India to have 3-mn HD-ready households by year-end: TRAI

"India currently has about 3,00,000 HD-ready households and by year-end this will go up to 3 million," Arnold said at the India Satellite Industry Forum 2010.

High definition is a digital television broadcasting system with higher resolution, enhanced picture and sound quality compared to the regular television service that operate on standard formats.

Sporting events like, Commonwealth Games and Football World Cup, which will be telecast on HD service0, will fuel this growth, he added.The Commonwealth Games is scheduled to be held in October in the National Capital while the Football World Cup would come up in June in South Africa.

Currently, Discovery HD is the only channel available on HD service in the country, but Doordarshan plans to launch a channel on the same platform for the Commonwealth Games.

Cost could be an impediment for uptake of HD, Arnold said, adding Sun Direct is the only DTH operator offering HD service. Tata Sky and Dish TV also plan to launch HD service this year.He said there were 19 million digital homes (DTH and digital cable) which was just about 10 per cent penetration. By 2018, digital penetration should be about 42 per cent