HDTV shortage hits pre-World Cup Europe
By Matt Burns 
posted Mar 21st 2006 11:04AM
posted Mar 21st 2006 11:04AM
Oh boy. There is nothing
worse then angry Has any of our European readers noticed this shortage?
posted Mar 21st 2006 11:04AM
Oh boy. There is nothing
worse then angry 
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I can see the Ad campaign now:
Come visit America and rent a home with an HDTV and see all the world cup games in all their HD clarity.
The problems isn't the lack of HDTV's there's loads about and lots of us have bought them.
The problem is (in the UK at least) a totally lack of HD services to actaully get the content! The main way everyone will get HD is by satalite (bSkyb). They have been advertising the service since before the new year, but they haven't done anything except put up a website saying it's coming.
No prices, no specs and no timetable as to when we'll get it.
The World cup is the biggest sporting event in the world and here in europe the world stops for a few weeks when it takes place. It would really drive HD take-up. But it looks like we're going to miss it in HD!
World Cup 2006 was the primary mover for me getting an HDTV this year (32" LCD) -- and I'm a lonely football lover in icy Canada. Can't imagine being in a country full of folk who all want to see HDTV goooooooaaaalllls.
The article says they're out of HD sets in the UK...
In Germany people will be able to go to some public place in their town and watch World Cup 2006 in HD on some big screen.
In the UK the BBC will try to have their world cup games in HD on cable and satellite.
PS: what the heck? the link you have for "just this event" is pointing to some blog entry about March Madness!
Looks like "normal consumers" (people who haven't put larger dishes pointing at a different satellite intended for mainland Europe) in the UK are going to have to wait until 2014 for the world cup in HD as a BBC story suggests the next world cup in 2010 in South Africa won't have the technology in place to film in HD
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4804790.stm
Hi ya all,
I'm Dutch, and over here in Holland we expect to have the first commercial stations up and running HDTV in June.
About the shortage of HDTV's I can say the following.
I just went to Media Market (sort of like Sears, but then only for elektronics) and inquired about the availability of 1080P HDTV's of Phillips (what else should i buy as a dutch man ;-) ) They said they are extremely hard to get by. In the store alone they had only 2 sets capable of 1080p. Nuff said...
However i am quite optimistic how things will develop in June.... Because the amount of people we have here in Holland per square kilometer ( is about 300 and equals Bangladesh) our country us highly densitively populated. Almost a staggering 98 percent of households have cable television, and it will come to you as no surprise that the DVB-C standard will be used for transmission of HDTV. Therefore it is possible to exploit the market pretty quickly with HDTV services, without any real high risk. That's why in June already we will have World Cup Soccer, National Geographic HD, Discovery HD, Film 1, Sport 1 (both old Canal+), HD1, HD5, as starter HDTV Channels, with all programming HDTV 100% at a time.
It is a bliss living in this densly populated country I'd say then... :-)
In Germany we already have two commercial HD Channels running, which are equal two their SD Channels. Most of the content is upcoverted to 1080i, but we currently get Greys Anatomy Season 1 and NCIS Season 3 in HD, 1080i, what is intesting because if you look at ABC`s page they air Greys Anatomy in 720p. We getting also a few movies in HD, mostly one or two per week, sometimes two movies Sunday evening. The last ones were Panic Room and Terminator 3.
Our Pay TV Provider PREMIERE was going HD like a month ago, with three different channels: HD Film, HD Phillips Sport and Discovery HD. The Provider holds the HD rights for the 2006 World Cup since mid last year and will show all 64 games live in HD.
European12
Oh my... you've got me started now...
Picture it, Switzerland, 2006...
HDTV available like in any other European country, hardly any 1080p or i, lots of 720p and a buttload of 480p !?! What the hell ?
Yes, the all so technologically advanced Swiss are also crooks in regard of consumer service. Instead of advising you to the best available solution for your needs, they try to hawk you the surplus refuse from their warehouses, sometimes at prices equal or higher than a nice 720p set!
For several weeks they even had a HD-Ready sticker on two 480p sets in a local mall !
Well, whatever, I am not stupid, I know what is good and what not. So I just have a look at the 720p sets, waiting for some 1080p sets to show up.
But wait, why is that 720p set looking so god-awful compared to the standard tv set ?!? If that is HDTV, well who needs it! But that cannot be right...
So I check out what and how their demo material is fed into these sets, and low and behold, they are feeding
a) straight over the air SD TV programming !!!
b) DVD via antenna-in !! (if you are lucky)
c) HD-capable mediacenter PC via HDMI ! (1, as in O-N-E, occurrence so far)
Well, screw the people at the mall, go to a shop where they know what they are doing (and how they can sell it). Just a 40 minute drive outside the city.
Here I can pick and choose, what my future HDTV should look like, ready for the World Cup!
Wait, did I say World Cup...
Hmmm... well, I guess I will be screwed this World Cup around, because, you may remember, I live in Switzerland.
See, we do have a pay tv station, which feeds most of their programs straight from the German company which is going to show the entire World Cup in HDTV.
Now, even though several people hinted, that the World Cup will be shown to the Swiss in HDTV through this pay tv company, nothing official is known yet.
And if it were to be shown, then only via satellite connection.
Even though Switzerland has some of the highest cable-service coverage throughout the country, no HDTV through it for at least another year or so.
And here the sad ending to my story: I live in the city, a satellite dish is no option for me, and cable is just going to screw me for the next year or two.
Oh, what, over the air... digital... HDTV ?!? ROFLH... not here, my friend!
Now you would think, vendors should be selling HDTVs like hotcakes around here, World Cup and all, but no... you gotta bend over far and low, not to mention stretch wide.... and just take it!