Amsterdam action: IBC 2004 will probably go down as the show when the question of using high definition equipment in Europe shifted from "why?" to "why not?", following falling hardware prices aided by slimmer HD bit streams from refined compression schemes like Windows WMV HD and storage formats such as HDV.(International Broadcasting Convention)(high definition)

With attendance up 12 percent on last year's event to 40,776, this year's International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) exhibition in Amsterdam was probably the most diverse so far, showcasing everything from cinematography through high definition to standard definition and next generation handheld devices.

Out of all this, visitors might have expected SD kit to remain the dominant offering, given that this remains the only broadcasting game in town within Europe, and they would be right.

But tellingly, just about all pieces of SD kit came with an assurance of HD upgradeability ...