Business News Holding

Category: hdtv

  • Plasma and LCD TV Sales Increase in Q2 2009

    Quixel Research’s newly launched USA Large Area Display Report revealed that in Q2 2009 the Plasma TV category was the only large screen TV category to show significant growth quarter-to-quarter.

    Plasma TV (40”+) sales were up 31% in volume and 35% in value when compared to Q1 2009 sales, almost topping the $1B mark.

    “Unit sales of 42” 720p Plasma TVs were up 40% quarter-to-quarter as consumers were looking for value in uncertain economic times,” stated Tamaryn Pratt, Quixel Research’s principal.

    “It also helped that all the models offered were from top brands so consumers felt comfortable making a competitively priced purchase backed up by a well know brand.”

    The surge in 42” 720p Plasma models lifted the segment’s unit share of the LAD category four percent quarter-to-quarter. Plasma TV value topped $910M in the second quarter.

    Revenue results for the overall Large Area Display market were flat or $3.1B in Q2 2009 and when compared to Q2 2008 revenues, were down nine percent. Overall volume for the LAD market was still strong with the market up five percent quarter-to-quarter and up 10 percent year-to-year.

    The research shows that the harsh economic climate didn’t also slow LCDTV sales in the second quarter with sales up significantly quarter-to-quarter. However it did push consumers to purchase entry models as well as smaller screen sized models.

    The overall LCDTV market grew nine percent quarter-to-quarter and 22 percent year-to-year.

    “Unit sales for 22”, 32” and 40/42” models supported the LCDTV category increase in the second quarter,” commented Pratt.

    When assessing large screen size sales results in Q2 2009, the report showed that LCDTV sales 40”+ were flat in units and declined nine percent in value when compared to Q1 2009.

    Connected LCDTVs, or TVs with built-in internet capabilities enabling content such as YouTube, Netflix, Tivo, Facebook etc., saw sales increase significantly in both units and value compared to the prior quarter. Unit sales of connected LCDTVs were up 39 percent quarter-to-quarter and 20 percent year-to-year.

  • Surround 3-D TV to Take Over the Living Rooms

    For the first time, a team of researchers at the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2), have designed a 9-panel, 3-D visualization display from HDTV LCD flat-screens developed by JVC.

    The technology, dubbed "NexCAVE," was inspired by Calit2’s StarCAVE virtual reality environment. The StarCAVE’s pentagon shape and 360-degree views make it possible for groups of scientists to venture into worlds as small as nanoparticles and as big as the cosmos.

    "It’s always been our dream to make a projector-free LCD flat panel CAVE," says Tom DeFanti, Calit2 Research Scientist. "The trick was to get the form of the huge StarCAVE into the space of a living room. We took a speculative leap by overlapping 9 panels, and it turned out better than we thought."

    When paired with polarized stereoscopic glasses, the NexCAVE’s modular, micropolarized panels and related software will make it possible for a broad range of scientists — from geologists and oceanographers to archaeologists and astronomers — to visualize massive datasets in three dimensions, at unprecedented speeds and at a level of detail impossible to obtain on a myopic desktop display.

    The NexCAVE’s data resolution is close to human visual acuity (or 20/20 vision). The 9-panel, 3-column prototype that the team developed for Calit2’s VirtuLab has a 6000×1500 pixel resolution, while the 21-panel, 7-column version boasts 15,000×1500-pixel resolution.

    "The NexCAVE’s technology delivers a faithful, deep 3-D experience with great color saturation, contrast and really good stereo separation," explains DeFanti. "The JVC panels’ xpol technology circularly polarizes successive lines of the screen clockwise and anticlockwise and the glasses you wear make you see, in each eye, either the clockwise or anticlockwise images. This way, the data appears in three dimensions. Since these HDTVs are very bright, 3-D data in motion can be viewed in a very bright environment, even with the lights in the room on”.

    The NexCAVE’s LCD screens are scalloped "like turtle shells," which allows the screens’ bezels (frames) to be minimized by half because the screens are tucked behind one another.

    DeFanti and his colleagues developed the NexCAVE technology at the behest of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), which established a special partnership with UC San Diego last year to collaborate on visualization and virtual-reality research.

    The KAUST campus includes a Geometric Modeling and Scientific Visualization Research Center featuring a 21-panel NexCAVE and several other new visualization displays developed at Calit2.

    According to DeFanti the team’s next goal is to make a screens that won’t require the use of special glasses. "And someday we hope to have organic LED screens with no bezels,” he concludes.

