TVNZ HD Seen But Not Heard

TVNZ may be surrounding viewers with more HD shows on TV One and TV2 but none is airing in surround sound.

That’s the standard for HD transmissions on TV3 and Sky but TVNZ says it may be mid-year before it’s broadcasting in 5.1.

“Although we have the capability to provide 5.1, it does require an amount of configuration both within TVNZ and with the DTT [digital terrestrial television] headend delivering 5.1 to  viewers,” TVNZ’s media operations general manager Lindsay  Chalmers says.

“The planning for this will take place in the coming weeks.”

Because of the complexity of TVNZ’s digital infrastructure project, Nexus, the broadcaster decided to stagger its implementation, with the introduction of 5.1 audio being one of the last phases.

“With the size and significance of the recent Nexus transformation, we chose to not deliver 5.1 at the same time,” Chalmers says.

“We’d fully expect it to be in place before mid-year, preferably much earlier.”