SRG: Six channels in HD quality - HD Suisse ceases operations
SRG will also be broadcasting six of its regular television channels in HD quality from February 29, 2012. At the same time, it is introducing a new volume control for television sound. In the run-up to these changes, HD Suisse will cease operations at the end of January.
On January 31, 2012, HD Suisse will cease operations at midnight sharp, as SRG announced on Thursday. When it was launched in December 2007, HD Suisse was one of the first European free TV channels to broadcast in HD quality. With the discontinuation of the test and experimental channel, SRG will in future broadcast all television programs - with the exception of SF info - in high definition. Unlike HD Suisse to date, the HD programs will have teletext with subtitles, two audio channels for stereo sound and an audio channel for surround sound. The kick-off on February 29 will be the Switzerland-Argentina football test match in Bern.
SRG programs will probably continue to be broadcast in the current digital standard (SD) until the end of 2015. According to SRG, over 75 percent of all Swiss television households already have an HD-capable TV set. Many foreign TV channels such as ARD, ZDF, RTL and ORF have already been offering HD channels for some time.
