First Irish Sporting HD Broadcast Launched At Croke Park

Minister for Communications, Energy & Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan, recently launched the first broadcast of an Irish sporting event in High-Definition TV (HDTV).
The Leinster GAA Football final, which pitted Dublin against Laois, was chosen to be the first official high-definition broadcast of the Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) Pilot, currently underway.
Commenting at the launch of the HDTV trial, the Minister Ryan said: "This is a very exciting time for broadcasting in Ireland. Ireland is making preparations to join the broadcasting revolution evolving in Europe and the rest of the world and to meet this challenge head on."
High-Definition TV (HDTV) is currently available to a limited degree on satellite, but it was the first time a broadcast of HDTV will be performed from a digital terrestrial network in Ireland. From 16th July a reel of High-Definition content from RTÉ, TV3 and TG4 will be available on the DTT trial.
The HD trial was organised by the three terrestrial broadcasters, RTÉ, TV3 and TG4, as well as BT and CEDA, who worked closely together to develop a range of content that would suitably test the system and demonstrate the improvement in picture quality.
Chair of that group, John Hunt, Director of Operations at RTÉ Television, said: "HD is important to broadcasters and it is vital that the terrestrial providers do not get left behind in the development of improved services made available by such technology. We believe the best quality television pictures should be available to all viewers in Ireland and that is why it is so important that this trial is a success."
CEDA, the Electrical Distributors Association provided the HDTVs for the live event. In order to see the full impact of a high-definition picture, trial participants must have a special set top box connected to their TV and must also have a HDTV.
Whilst the launch was watched by only a limited number of viewers, it marked a significant new departure in Irish terrestrial broadcasting.
(DS/SP)