Swisscom gets UHD company
Swisscom is no longer the only provider broadcasting ultra-high-definition (UHD) TV. Digital Cable Group plans to be the first cable network operator to broadcast ultra-sharp images during the European Soccer Championship. Sunrise also has similar plans.
In UHD SRF Zwei will broadcast the opening match and all matches from the quarter-finals onwards. All households in the cable network area of Digital Cable Group would be able to enjoy UHD, Quickline announced on Tuesday. With a 42.6 percent share, Quickline is the largest shareholder in the Digital Cable Group cable network. The group also includes GGA Maur, SASAG Schaffhausen, Stadtantennen Baar, Technische Betriebe Suhr and WWZ Telekom Zug. Together they cover 500,000 households. "The prerequisite for receiving the super-sharp images is that the TV set is UHD-capable and connected directly to the cable socket," Quickline wrote. In contrast to the competitors Swisscom and Sunrise, there is no need for a special receiver (so-called set-top box). The broadcasts of the European Championship games are the first tests of the program providers. SRF Zwei is taking over the 4K signals of a total of eight European Championship matches from the European football association UEFA. According to earlier information, only leased infrastructures will be used for the broadcast. It will take a long time before the entire TV program is broadcast in UHD, similar to the changeover from standard TV to high-resolution HD TV, Quickline wrote.
No UHD at UPC Cablecom yet
Sunrise also plans to broadcast the eight European Championship matches in UHD, as spokesman Roger Schaller said. Tests with the new UHD receiver are currently underway. At Switzerland's largest cable network operator UPC (previously: Cablecom), football fans will have to be content with the current HD TV. "We have no concrete plans to broadcast European Championship matches in UHD," said UPC spokesman Bernard Strapp when asked by news agency SDA. As soon as there is enough content and the corresponding demand, UPC will also broadcast ultra-high definition TV.
Much sharper images
4K, also called UHD (Ultra High Definition), is the successor technology to Full HD. Instead of a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, the latest TV generation conjures up 3840 x 2160 points or 4096 x 2160 points on the screen. The sharpness of detail is doubled, and the pictures look even more real. Corresponding TVs that can resolve such sharp images have been on the market for years. Until now, however, TV broadcasters have failed to offer them. This should now change. Even though regular operation in 4K has not yet been officially defined at SRG, the trial balloon at the 2016 European Championship is strongly reminiscent of the launch of the HD Suisse channel in the run-up to the 2008 European Football Championship in Switzerland and Austria. Broadcasting the games in HD quality resulted in a push for the new technology. And for SRG, the new channel served as preparation for the switchover of all programs to the new technical standard in 2012. (SDA)
