obviously, but frankly we've become a bit spoiled as of late. We were figuring by 2014 they'd be moving beyond 3D, 1080p live broadcasts to straight 4K Silverlight streaming, or holograms, or something. Still, as high definition still spreads throughout Russia, for the moment at least, we'll pencil it in as "just" an HD Olympics, and be glad it's not the muddled mess of HDTV and widescreen SD we endured during the Torino Games in 2006.
Following up on a soft launch back in February, Comstar has gone all out with its STREAM high definition IPTV service in Moscow. Coming hand in hand with a speed bump to 20Mb/s this is all a part of the company's ongoing fiber / ADSL2 rollout, offering three HDTV channels -- MelodyZen, Voom TV and Luxe TV -- for RUB 200 ($8 U.S.), and HD VOD movies for $4 U.S. each. Although the launch is a bit behind schedule, plans to reach 80% of subscribers by the end of '09 are still in motion, but we're left wondering why Discovery HD didn't make the final cut.
Already available (and firmware updated) in the U.S., it looks like Panasonic's DMP-BD30EG/EE has a present for European and Russian buyers because when it launches this month, it will be the first DivX Certified Blu-ray player. With no indication of a firmware update to add DivX compatibility to U.S. players, that leaves U.S. buyers the option of the DivX compatible (but not yet certified) PS3, or waiting for Panasonic's DMP-BD50. Even in the post Stage6 world, DivX is a nice bonus to throw on top of Blu-ray playback while we wait for BD Live.
As expected, Russia is getting an influx of HDTV, now that Comstar-Direct has soft launched its high definition service. Featuring the Discovery HD, MelodyZen, Luxe TV and Voom HD channels, plus 10 HD movies via VOD. The IPTV service runs over ADSL2+ modems and HDTV decoders Comstar plans to roll out over the next two years as part of its modernization project. The EngadgetHD Russia readership will hopefully be part of the 80% of Comstar subscribers expected to have HDTV access -- and some additional channels -- by the end of 2009.
Several Russian TV operators have recently released details on plans for HD in the country, where HDTV service just launched last year on satellite via NTV-Plus. First up is HD Media, which has announced plans for up to 15 HD channels to hit Moscow this year, available via cable, IPTV or OTA. One of those providers could be Comcor TV's Akado service, which plans to start trials of two sports HD channels and one film station later this year, followed by a rollout of new HD-compatible set-top boxes in 2009. We don't know what the Kremlin's been watching on its 71-inch gold-plated plasma, but there will definitely be more options available soon.
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