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The new HDTV standard has twice the lines of resolution of conventional analogue or digital TV, which produces a much more vivid image than people are used to with conventional receivers.

The company is launching the service in advance of the World Cup that will take place in Germany next summer. The World Cup will not only provide a showcase for HDTV but is also expected to drive take up of the service from German subscribers.

The company has done deals with Sharp and Sony to help market HDTV sets over the coming months.

A number of other European broadcasters are also planning to launch HDTV services in the near future. Among them are British satellite broadcaster BSkyB, CanalSat in France and Sky Italia, all of whom are hoping to get their services live before next summer's football festival.

Sat.1 HD and ProSieben HD will be distributed using the new DVB-S 2 modulation process. Both the stations offering HDTV will supply content in 1080i/25 format (25 frames per second) using the MPEG4/AVC compression standard. Pictures will be in 16:9 format and transmission will also offer Dolby Digital sound.