From January 1, 2008, the Belgian HD channel provider Euro1080 will broadcast its HD channels solely in MPEG4 on the Eutelsat W3 satellite on 7 degrees East and on the Astra satellite at 23.5 degrees East.HD1 will cease transmissions on the Astra satellite in MPEG2 23.5 degrees. All three channels, HD1, HD5 and Exqi, will only be available in MPEG-4.HD1 was recently also removed from the Sirius satellite at 5 degrees East as part of what has been a gradual scaling back of Europe’s first HD foray.Viewers, who are still using an old MPEG2 decoder, can trade it in for a new MPEG4 set top box (MPEG4 decoder + CAM-module for 220€).
About Robert Briel
Arnhem-based Robert covers the Benelux, France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland as well as IPTV, web TV, connected TV and OTT. Email Robert at rbriel@broadbandtvnews.com.