China's first HD service is now up and running (in a testing mode) with the technical support of SeaChange International. In the past few weeks, China Central Television (CCTV), the nation's largest broadcaster, has been airing a channel of sports, movies and other HD programming using SeaChange broadcast digital video systems (HD Notebook, Sept. 8, 2005)
After a four-month trial in Hangzhou, the capital city of China's eastern Zhejiang Province, the HD service will formally launch nationwide in January, when the broadcast day expands to 18 hours. CCTV first deployed SeaChange systems in 2004 to launch its 24-channel SD TV service, which is transmitted via satellite. In 2008, CCTV will produce summer Olympics coverage for China's 1.3 billion people.
Also, in a bid to cut costs for Chinese electronics makers, researchers reportedly plan to develop a version of the HD DVD disc format specifically for Chinese consumption--that will support a Sino-developed video compression technology (HD Notebook, Sept. 28, 2005).
