Broadcast Sri Lanka 2008 to focus on digitv

Anjana Samarasinghe

As the country's first initiative for transferring analogue to digital television, Sri Lanka will organise Broadcast Sri Lanka 2008 Conference.

Chairman of the Technical Committee of Broadcast Sri Lanka Conference D.B. Nihalsinghe said USA will make the congressionally mandated switch to all digital transmission of television (DTV) broadcast in February, 2009.

"Today most of the countries in the world are moving from analogue to digital television while others are preparing for the move. It is important Sri Lanka too focuses on this issue," he said.

The Government needs to take the lead for this transformation with the help of other stakeholders in the industry. This conference is designed to address issues in migrating from analogue to digital television.

This will be an ideal forum to discuss why we should migrate to digital and how we have to move to digital television. The Conference will also provide the platform to discuss the technical issues of this transformation," he said.

Nihalsinghe said the digital television gives clear and high quality pictures for viewers. It will also help the country to have standards in the broadcasting industry. At the end of this conference we expect to make some recommendations to the Government which will be useful in the country's move to digital televisions.

Head of the Studio and Technology of Asian Broadcasting Union in Malaysia Rukmin Wijemanne said when transferring to digital TV, the Government needs to specify timetables, guidelines and standards. This conference will showcase the role of the each stakeholder in this transformation.

"When moving to digital, viewers do not need to replace their current TV sets. They could use the same TV sets by converting from analogue to digital signals, he said.

Broadcast Sri Lanka 2008 will be held on June 12 and 13 at the BMICH. All stakeholders in the broadcasting industry and media will participate. Dialog TV will sponsor the event.