MUMBAI: France Televisions and Sony have chosen the ongoing French Open tennis Grand Slam as the location for an innovative demonstration of high definition television (HDTV). In India the tournament is airing on Ten Sports.

This operation provides an opportunity for France Televisions, Sony and their partners Eutelsat, the Fédération Française de Tennis, and GlobeCast to demonstrate that all links in the chain of HD broadcasting have been mastered from capturing, to broadcast and reception.

France Televisions will film and transmit the two men's semi final matches today. This HD feed will be broadcast on an experimental channel set up by the HD Forum, and carried on Eutelsat's Hot Bird satellite with the participation of GlobeCast who will transmit the HD video feed by fibre to the satellite uplink point.

This HD event, known as « France2 / France 3 Haute Définition » is being broadcast live simultaneously at several sites at the French Open itself, as well as at one hundred points-of-sale throughout France.

The equipment used on the central court consists of a production truck and six HD Sony cameras, as well as a multi-channel surround sound recorder which will perfectly capture the ambiance of the court.

HDTV, when broadcast in 16X9 format, gives viewers an optimal vantage point for the game as well as a unique appreciation of the speed of the ball and the movement of the players.