BBC and Discovery Put High-Def on Ice

The Discovery Channel and BBC's "Planet Earth" series is popular among HDTV-owners eager to show off the up-close-and-personal vibrant images of wild animals, deep caves and lush forests on their large flat-screens. Spacing out in front of a "Planet Earth" episode can be a thrilling experience - especially when watching the Blu-ray version - and the team behind the show wants to recapture that appeal with a sequel called "Frozen Planet."

Cinematographers have hardly explored the Arctic and Antarctic like they have the other continents, and with climate change on the rise, they'd better get to it. 

But the Discovery Channel/BBC team doesn't plan to air the new icy series until 2012. What do you think a thousand variations of ice and snow and white fur will look like on the high-def sets of 2012? Beyond that, what method will the producers use to distribute the high-def video? Blu-ray will likely still be around, but a downloadable high-def "Frozen Planet" should be equally appealing. -Rachel Rosmarin

The Futon Critic

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