ORF 2 in HDTV from December

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Austrian public broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) will distribute its domestic TV channel ORF 2 in high definition (HDTV) from December 5.

Austrian households will be able to receive ORF 2 HD via Astra (19.2° East) and on cable networks. The 24-hour service, which will continue to be simulcast in standard definition, comprises programmes produced in HDTV along with material which has been up-converted.

“For ORF as Austria’s leader in electronic media it is clear that we want to give our audience access to new technologies,” said general director Alexander Wrabetz in Vienna. “That also goes for television in high definition picture quality, one of the most important TV innovations in recent years. With the transmission of ORF 1 and ORF 2 in high definition, ORF offers its audience a clearly visible added value – without additional costs.”

The first highlights planned for ORF 2 HD are Joseph Haydn’s opera Il mondo della luna, which will be transmitted on December 5 from the Viennese Theatre, Robert Dornhelm’s film version of the opera La Boheme on December 12 and the traditional New Year’s Concert of the Viennese Philharmonic Orchestra on January 1.

As with ORF 1 HD, which was launched on 2 June 2008, the satellite signal of ORF 2 HD will be encrypted in order to restrict reception to domestic viewers. Only Austrian licence fee payers will be given the smart cards necessary for decrypting the signal.

In September it became known that ORF plans to make its second TV channel available in the new TV technology in addition to ORF 1.


Source:RapidTVNews