TVNZ puts a ring around Olympics for high-definition

TVNZ will use next year's Beijing Olympics to launch high-definition free-to-air broadcasts as it joins the BBC and Australian broadcasters in entering the better-looking world of HDTV.

With the local broadcast rights for the Olympics sewn up, TVNZ will broadcast analogue coverage of the Games on TV One. The network will also send it out in high-definition via the Freeview network to cover 75 per cent of the country.

In the run-up to the Olympics, TVNZ will also begin broadcasting high-definition versions of prime-time TV programmes on Freeview.

High-definition broadcasts provide better picture quality than the standard definition pictures picked up by most households from Sky.

Viewers need a high-definition TV screen to pick up the HD broadcasts and also have to invest in a HD set-top box and UHF antenna, which will go on the market next March.

Prices for the equipment haven't yet been determined.

TVNZ chief executive Rick Ellis said 80 per cent of the programmes shown on TV2 in prime time would be in HD, and 50 per cent of TV One's prime-time programming would be HD from July.

Freeview general manager Steve Browning said he was in discussions with set-top box makers to secure supplies of high-definition receivers.

Flat-screen TVs with built-in HD tuners are already becoming available as broadcasters around the world make the move to HD.

Mr Browning said TV3 might launch high-definition ahead of TVNZ next year and was aiming for the same ratio of HD content as TVNZ.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

* An "HD-ready" TV that's capable of displaying 720-line images (most HD screens support this). $1500-plus.

* A high-definition set-top box or TV set with an HD digital tuner card built directly into it. $150 to $300.

* A UHF HDTV antenna on your roof. $60 to $200.