HDTV in H.264 promises cheap HD channels

Two Japanese TV stations have successfully made the first HD broadcasts between each other using the H.264 video format that could change the way TV is sent, their hardware partner Fujitsu announced today. All Nippon Network and TV Asahi together used a new encoding technique combined with Fujitsu's IP 9500 encoder box to squeeze normally large HD video into half the bandwidth. The technique allows the TV to be sent from station to station even across public fiber optic lines where the much larger MPEG-2 would be impractical or impossible, Fujitsu says.

The development will likely help bring about less expensive HDTV and potentially more channels, as TV networks in the future will have the choice of avoiding costly private connections or else replace an increasing amount of their standard-resolution channels with HD equivalents. This particular version also requires only a single box on each end rather than a rack full of equipment, Fujitsu says.

Use of H.264 has also helped in 'offline' HD for Blu-Ray discs, which saw the amount of video for a single-layer movie jump from two to four hours after shifting from MPEG-2 to the more efficient H.264 standard.