Sky says two thirds of its movies will be shown in HD, rising quickly to 90 per cent. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Sky says two thirds of its movies will be shown in HD, rising quickly to 90 per cent. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The fruits of more than $65 million of investment in digital TV production will be on show for viewers from early July, when pay TV operator Sky launches its new high-definition satellite service and a successor to the MySky digital recorder.

Sky will broadcast Sky Sport 1 and Sky Sport 2, Sky Movies and Sky Movies Greats in high-definition, allowing subscribers with Sky's new MySky HD set-top box and a high-definition TV screen to receive a better quality picture than DVD and surround sound on those channels.

Sky has not yet released pricing details for the MySky HD receiver which is needed to receive the service. Sky spokesman Tony O'Brien said it will be offered on the same terms of contract as the existing MySky box and that a "compelling arrangement" would be on offer for existing MySky users looking to upgrade.

For an upfront fee of $600, current MySky users rent a receiver and hard drive recorder from Sky but never actually own the box. Sky reclaims it if a subscription is cancelled. Sky has more than 720,000 subscribers, but only 31,000 are MySky users.

A major revamp of the MySky box by set-top box maker Pace has seen little change to the look of it but its components have been updated to allow for pictures to be displayed in 720p and 1080i high-definition formats.

"Black is the new silver," said Sky's strategic project specialist, Wayne Tibby, of the new black box.

The digital recorder's 320GB hard drive allows around 30 hours of recording of high-definition content or 90 hours of standard-quality TV. It will have four TV tuners, allowing three channels to be recorded simultaneously while another is being viewed.

But O'Brien said that function would come a few months after the July launch as a major software upgrade was needed to increase the TV tuner capability. In the meantime, MySky HD converts will be able to record while they view another channel.

The electronic programming guide has been revamped and features allowing viewers to pause live TV, skip through adverts and reverse and fast-forward through programmes are still key features.

A remote booking service allowing subscribers to schedule recordings via a web browser while away from the home would also debut after the launch, and later in the year scheduling recordings via text message from a mobile phone would be possible.

MySky HD users will need to have a high-definition TV screen that's compatible with HDCP (high-definition digital content protection), a standard the consumer electronics industry introduced to crack down on content piracy.