German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 launched on Wednesday broadcasting in HDTV mode, becoming the first major television in Europe to transmit in high-resolution. This kicks off HDTV era in the European Union (EU). At the same time the demand for HDTV sets in the U.S. started to pick up significantly.

The broadcaster plans to show several programs on its two main channels – ProSieben and Sat.1 – with the first being the Hollywood blockbuster “Minority Report” starring Tom Cruise on Sunday, according to Reuters news-agency. Other large European broadcasters including BSkyB in Britain, CanalSat in France and Sky Italia in Italy have all promised HDTV by June, 2006, in time for the soccer World Cup, which will show the benefits of the format.

Guillaume de Posch, chief executive of ProSiebenSat.1, claims that the company would invest about $3.64 (€3) million a year in transmission of HDTV programs and it will take three years till the HDTV will bring profits to the company.

The most widespread HDTV standards are 720p (720 lines of horizontal resolution and progressive scan) as well as 1080i (1080 lines of horizontal resolution and interlaced scan). Both standards show much more higher clarity compared to general 480i TV resolution. Prices for HDTV-ready sets in Germany start at a little less than $2400 (€2000).

According to research firms relatively small numbers of HDTV-ready sets have been bought in Western Europe so far. Furthermore, Euroconsult forecasts that only 14 million households in the region are expected to own one by 2008. UK, France and Germany will lead the European market, will represent over 60% of the HDTV sets used and should have a higher penetration rate than the European average over the next 10 years, the firm said in a recent report.

HDTV launched in the United States in 1998, but only by last year, HDTVs comprised 21% of overall U.S. TV sales and they are expected to be in 63% of U.S. TV households by 2010, the agency notes. In fact, only recently the demand for HDTV sets started to pick up. The National Association of Broadcasters reported last year that there were 1155 digital TV (DTV) stations on air in 203 markets, serving 99.42% of the United States’ TV households. About 50% of DTV stations’ shows were broadcasted in high resolution as of mid-2004.

HDTV market is large and many companies from the information technology (IT) markets want to be a part of HDTV revolution. For instance, ATI Technologies supplies HDTV makers its chips for consumer electronics (CE), Intel Corp. also offers its technology to CE equipment manufacturers.