TVB World Cup game plan stays under wraps

TVB is introducing technology it says will enable it to broadcast playbacks from the soccer World Cup without infringing the copyright of licence-holder Cable TV - but it will not say what it is.

The free-to-air station, which has failed to reach a deal with Cable to broadcast actual playbacks, said it had spent 'a little less than HK$1 million' on the technology and did not deny suggestions it would show computer-generated simulations of the games.

'Hongkongers, especially youngsters, will like the technology. It is something similar to games,' the controller of non-drama production, Ho Lai-chuen, said yesterday.

Ho declined to say if the end product would be animation. Footage generated by the new technology - bought from Europe - will be featured in TVB's World Cup programme on its Jade channel.

The show will be broadcast after midnight on days when matches are played.

Hong Kong Digital Entertainment Association chairman Gabriel Pang Tsz-kit thought the technology would be similar to the 'virtual reality' of online games and sports games. The location of a player, his passes and goal scoring could be simulated, he said. 'His body size and his power can be depicted well.'

Samson Tam Wai-ho, lawmaker for the information technology sector, said 3-D simulation could be an option. 'They can make a 3-D model and interpret movements from different angles,' he said.