National broadcaster Doordarshan telecasts Republic Day ceremony on HD channel, Youtube

National broadcaster Doordarshan today for the first time beamed the live telecast of the Republic Day celebrations from Rajpath in superior quality High Definition transmission and also streamed it on You Tube.

The hearing impaired people were also able to follow the entire live coverage with the help of sign language commentary on three channels DD News, DD Bharati and DD Urdu, in another first.

The telecast on You Tube had more than 60,000 hits by 3pm with many Indians living abroad expressing their happiness in the comments section for being able to see the parade live.

The Republic Day coverage had so far been done by Doordarshan only in Standard Definition, officials said.

The picture quality of the coverage was much superior in HD as its resolution is six times that of Standard definition, officials said.

Over 100 Doordarshan personnel from technical, camera, programme, commentary, scenic and administrative fields worked in tandem for installation, testing, commissioning, rehearsals to ensure uninterrupted live telecast of the elaborate coverage, the officials said.

Doordarshan had installed 18 latest HD cameras in strategic positions to cover the entire spectacle of the parade where President Pranab Mukherjee took the salute.