Euro 2008 in HD

Broadcast preparations are underway for the Euro 2008 football championships, which begin on June 7, with Swiss public broadcaster SRG SSR idée suisse planning to distribute football coverage in high definition for the first time, with what it describes as “lightly compressed” HD using its established standard definition transmission network.

The European football federation, UEFA, is overseeing the host broadcast coverage and a spokesman confirmed that the international feed would be made available in both HD and SD.

SGR SSR has the exclusive TV rights to Euro 2008 for its regions and will be transmitting all 31 matches of the tournament, which is being staged in Switzerland and Austria, on the Schweizer Fernsehen (SF), Télévision Suisse Romande (TSR) and Televisione svizzera di lingua Italiana (TSI) channels. The broadcaster also has non-exclusive radio rights for its Schweizer Radio DRS (SR DRS), Radio Suisse Romande (RSR) and Radio svizzera di lingua Italiana stations.

High definition coverage will be on SFR SSR’s new HD Suisse service. These pictures will be carried over the broadcaster’s existing SD transmission chain using the Media Links HD270 Coax video transport compression system.

Euro 2008 is due to reach its climax on June 29 with the final in the Ernst Happel stadium, Vienna.