I can't really comment on the exact details here in Europe. I think
England is doing it's fair share of HD, but I also heard the BBC is
using lousy compression rates.

I hope people from other countries can chime in on this. I just
heard that not a lot of countries have a lot of HD. Some have
a bit, but I doubt a lot of countries have as much market
penetration as the US has.

The UK has not really adopted HD fully yet, as far as I am aware of. There are certainly HDTV sets out there but they're still pretty expensive, also considering that there is not much content for it yet, I think it'll be many years before we fully have HDTV.

Heres an article about HDTV:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3403493.stm

Cheers,

Ed

Here in Quebec, Canada, There is only a few "pay per view" like channels who brodcast in HDTV. And HDTV sets are really expensive here too. I would like a XL2 SD 24p 16X9 compatible with XL1 lenses much better than an HD one.

As for the Scandinavian countries, HD does not exist. I generally don't think we are behind in electronics, but everything I know about HD I've read here at DV info. Have not heard anything about HD in the future. (broadcast that is)

Some rental places do have HD cams (sony) I know Ingmar Bergman shot something on HD recently. But it's used for making movies and not for boardcast in the Scandinavian countries.

I'm all for HD though.. It's going to get here sooner or later, Soon is a lot better then later.

I still stand by my original statement, that if everyone else is moving towards a more advanced platformit doesn't make business sinceto put out something that is already inferior. For countries that are still using SD ptogramming are you saying that nobody uses, Digibeta? Betacam SP? those provide higher resolutions then the PAL broadcast standard, does that mean there is no since in using one? I believe that as mroe HDV cameras come out you'll see more and more HD content out there and cheaper HD sets.

Also I seriously doubt that anything I say is ever valid, much less for my country.

Well, remember Hi-8 camcorders were still being made long after DV came out.

;-)

The UK uses Betacam/ Digibeta etc (Its what is classed as Broadcast quality and is pretty much the standard), and yes it provides better picture quality. But the thing is that they still Broadcast in SD and edit in SD from Digibeta, Betacam etc. And so are not really broadcasting/ producing content in HD. We are gradually heading into HD techology, but the demand is pretty low at the moment. I expect that when they switch off the analogue signal around the year 2010 (I think?) we will be broadcasting in full HD down the digital line.

News on NAB 2004 - Re: XL2
 

Found this today...

http://www.abcdv.com/article/articleview/277/1/80

chris just for the record I didn't remember that hi-8 camera were being made after dv ones came out, in fact I wonder if anyone remembered that hi-8 existed after dv came out...

:p

HI-8 still exists. I see it being offered quite a bit here in stores
for low end camera's. Seems to go like this:

HI-8 -> DV 1 CCD -> DV 3 CCD -> no high end... or hard to find

Actually, you can still find VHS-C camcorders for sale. Usually at discount stores like Wal-Mart and Target. I would put those in the chain below HI-8.

regards,