This paper describes the fundamental principles of production and accomplishment of High Definition Television (HDTV)-the television system of the future.It looks at the parameters of high definition television (HDTV),and shows how the values of these parameters can be derived from consideration of the performance of the viewer's visual system. Bandwidth requirements for various TV and HDTV systems are compared, and a number of optical fibre transmission techniques are considered for HDTV. In conclusion it is stated that the large bandwidths demands of uncompressed HDTV can be met by emerging technology in optical fibre transmission systems-in particular, wavelength division multiplexing (WDM). The paper is as a result of a project study conducted by the author and a colleage when he studied for his degree at Essex University,England. It makes no reference to the development and relevance of HDTV in the African context.