Of the 50 million total TV households in Japan, almost 17 million have HDTV, according to an analyst at IMS Research. In contrast, there are 400 million total TV households in China, but HDTV is only just beginning to be rolled out.

Of course, there are major political and historical factors causing such sharp contrast between the two countries. While Japan has been quick to adopt new technologies for decades, China's adoption of TV technologies is gaining momentum.

Japan's uptake of HDTV has been driven by Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK), the country's sole public broadcaster. NHK has introduced HD via free satellite, thus creating a demand for the programming, said Shane Walker, an analyst at IMS Research. But NHK also delivers digital terrestrial with additional HD programming as a pay service.

One big driver of HD in Japan is an abundance of HD programming.

source : www.cable360.net