  • Samsung to Incorporate Rovi’s IPG Technology into Its HDTVs

    Rovi and Samsung announced a multi-year, multi-country technology and patent licensing agreement that allows Samsung to incorporate Rovi’s interactive program guide (IPG) technologies into its next-generation TVs and other consumer electronics devices.

    Rovi’s IPG technologies enable CE manufacturers to integrate interactive, on-screen listings into their products to help viewers navigate, sort, select, and schedule television programming.

    According to the company, Rovi’s guide technologies are designed to provide consumers with “simple and intuitive” access to digital media content of all types as well as a personalized home entertainment experience “that makes it easy for consumers to find what they want, when they want it”.

    Third party guide developers can license Rovi interactive program guide products and technologies. Rovi IPGs are incorporated into consumer electronics products, including plasma, DLP, and LCD televisions as well as DVD recorder-based products. Patent licensing is also available to online and mobile providers.

    “As the choices in content, channels and viewing platforms increase exponentially, consumers need advanced guidance technologies that will help them find out ‘what’s on’,” said Tom Carson, executive vice president, sales and services of Rovi Corporation.

    Kyung Shik Lee, vice president of Samsung Electronics added: “by working with Rovi, we are dedicated to bringing an advanced digital home entertainment experience that empowers consumers to find their favorite content on the television while also enabling them to discover new programming quickly and easily.”

    Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

    Rovi holds over 4,000 issued or pending patents and patent applications worldwide and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, with numerous offices across the United States and around the world including Japan, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, and the United Kingdom.

  • Core Logic to Deliver HD Graphics for Next-Generation Portable Media

    ARM announced that Core Logic, a Korea-based fabless semiconductor manufacturer, has licensed the ARM Mali-400 MP multicore graphics processing unit (GPU) to enable enhanced, high-definition entertainment and browsing experiences on smartphones, fully-featured multimedia phones, portable media players and personal navigation devices without compromising battery life.

    Four-core Mali-400 MP supports complex 2D and 3D multimedia applications at up to 1080p resolution and offers pixel processing rates from 300 million to more than 1G pixels per second. This enables manufacturers of mobile phones, PMPs and PNDs to deliver console-quality gaming, high-quality navigation, spectacular user interfaces and web-browsing to their end users, while benefiting from the lowest memory bandwidth usage of any embedded GPU, leading to very low power consumption.

    The new Mali-400 also supports Khronos OpenGL ES 2.0 and OpenVG standards, further enhancing user experiences on a wide range of digital devices.

    Kwang Pyuk Suh, CEO of Core Logic, said that the company is seeing massive demand for ever higher specification graphics on all multimedia mobile devices, PMPs and PNDs.

    “Device manufacturers are continually looking for technologies that enable them to develop the next high-end, must-have gadget to set them apart from the competition. Additionally, users are becoming increasingly discerning about getting the best out of their chosen applications at home and on the go,” he added.

    Core Logic, whose customers include several major Korean manufacturers, will also become part of the ARM Mali Graphics Ecosystem that brings together a community of developers, technology partners, software vendors and content companies to collaborate and reduce the cost of graphics ownership.

    According to Lance Howarth, general manager of ARM Media Processing Division, the new GPU will enable Core Logic to develop the highest quality multimedia system-on-a-chip technology “that will lie at the heart of next generation digital entertainment and communication devices”.

    “Mali-400 MP and other Mali GPUs are fully compatible with the ARM CPUs that power billions of digital devices around the world. This, combined with the complete Mali graphics stack and the ARM Mali Ecosystem, brings lowered development costs and reduced time to market,” said Howarth.

  • Microsoft Unveils Zune HD Details

    Microsoft announced today that the Zune HD, its long-awaited media player, is available now for pre-order and is set to hit store shelves on Sept. 15.

    The black 16 GB version will sell for $219.99, and the 32 GB "platinum" device for $289.99. Both 16GB and 32GB capacities will be available in five different colors with the option to customize the player with one of 10 new engravings designed by guest artists.

    Pre-order starting Thursday, Aug. 13 at https://www.zune.net/zunehd and purchase in stores on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

    Those who want a sneak peek, can visit select stores in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C., areas on Aug. 22 and 23.

    Zune HD features 3.3-inch glass screen and 16:9 widescreen format display (480 x 272 resolution) and have HD video output to allow video to be played on an HDTV.

