Antenna Hungária extends HD test transmission of m1 and m2 on MinDig TV until end of February

Given its success, Antenna Hungária (AH) extends the HD test transmission using m1 HD and m2 HD programs on the MinDig TV digital terrestrial television platform until the end of February. Based on the feedbacks from the distributors and from the viewers, the picture quality of the free-to-air HD channels on the MinDig TV platform puts the terrestrial platform in pole position notably because of the state-of-the-art technologies.

As it was published earlier, Antenna Hungária started the test transmission of m1 and m2 programs on December 23, 2008. Both programs are now available subscription-free in HD format in the MinDig TV digital terrestrial television service in Budapest region on the channel 55, in Kabhegy region on the channel 64, and in Szentes region on the channel 60. Given its success, AH extends the HD test transmission using m1 HD and m2 HD programs on the MinDig TV digital terrestrial television platform until the end of February.

AH has put Hungary at the forefront of the introduction of HD programs in Europe, by this the company provides high-quality television for free for a long-term.

Based on the first experience of the terrestrial free-to-air HD services, TV manufacturers and distributors started to boost up the promotion of TV-sets equipped with a DVB-T MPEG-4 HD tuner, which enable the viewers to watch free-to-air HD content on the DVB-T platform. There are couple of hundred thousands HD-ready TV-sets at the Hungarian households and there was a huge demand for these equipments during the last Christmas period. According to the estimations of Screen Digest, 73% of the households will be HD-ready by 2012 in Hungary.

According to the studies there is a growing demand from the viewers for native free-to-air HD programs. There is a bright future for the HD services in Europe, as based on the study of a market research company, Understanding & Solutions, the ratio of HD-ready displays at the households in Europe will reach 40% in 2009 and 60% in 2010 (20 European countries’ average, including Hungary) and these households demand for native language real-HD contents.

According to the DVB-T HD trial results in the UK, 98% of participants believed it is important for HD content to be available on the DVB-T platform, for 71% of the trial participants, HDTV will become the quality benchmark for all television in the future.

TDF in France started the first European DVB-T commercial HD broadcasting last autumn with great success, including the three most popular free-to-air public and commercial programs. Based on a study as of October 2008, 79% of the households considered that the channels on the DVB-T platform should be available in HD and without subscription.

According to a French study made by LUTIN – a science laboratory for digital information technology usage – whenever the same program can be watched in SD or HD, 70% of participants’ time was spent on HD. 77% of the people questioned said they prefer HD and 76% find HD better quality. HD significantly increases the time spent on a channel: when zapping, TV viewers prefer a HD program (+12.5%) on which they spend a longer zapping time (+ 25%). HDTV viewers gave more detailed information on the image while they also concentrate better on the image and take in a wider range of the image. These results show that HDTV provides an unrivalled TV viewing experience and opens up a whole new world of opportunities for producers, publishers and content providers.

Thanks to the successful completion of the test period, the negotiations between Magyar Televízió and Antenna Hungária have been concluded positively. AH has received no further objections from the management of MTV and is not aware of open questions related to the contract. AH is looking forward to a favourable decision of MTV to enter the digital platform. Viewers would surely welcome such decision as they could continue to watch for free in HD quality such events as the Real Madrid – Liverpool match of the Champions’ League on February 25.