I was quite surprised, but pleased, to see Channel 4 HD appear on channel 140 tonight. Channel 4 HD is just a straight replica of the regular Channel 4 content which means if the source is not HD then it will show in SD, but that’s ok. Its a better approach than the BBC HD and forthcoming ITV1 HD channels where they merge bits from all channels and not necessarily at the same time as the SD channel. Even though the BBC HD channel is now fully launched as well, I don’t think they make the most of the capacity and don’t operate all day despite having sufficient content. The only downside is that there is no Channel 4 HD +1 which would have been nice. Its looking unlikely that there are going to be many more new channels on Sky as they are running low on capacity until new satellites are added, so Channel 4 HD +1 may be some way off, but lets hope not!
However, in the spring FreeSat will lauch with Free To Air delivery for ITV and BBC channels including HD. You can use your existing dish but you need a new receiver see here
http://www.freesat.co.uk/home.php
