The Vatican Television Center in Rome has announced it will begin broadcasting from Vatican City and remote locales in HD starting next October. Vatican Radio has reported that new mobile recording and transmission equipment is in the process of being purchased from Sony. (No specifics given yet.)
Vatican Radio, which is one of the official voices of the tiny city-state, reports that the Holy See Press Office and Vatican Television Center view the adoption of HD as representing "a necessary development in our service of diffusion of the image of the Pope and [of] Vatican events." The elevation to HD will help the Vatican's various TV services continue in their longtime role as an international broadcaster, according to EWTN News.
In a statement that might have lost something in translation, the Vatican Television Center said it picked the equipment maker over competitors for, among other reasons, the company's demonstration of "a level of competence and capacity of project management of great affability."
The 27 year-old TV center at the Vatican typically provides coverage of the Pope's official duties (including international trips) and other activities of the Holy See.
