and More information - right here
Diffferent HD formats were worked on in Japan from the early 1980's, and they had HD there long ago.
I saw demos of these and recording systems quite early on in DC. Sony's system was used to replace film at Kennedy (eliminating the need for development time) for shuttle launches from the mid-1980's.
Worried about Japanese electronic sales to the US, the FCC held off on a standard until they came up with one that required processors, thinking that US processing firms would get at least some of the action.
Japan, for its part, decided to develop their own launchers and com sats, so they would never rely on the US FCC again.
Does anyone here know what kind of HD standard they will use ijn Europe and the rest of the world?