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DIRECTV is hailing 2007 as the “Year of HD” as if the past year was crap. They are supporting this with a planned launch and carriage of 100 national high-definition (HD) channels—three times more HD programming than any other multi-channel distributor. These aren’t just small made-up stations, the list includes: A&E, National Geographic, Bravo, NFL Network, Cartoon Network, SciFi Channel, CNN, Speed, Food Network, TBS, FX, The History Channel, HGTV, The Weather Channel, MTV, and USA Network. DIRECTV will also offer hundreds of games and other HD programming available from Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) including YES Network, Comcast Sports Net, New England Sports Network and FOX Sports.

Expect the majority of these channels to come in Q3. Maybe 2007 really is the year of HD.

Read [DIRECTV]

HDTV UK had the opportunity to play with the new Sky+ TV HD box (in case you don’t know...Europe is getting HD as we speak, in conjunction with the 2006 World Cup). Those luck !@#$%^&* better hold that box tight because only 40,000 are being installed before the big soccer football tourney and they all are already accounted for. Overall they were pleased with the box. The storage could increase (it’s at 160 GB) but the current programming is overall good (besides the lacking BBC) and clearly labeled HD. We obviously could not test this out so continue reading for their full review of the new box.

The box Well Sky has done a good job redesigning the Sky+ unit. It looks a lot more stylish than its predecessor. You can check out the specs here, but the key part is that it has 160 Gigabytes of storage for your HD and standard definition recordings as well as a further chunk for Sky’s Push HD plans. Incidentally there’s still no word from Sky on this yet.

The remote control / interface Sky sensibly hasn’t messed with the remote control. It is almost identical to the current Sky+ remote. The interface is marginally different in that there is a red button which gives instant access to the HD programming. You still access the planner/hard drive through the green button. There are also a few tweaks to the system set up menu including an option of recording in 576 lines as well as 720 and 1080.

Finding HD Sky has been fairly upfront about what content is HD originated and what is upscaled from SD. If the content has been shot in HD then the letters ‘HD’ appear in the info box. Almost all the content that Sky screened today was shot in HD.

Cricket in HD Cricket has been billed as a killer app for HD and Sky hasn’t disappointed us. Those greens certainly look green and you could see tremendous detail when the cameras tracked the crowds at the England Vs Sri Lanka game today. You could also see the marks the ball had made in the batsman’s crease and the graphics were amazing too, really vibrant. The difference between the pictures in SD and 720p was phenomenal. I can’t wait to see the Premiership in HD.

Documentaries The trailer for Discovery’s HD channel also looked superb. The clip focuses on exotic locations and the viewer gets to see beautifully rich colours. The level of details of some of the animals was pretty stunning too.

Movies Movies also looks great in HD. Even a throwaway movie like Deuce Bigalow European Gigolo became very watchable. Venice looked gorgeous. I think certain recent movies will make the best of the format. It’ll be very interesting see Star Wars Revenge of the Sith, which is Sky’s big movie for opening night. The pay per view movies go for £3.75 a shot which is the same as standard definition films.

BBC HD The BBC’s debut day line up of HD programming looks pretty unappealing. Fortunately in the afternoon they were showing an extended trailer which had pictures from Later with Jools Holland. I tried in vain to catch the lines on Elton John’s face which says to me that either he’s either weathered very well, or more likely been on the receiving end of some serious make up. The BBC footage had a pristine quality that some of the Sky footage lacked, which is probably because it was shot in a studio, whereas most Sky footage was either an outside broadcast or documentary based video. I can’t say for certain whether the Later footage was true HD, but even if it was upscaled it still looked really good.

Sky One/24 For me this was the weak link in the Sky HD package. The footage from 24 looked more like upscaled HD than it did true HD. To be fair I only watched a couple of minutes of the programme and the shot were fairly dark, but then the dark shots on Sin City looked amazing.

Overall Well there is a clear leap on from standard definition through to HD. I would say that sport and movies are going to be very striking in high def and the documentaries really do take you closer to the subject than before. I am going to reserve judgement about the Sky One stuff, the price and the capabilities of the box until I get to take one home next week. Suffice to say that I can’t wait to get my hands on that box.

DIRECTV named the next 24 U.S. markets that will receive local HD programming. Beginning in April of this year, DIRECTV will roll out the first of the 24 new markets, offering HD programming from the four primary broadcast networks—ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC. All DIRECTV local HD programming is being transmitted via MPEG-4 AVC, the new standard in digital video compression and advanced modulation that more than doubles the efficiency of DIRECTV’s capacity.

The 24 local markets to receive HD programming include: Baltimore; Minneapolis, Minn.; Birmingham, Ala.; Nashville, Tenn.; Charlotte, N.C.; Orlando, Fla.; Cleveland ; Phoenix; Columbus, Ohio; Pittsburgh; Denver; Raleigh, N.C.; Fresno, Calif.; Sacramento, Calif.; Hartford, Conn.; Salt Lake City; Indianapolis; San Diego; Kansas City, Mo./Kan.; Seattle; Miami; St Louis, Mo.; Milwaukee, Wisc.; West Palm Beach, Fla.

DIRECTV currently offers 12 HD local channel markets, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Tampa and Washington, D.C. With the launch of two new satellites—DIRECTV 10 and DIRECTV 11—in 2007, DIRECTV will have the ability to deliver more than 1,500 local HD and digital channels and 150 national HD channels, in addition to new advanced programming services for customers.

Customers can receive local HD channels by purchasing the new H20 HD receiver and a satellite dish that has the ability to receive programming from five different orbital locations and Ka-band signals. Through Feb. 28, DIRECTV is offering new and existing customers a $200 mail-in rebate on the purchase of a DIRECTV HD Receiver. (Limit one rebate per account.) Receiving equipment is available at major consumer electronics retailers like Best Buy and Circuit City, and through DIRECTV.