At the Westminster eForum's Digital TV seminar today, I spoke on a panel discussing HDTV on the DTT platform. I was lucky enough to be drawn ahead of Dermot Nolan, the recently appointed Director General of the Digital TV Group, otherwise there would have been little else to say. Dermot is not known for holding back with his forthright views, and he did a good job of pulling apart Ofcom's proposals for HDTV on the DTT platform. You can read the DTG's analysis here. My own presentation put the HD-DTT debate into the context of HDTV and HD video across multiple platforms (disc, satellite, internet), which have been discussed frequently in this blog, as well as commenting briefly on the international rollout of HDTV. I also referred to the French decision to mandate HD tuners in HDTVs. Not surprisingly, this seems to be the sort of direction the DTG would like to see from the UK government. I have no doubt Dermot will do everything possible to make the DTG's case against Ofcom's proposals, but I fear the efforts may be in vain. As we predicted last year, Ofcom was always unlikely to ringfence additional spectrum for HD-DTT, and while its proposals to use emerging technologies (MPEG4, DVB-T2) to expand the capacity of the DTT system invite predictable scepticism over timing, reliability and manufacturer support, they appear to represent a reasonable compromise all things considered. The last thing manufacturers need is years or even months more arguing between the various parties. Decisions need to be made quickly if DTT is not to get left behind in the race to HDTV. Client Reading: HDTV and DTT: The Impact Of Platform Evolution Decisions On HDTV Adoption Scenarios