DSTV HDTV details
MultiChoice on Thursday announced the launch of its High-Definition Personal Video Recorder (HD PVR) decoder (HD PVR image here) .
MultiChoice’s Chief Executive Officer Nolo Letele says “We are delighted and extremely proud to launch High Definition television into the South African market. HD television will bring with it detail, vividness and clarity of picture never seen before on our television screens.”
Customers will need an HD PVR decoder and an HD ready television set to view HD content. The HD PVR decoder will be available in major retail stores from August 2008 and will launch at a price of R2 499.00 (for a limited time period).
The HD PVR will initially be made available with pre launch software which does not include all the features such as a full suite of interactive applications. These will become available when the MNet HD channel launches at the end of August.
The software will be delivered to HD decoders via the satellite transmission without any intervention needed from the customer.
MultiChoice subscribers will also soon be able to link the HD PVR to their current Dual View PVR to enjoy 3 viewing environments, or link the HD PVR to 1110 decoder to enjoy 2 viewing environments, as part of the XtraView offering.
The additional cost for XtraView is R55, which is the amount currently payable on the Dual View service.
MultiChoice will initially only launch a single HDTV channel due to the ‘prohibitive cost around HD’. The company however points out that the number of channels will grow in time.
The Beijing Olympic Games will be the first to broadcast in HD format from 8 August to 24 August on channel 170.
From August 24 at 19:00 M-Net HD will take over the channel offering a mix of series, movies, sporting action and once-off specials. Some of the programming – mainly movies, series and specials – will be available in surround sound.
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