| NEW
DELHI: The Union Cabinet has approved a Rs 1.65 billion plan that will allow Doordarshan
to upgrade to high definition (HDTV) format. The
funding will be met from the Eleventh Plan Allocation of Prasar Bharati.
All
the equipment will have to be imported and the total foreign exchange component
involved in respect of the HDTV equipment will be about Rs 1.6 billion. The balance
Rs 50 million is recurring expenditure for project implementation and spectrum
charges. The
Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has given the nod to a pilot
scheme which has to be completed before the start of the Commonwealth Games next
year. Though
the uplinking Though the uplinking facility and some of the production, preview
and playout facilities will be completed before 2010 to facilitate transmission
of the Games in HDTV format through DTH and cable TV network, the entire project
is expected to be completed by March 2012. As there are nine different inter-dependent
projects in the scheme, all the projects cannot be implemented simultaneously.
While Doordarshan
as the host broadcaster is in the process of finalising the entity for the production
and coverage of the Games, the basic feed (World Feed) in HDTV would be generated
by Doordarshan itself. Doordarshan
has formulated a scheme which envisages development of facilities of terrestrial
as well as satellite transmission of HDTV content besides setting up HD Production
facilities at Delhi and Mumbai. A facility for uplinking the HDTV signal from
Delhi is also proposed to be established. The
HDTV programmes generated would be uplinked on satellite so that the signal can
be downlinked by cable operators for further distribution. The downlinked signal
can also be used as contribution link by Doordarshan for terrestrial transmission
of the signal through digital transmitters installed in the four metro cities.
In addition to this, the four terrestrial HDTV transmitters are to be provided
for relaying the programme at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata so that the viewers
having HD ready TV sets can view the programmes. It
is also proposed to provide complete High Definition studio production, Electronic
News Gathering (ENG) and field production and post-production facilities at Doordarshan
Kendra, Delhi and Mumbai. The programme uplink facility through satellite would
be provided using the latest compression techniques. Such compression techniques
will also be used for inclusion of the HDTV channel in the existing direct-to-home
(DTH) platform of Doordarshan. The
set-top boxes to receive these HDTV channels would be based on MPEG-2, MPEG-4
and any other latest compression techniques available so that the signals can
be suitable decoded. HDTV
provides resolution that is four to five times higher than that provided by Standard
Definition TV (SDTV) available at present. Aspect ratio (ratio between length
and breadth of the TV screen) is 16:9, compared to 4:3 of SDTV, and it is capable
of providing 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound, thus giving a movie-like experience
to the viewers at home. As
reported first in Indiantelevision.com, Prasar Bharati has already issued the
Request for Proposal to five companies including Reliance ADAG’s Big Productions
and Nimbus Communications which had been shortlisted for production and coverage
facilities for the Commonwealth Games next year on behalf of host broadcaster
Doordarshan. | 
