Commonwealth Games 2010 to be covered in HDTV

In a first for Commonwealth Games, next year's edition of the sporting extravaganza in the capital would be covered in High Definition TV (HDTV), to ensure better image resolution, by British company SIS Live for Doordarshan.

At a three-day World Broadcasting Meet to assessbroadcast preparations for the Games, SIS Live presented itsproduction and coverage plan for the quadrennial extravaganza.

The company said it will deploy underwater cameras, cameras for aerial shots and specialised cameras for events such as cycling in its High Definition TV (HDTV) coverage, a digital television system which provides better image resolution than a normal TV camera.

The Rights Holding Broadcasters (RHBs) from various Commonwealth nations like Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, United Kingdom and Canada also took part in the meet.

The representatives from RHBs visited the Games' venues to observe the progress of work.

The Organising Committee (OC) for the event elaborated on issues such as venue development, technology and communication, security, accommodation and transportation during the meet.

Prasar Bharti CEO BS Lalli, Organising Committee treasurer AK Mattoo and Doordarshan's director general Aruna Mishra were among those who addressed the meet. Lalli said the next WBM would be held from April 16 to 18 here next year. The RHBs willsubmit their requirements for the event to Doordarshan by January next year.

"Prasar Bharti has made elaborate and comprehensive publicity plans on TV and Radio to generate awareness for the Games. Pre-game programming components highlighting a range of activities have also been defined," PB said in a release here.

A meeting of PB officials and representatives from OC and SIS Live was held yesterday in which the plans for the build-up to the Games were discussed.

"World Broadcasting Meet was a major milestone in the journey of Prasar Bharti to the Commonwealth Games. All participating RHBs and other stakeholders expressed satisfaction and showed confidence in the progress made by Prasar Bharti to cover the event," the PB statement added.