The introduction of widescreen television in Europe - the digital transition route

The transition from the traditional 4:3 to the widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio has been making steady progress in Europe. However, for a complete widescreen transition to be accomplished, the 16:9 format must begin to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the development of digital transmissio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inInternational Broadcasting Convention (IBC) pp. 348 - 353
Main Authors Foley, J.P, Hawkins, A.G
Format Conference Proceeding
LanguageEnglish
Published London IEE 1996
Subjects
Radio and television receivers
television standards
digital transmission
digital television
television receivers
integrated digital widescreen TV
widescreen television
Europe
format
16:9 aspect ratio
4:3 aspect ratio
schedule broadcasting
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Summary:The transition from the traditional 4:3 to the widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio has been making steady progress in Europe. However, for a complete widescreen transition to be accomplished, the 16:9 format must begin to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the development of digital transmission. There are powerful commercial incentives for broadcasters to shift from analogue to digital transmission : any policy designed to promote 16:9 widescreen must therefore attempt to influence broadcasters' aspect ratio choice in the digital transition. It will be important firstly for broadcasters to transmit their schedule simultaneously in 4:3 analogue and in 16:9 digital widescreen and second for consumers to be encouraged to upgrade to digital via purchasing integrated digital widescreen TV sets rather than by attaching set-top boxes to their existing analogue 4:3 sets.
ISBN:0852966636
9780852966631
DOI:10.1049/cp:19960832