Vision - November/December 2008 - (Page 34)

of HDTV, Mitsubishi is demonstrating 3D technology with its rear-projection 73-inch HDTV products that utilize DLP technology. With special glasses, consumers can see three-dimensional movies and games delivered from a special media server. Gagnon says 3D images also could be generated by souped-up Blu-ray players or gaming consoles that incorporate 3D technology. CEA has formed a discussion group to address delivery and presentation of 3D video in the home. Brian Markwalter, CEA’s vice president of Technology & Standards says, “We plan to coordinate with the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. They’ve got a task force on 3D now looking at standards for content mastering.” Movie studios have released or announced plans to produce more than 80 stereo 3D movie titles since 2007. Dreamworks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg says all of his studio’s animated movies starting in 2009 will be available in 3D, a shift that he likens to the transition from silent to talking motion pictures and from black-and-white to color cinema. Never too Thin Beyond 3D, more immediate trends in HD displays point to bigger, thinner and more energy-efficient products and displays with more Internet-enabled features. Sony claims the world’s thinnest LCD TV, a nine millimeter design (thinner than the case that holds a Blu-ray movie disc) made possible by edge-mounted LED backlights. Credit-card thin organic light emitting diode (OLED) HDTV products show great promise, with Sony recently introducing its first 11-inch model. Panasonic is making remarkable strides in energy efficiency for plasma products. Thin plasma panels from Hitachi, Panasonic and Pioneer also are turning heads at trade shows, which is a good indicator of what’s around the corner. Internet capability—whether to surf the Web or access video programming—is another trend. Four Panasonic plasma models now let consumers access YouTube videos and Picasa Web Albums wirelessly, without extra components. Sharp Aquos HDTV set owners can get Web-delivered programming from NBC Universal’s “Access Hollywood” with other NBC fare to come. Several TV manufacturers and accessory companies are introducing new products that eliminate wires between source devices and displays. Set-top makers also are adding bigger hard drives for HD and network operators are discovering that high-definition programming can attract, and keep, valuable subscribers. Cable, Telcos and Satellite Compete With consumers buying HDTV sets en masse, and HD content being produced for them, the main distribution vehicles are competing heavily to capture these new HD consumers. More than 1.4 million consumers have signed up for Verizon’s FiOS services, which include a “fiber to the home” connection that can deliver HD signals from the telephone company’s video head-end up their HD offerings. DISH Network’s latest set-top digital video recorder now offers as many as 55 hours of HD storage, and their TurboHD service soon will include as many as 150 channels plus video on demand and multi-room viewing capability. DIRECTV expects to have local HD broadcast channels in 121 cities by year end to reach 88 percent of U.S. TV households. HD is impacting cable, too, which offers HD programming to some 38 million digital cable subscribers. TV manufacturers Funai, LG, Panasonic and Sony all are developing tru2way cable products, with Panasonic first to market with a TV that delivers all cable services without a set-top box. Comcast is moving full-steam ahead to “reclaim” cable plant spectrum now occupied by analog channels, freeing up more space for digital offerings that include more HD services. “For our customers, it’s all “Power television broadcasting in Wilmington, NC, switched to digital on September 8th, five months ahead of the nationwide digital conversion.” directly to the consumer’s living room. “Inside the customer’s home, the FiOS platform is actually a network. Our main offer is high-definition digital video recorders (DVR) that have multi-room capabilities. So if you have a master DVR in your living room, you actually can watch that in the other rooms in the house,” says Benigno Gonzales, Verizon’s executive director for FiOS products, who’s noticed subscribers making second and third HDTV purchases since signing up for FiOS TV. Competing with Verizon, HDTV from AT&T comes via the telephone company’s U-verse video, telephone and Internet service in 35 markets. “Viewers need a way to conveniently manage all of the HD and digital content they can access. We’re utilizing our IP platform to deliver advanced features to help them do that. Customers can program their DVRs remotely using their PC or their wireless phone. They can record up to four programs at one time— something no other provider offers today,” says AT&T spokeswoman Jenny Bridges. Not to be outdone by the telcos, both DISH Network and DIRECTV are beefing about HD right now. We’ve made a strategic decision to move ahead with our plan to reclaim analog bandwidth and deploy tru2way services,” says Derek Harrar, Comcast’s senior vice president of video services. Half of Comcast’s video on demand movies are available in high-definition. “With the AMC series Mad Men, we’re seeing fully one-third of the On Demand views being done in HD. Your high-def customer tends to be a little savvier about how to use video on demand and how to best complement that with a high-def digital video recorder,” Harrar says. Comcast can see how viewers are learning to manage their HD choices, deciding to go with video on demand options for recurring episodes instead of filling up a DVR’s hard drive with readily available On Demand HD content. Local broadcasters are keeping pace with HDTV too. In a successful harbinger of the upcoming transition to DTV, all full-power television broadcasting in Wilmington, NC, switched to digital on September 8th, five months ahead of the nationwide digital conversion. Learn more at www.CE.org/HDTV. • www.ce.org 34 November/December 2008 http://www.CE.org/HDTV http://www.ce.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Vision - November/December 2008

Vision - November/December 2008 Contents Shapiro's Spectrum In this Issue The Economist C4 Trends Going Global Visionary CES Unveiled Eco-Intelligence Is Vital in a Sustainable Global Market XGP— A Game Changer Enhancing the Tech Experience High-Definition Decade Public-Private Partnerships CEA Newsline Tech Speak Tech Policy Eye on Business Market Insider Just the Stats

Vision - November/December 2008

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