Hong Kong officially launched its digital terrestrial television broadcasting on Monday, which is expected to give local people an enhanced viewing of the Beijing Olympics on TV in August.

Speaking at an initial ceremony on a waterfront platform overlooking the famed Victoria Harbor, Frederick Ma, secretary for commerce and economic development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, said Hong Kong, therefore, would enter "a new digital broadcasting era."

It would "bring to viewers a wider array of quality TV programs and entertainment, as well as a brand new audio-visual experience, " he said, adding that the move could also help "release spectrum for the development of new multi-media services and lead Hong Kong to scale new heights in the technology arena."

Different from signals in analogue form, which was subject to quality losses in the process of being transmitted, digital terrestrial television broadcasting was stable and clearer, apart from being free from the trouble of setting up cable network.

Digital signals could also help enhance the efficiency of spectrum use by squeezing more programs into the same spectrum, thereby allowing more channels to be established.

The launching ceremony was officiated by Donald Tsang, chief executive of the Hong Kong special administrative region and representatives from Asia Television Limited (ATV) and Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB), two of the major local TV networks.

With the launch of the digital TV in Hong Kong, ATV and TVB would simulcast their existing 4 television channels in digital format, and launch new free channels on standard television and high definition television.

Digital broadcasting would cover about half of Hong Kong's 6.8 million population at the initial stage.

The two stations would continue to broadcast the 4 existing channels in analogue format, so that viewers could choose when to switch to digital broadcasting.

"The government is making every effort to help speed up the construction of digital networks with the aim of providing 75 percent coverage by August next year, so that more than 5 million Hong Kong citizens will be able to view in the comfort of their homes the 2008 Beijing Olympics through digital broadcasting," Ma said.

Hong Kong, after weighing a European standard, adopted a standard developed by Chinese researchers, including those from the prestigious Tsinghua University, compared to three other standards respectively adopted in the United States, Europe and Japan.