Is your television HD ready?

It lets you see every blade of grass on the pitch and every bead of sweat on a footballer's brow.

The electronics industry is hoping that the World Cup will help shift thousands of sets

Billed as the biggest breakthrough in picture quality since the arrival of colour in the 1960s, high definition will - from this weekend - be at the centre of a massive marketing push by retailers.

Their aim is to persuade tens of thousands of people to upgrade to a large screen HD television in time for the World Cup finals in Germany in June.

It is predicted that fans will buy 230,000 new televisions next month, most of which will be "HD Ready", generating £113 million for retailers.

BSkyB began to sign up customers for its HD package this week, while the cable company Telewest began its service last month.

But while the arrival of crisper pictures and incredible sound quality is being welcomed by gadget lovers, some industry experts say the initial offerings may be too limited and too expensive.

The Sky HD set top box costs nearly £300, while the HD service is £10 a month on top of a subscription of up to £42.50.

There are also concerns that many people are being persuaded to buy television sets that are too big for their homes.

While HD broadcasts suit the enormous screens that now dominate the sales floors of Comet, Currys and John Lewis, conventional broadcasts look blocky and blurred on any television larger than 30 inches.

HD television officially arrived in Britain last month when Telewest launched its HD "video on demand" - a service where viewers can pick from a library of films and BBC programmes made in HD and watch them whenever they want.

The first full broadcast service starts next month when Sky launches an eight-channel HD package of sports, movies, entertainment and natural history.

Sky and Telewest will also broadcast the BBC's experimental HD channel from mid May. It will include World Cup football and Wimbledon tennis matches, along with a few hours of documentaries and dramas each evening.

HD will not be available via a rooftop aerial until at least 2012 for most people. And other broadcasters, such as ITV and Channel 4, have yet to announce their own national HD trials.

Sky says its HD service will not just appeal to geeks and sports fans. "We know some people have resisted digital pay TV because they have concerns about programme quality," said a spokesman.

"These discerning consumers are exactly the audience who are likely to be interested in a high-end product that delivers quality content and viewing experiences."

Telewest's HD package is smaller than Sky's and is based around video on demand, rather than live TV channels.

Despite the limited number of channels on offer, and the fact that HD is not available via terrestrial broadcasts, shops are continuing to push HD sales hard. The electronics industry, which relies on a new cycle of television technology every six or seven years to boost sales, expects the World Cup to shift thousands of sets.

Some stores now only sell HD ready sets and have abandoned completely the old, cathode ray tube televisions.

The National Consumer Council is concerned that consumers are being pushed into a new technology before they necessarily want it.

"This is classic business behaviour - pushing quite advanced technology on consumers almost before the market is ready because they need to recoup their costs" a spokesman said.

 

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By David Derbyshire, Consumer Affairs Editor
(Filed: 15/04/2006 telegraph.co.uk)