United Nations

Large Screens To Be Used in General Assembly Hall for First Time

 NEW YORK, 24 August (UN Headquarters) -- State-of-the-art technology, including high- definition television, digital photography and Webcasting, will make the United Nations Millennium Summit, from 6 to 8 September, a truly twenty-first century event.  The Summit, which will bring together some 150 heads of State or Government to tackle global challenges, is expected to be the largest-ever gathering of world leaders.

 Further to an initiative by the Government of Japan, NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) has offered on a pro bono basis services and equipment to the United Nations for its coverage of the Millennium Summit with high-definition television technology (HDTV).  United Nations Television will also provide NTSC format coverage.  NHK’s offer to the United Nations will include the first-ever use in the General Assembly Hall of two large-scale television projection screens (11.5 feet by 20 feet) for the duration of the Summit.

 HDTV, which has previously been used at the annual United Nations World Television Forum in New York and provides high-resolution digital images with compact disc sound quality, is considered to be the next-generation television technology.  Fifteen high-definition cameras and eight high-definition television monitors will be set up at various locations within the United Nations complex during the Summit.

 Coverage of the event will be available to broadcasters in both HDTV and the regular NTSC formats.  UNTV signals will be instantaneously distributed by the United Nations and NHK to broadcasters around the world for live or delayed television transmissions.

 To capture the unique historical moment of the Summit, the Eastman Kodak Company will shoot on a pro bono basis the official Summit group photograph of all Heads of Delegation on 6 September using its latest digital technology.  High-resolution images will be available immediately for worldwide distribution.

 A live Webcast of the Summit’s plenary proceedings in English and French languages will be featured on the United Nations Web site, in cooperation with mediaondemand.com.  The Web site will also make available the text of statements in their original language, press releases, radio news programmes and photographs, along with background information regarding the Summit.

 The Webcast and other coverage can be found at http://www.un.org/millennium/webcast for English, and under the respective pages of the Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish language versions of the Web site.

Media Contacts

 Broadcasters interested in the HDTV coverage should contact by 1 September:  Maki Hatae or Asako Takeuchi; NHK General Bureau for America; Tel: (212) 704-9898; Fax: (212) 704-4075; e-mail: mhatae@ny.nhk-use.com

 General inquiries about Summit television coverage should be directed to:  United Nations Television, Tel: (212) 963-7650; Fax: (212) 963-3860; e-mail: ludlam@un.org

 Press can obtain copies of the Summit group photograph by contacting:  United Nations Photo Library; Tel: (212) 963-6927; Fax (212) 963-1658