Formula 1's move to true High Definition television coverage in 2011 has been officially confirmed by the sport's broadcast chiefs.
Amid intense speculation about F1 television plans for this year, after Sky Germany announced that it was going to broadcast in HD, Formula One Management has now affirmed that all channels that have a deal to show the sport will be given an HD feed.
After detailed investigations over the winter into whether it can deliver a proper HD service, plus checks that new equipment that it has brought in will be ready on time, the FOM informed broadcasters on Tuesday that it was going ahead with "native" HD coverage.
FOM has invested in equipment that is good enough to ensure that it can download the data to broadcasters at a high quality rate of 42MB of data per second, and the broadcast will be in 1080i resolution.
All trackside cameras will be full HD, but due to the technical complexity of on-board cameras these will be remain upscale Standard Definition cameras for now.
Several broadcasters have already confirmed their plans to show true HD coverage in 2011, including Sky Germany and Globo in Brazil,with other channels set to follow suit immediately.