Antwerp (Belgium), 24th January 2006 • On Friday 27th January, Euro1080, the first High Definition Television (HDTV) company in Europe will broadcast the draw for the UEFA Euro 2008™ qualifying competition live on HD1 in High Definition. The draw takes place in Montreux (Switzerland) at 12.00 CET. The programme on HD1 will be preceded by 30 minutes of UEFA Europeanchampionship 2004 highlights.
Fifty countries will go into the draw. The qualifying phase, which will begin in autumn 2006, consists of one group of eight teams and six groups of seven. The winners and runners-up will all go through to the final round in Austria and Switzerland, with the cohosts of the final round in the Summer of 2008 having qualified automatically. Reigning champions Greece have been seeded while the other country teams have been classified by UEFA on the basis of results achieved in the qualifying competition of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, as well as results in the qualifying competition of the 2004 UEFAEuropean Championship.
For more information: www.uefa.com
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Euro1080 plays a pioneering role in the field of HDTV in Europe. For a long time Euro1080’s HD1 was the first and the only TV station in Europe to broadcast exclusive concerts, sports and other special events in High Definition. Last Summer, the Belgiumbased high definition media company launched two additional HDTV stations: HD2 and HD5, which are timesharing on one frequency. The signals of the Euro1080 HDTV channels are being carried via Astra 1D/3A @ 23.5° East. In specific regions in Europe, HD1 and HD2/HD5 can also be received via Sirius 2/3 at 5° East, Eutelsat W4 and more than 30 cable and IP networks.
www.euro1080.tv
HDTV (High Definition Television) guarantees superior image quality. Instead of the 625 lines (of which only 575 are visible) of the current European TV screen, the HDTV image consists of 1080 lines. HDTV can display at least 4 to 5 times more detail than analogue TV. The aspect ratio of HDTV is 16:9, instead of 4:3, which is common for standard television. This 16:9 ratio gives the image a panoramic effect. LCD and plasma flat-screens capable of displaying high definition signals carry the “HD ready” quality logo.
