In a first, DD telecasts parade on HD channel, YouTube

In addition, the hearing impaired followed the coverage via sign language commentary

For the first time, the 18 million hearing impaired people in the country could follow the Republic Day coverage on three major Doordarshan channels with the help of sign language. Photo: Mohammed Yousuf

On the country’s 65th Republic Day, National broadcaster Doordarshan for the first time beamed the live telecast of the ceremony from Rajpath in superior quality High Definition (HD) transmission and also streamed it on YouTube.

In another first, hearing impaired people were also able to follow the entire live coverage with the help of sign language commentary on three channels — DD News, DD Bharati and DD Urdu.

Over 60,000 hits

The telecast on YouTube had more than 60,000 hits by 3 p.m., with many Indians living abroad expressing their happiness in the comments section for being able to see the parade live.

The Republic Day celebrations have so far been telecast by Doordarshan only in Standard Definition, officials said.

Picture quality The picture quality of the coverage was much superior in HD as its resolution is six times that of Standard definition, they added. Over 100 Doordarshan personnel from the technical, camera, programme, commentary, scenic and administrative fields worked in tandem to install, test, commission and rehearse to ensure uninterrupted live telecast of the elaborate coverage, officials said. Doordarshan had installed 18 of the latest HD cameras in strategic positions to cover the entire spectacle of the parade where President Pranab Mukherjee took the salute.