London Olympics marks end of SD for EBU

The forthcoming London Olympics will mark the end of standard definition broadcasting by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

The EBU said it had supplied its member broadcasters with up to eight MPEG-4 decoders each to ensure that they were able to access all 12 HD multilateral signals from Eurovision Network coverage of the games.

Eurovision Network director Graham Warren said, “This is a turning point for Eurovision, and the beginning of the end of standard definition. Until now we have always provided parallel SD and HD signals, but this is the first big event where we have focused all our energy on HD alone.”

Occupying a square kilometre of the International Broadcasting Centre, in London, the EBU will run 12 simultaneous multilateral transmissions and three unilateral feeds for up to 13 hours a day for the duration of both the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games.