Live in HD: V Day in Red Square

Belgian HD facilitator Alfacam transmitted this week's Victory Day in Moscow, marking the sixtieth anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Dozens of world leaders attended the parade in Red Square, a wreath-laying ceremony and an evening concert, all of which were broadcast live in HD by Euro1080 channel HD1, and by Japan's NHK.

Two dozen Alfacam HD cameras covered the various events and fiber optics' cabling was installed under Red Square. Wireless camera systems were mounted on vehicles for the parade. Alfacam offers services to stations and production houses, and says that about 60 percent of its assignments are HD-related.

Euro1080, a European HD media company, was created on Jan. 1, 2004. In addition to HD1 (the first HD channel in Europe), Euro1080 will launch a second channel, HD2, sometime this summer. It may come as no big surprise that Euro1080's preferred format is 1080i.