China has decided on a digital standard for broadcast television, a state-run newspaper said on August 31, amid a global shift from analogue to the data-rich and potentially lucrative standard.
The digital standard would become compulsory from August 1, 2007, the China Daily said, quoting the Standardisation Administration of China, adding that the country's digital broadcasting market could be worth over 1 trillion yuan (US $126 billion).
China mainly uses cable as a transmission format, and satellites for direct delivery have yet to be launched. The chosen standard is based partly on a proposal by Shanghai Jiaotong University that is suitable for transmission in sparsely populated areas, the paper added.
Digital television subscriptions numbered just over 4 million in 2005, according to a report by Research and Markets, compared to 170 million consumers world-wide.
Meanwhile, digital broadcasting, which has much higher video and audio quality than the analogue standard, has met some public resistance in Europe because of fears the transition will require costly television upgrades and the purchase of set-top boxes.
Comments
Comments are closed.