Sweden begins HDTV services on DTT

Viewers in the Mälardalen area of Sweden were the first to be able to view HDTV on the DTT platform when the first service began transmitting on Saturday 26th May. Services will soon be extended to cover Stockholm, Västerås, Uppsala and Södertälje bringing the total potential TV viewer households to 1 million, 27% of the Swedish total. Teracom who provide the transmission facilities would like to extend HDTV to the whole of Sweden when DTT capacity becomes available.
The transmissions are broadcast unscrambled in 720p format coded in MPEG-4 with material supplied by SVT (Sveriges Television)
SVT started its HD broadcasts with ‘Expedition Linne’ and will follow up with HD programmes, including the nature series Planet Earth, which will be continuing until the summer. Other current Swedish HD programmes on SVT are the community-singing event Allsång på Skansen, starting in June, and the World Athletics Championship from Osaka in August.
Main source: Teracom press release
Item added: 31st May 2007