HDTV via web draws closer
A new technology called ADSL 2 +, which debuted in the UK last week, might not sound too much like big news for HDTV fans, but it could well prove to have a massive impact on TV of the future. The enhanced version of broadband can, in theory, offer connections of 20Mbps. That’s a huge amount faster than most Britons 512kbps connections and crucially well over the 6-8Mbps of bandwidth required to stream HD content. First to launch the service in the UK is a new outfit called Be Unlimited (though many others also have launches planned) which is offering 20 Meg connections for the trial price of £20 per month. The bad news is that you have to live virtually next door to your local BT exchange to get the full 20Meg service. If you are 2Kms away it drops to around 13 Meg while 3Kms away and you’ll get 8 Meg. Still that could be enough to see a little HDTV. Not surprisingly Be Unlimited has plans for a HDTV video on demand service to launch some time next year. See here for what the cable companies are up to in this area.
More of this stuff at Shiny’s new blog HDTV UK