    It comes also with built-in HD Radio receiver, an OLED touch screen interface, wi-fi, a multi-touch UI for Internet Explorer and has access to TV, movies and games through the Xbox Live Video Marketplace.

  • Toshiba Enters Blu-ray Group

    Toshiba announced that the company has applied for membership of the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) and plans to introduce products that support the Blu-ray format.

    Almost seven-year format war is over. Toshiba, the primary backer of the HD DVD format, which has been defeated after a number the largest movie studios (e.g. Warner Brothers) and U.S. rental services and retailers announced the exclusive support for Sony backed Blu-ray products, finally decided to join Blu-ray group.

    “In light of recent growth in digital devices supporting the Blu-ray format, combined with market demand from consumers and retailers alike, Toshiba has decided to join the BDA,” says the company’s brief statement.

    Toshiba aims to introduce digital products that support the Blu-ray format, including BD players and notebook PCs integrating BD drives, in the course of this year.

    The first rumors of the company’s new HD strategy appeared in June this year, when the Toshiba’s president, Atsutoshi Nishida, told shareholders at the annual shareholder meeting in Tokio, that the company is considering making Blu-ray products.

    Later, at the end of July, the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun raported that Toshiba would introduce a Blu-ray player called BD-18 before the end of the year. Thus the latest company’s announcement didn’t surprise anyone at the HD market. The decision to support Blu-ray format is considered a good (and the only logical) business move.
     

  • Sky to Launch 3D TV in 2010

    Sky has announced that it will launch the UK’s first 3D channel next year. The channel will offer a broad selection of the available 3D programming, which is expected to include movies, entertainment and sport.

    The service will be broadcast across Sky’s existing HD infrastructure and be available via the current generation of Sky+HD set-top boxes. To watch 3D, customers will also require a new ‘3D Ready’ TV, which are expected to be on sale in the UK next year.

    “3D is a genuinely ‘seeing is believing’ experience, making TV come to life as never before. Just like the launch of digital, Sky+ and HD, this is latest step in our commitment to innovating for customers,” said Brian Sullivan, Managing Director of Sky’s Customer Group.

    Sky became the first TV company in Europe that has successfully broadcasted a live event in 3D TV. On 2nd April 2009 they broadcast a performance by Keane live from Abbey Road Studios via the company’s satellite network to a Sky+HD set-top box and domestic 3D Ready TV.

    Sky has also confirmed the launch of a comprehensive ‘pull’ video-on-demand (VOD) service next year, to provide Sky+HD customers with additional choice and control to complement Sky+ and the current Sky Anytime ‘push’ VOD service. This new service will use the broadband capability of existing Sky+HD boxes.

    The jump from 2D to 3D

    TV has traditionally only been able to deliver a single image to a television screen. For all the innovation that we’ve seen in TV (including the move to colour, the migration to digital, and more recently, the launch of high definition services), all of these developments have only been able to work within the parameters of a single incoming TV feed – a 2D experience.
    So even though HD delivers an intensity and richness which results in exceptional clarity and detail, it is still based on the same underlying picture delivery mechanism as previous TV formats.

    3D TV is possible because of a series of major breakthroughs (principally in camera, post-production, encoding, set-top box and TV set technology) which means that domestic TVs are now capable of processing an image in a way that can deliver the depth information to the brain – much like the human eye – and hence add a further dimension to HD.

    For the first time, two images can now be merged and played out simultaneously on the same domestic TV display. Polarising glasses are currently used to help direct the correct left or right full colour on-screen image to the corresponding eye. The brain then processes each feed to create a single image, providing a level of depth and focus which means that the content is able to move to and from the foreground and therefore becomes three-dimensional.

  • Atlona Announces New AT-HD530 Down-Converter

    Atlona Technologies, solutions based manufacturer of Audio Video connectivity accessories, announced their soon to be released HDMI/DVI to Composite and S-Video Down-Converter, the AT-HD530.

    The device down-converts HDMI or DVI digital signal from PC, Mac, GPS System, Apple TV, Camcorder or Video Game to Analog S-Video or Composite Video with Audio. It is featured with HDMI/DVI loop-out.

    The converter has the ability to support resolutions of up to 1080p for HDTVs and up to UXGA (1600×1200@60Hz) with PC or Mac Computers. It is also able to automatically detect and down convert resolutions to those of to PAL or NTSC formats.

    It comes with HDMI video input and Digital Coaxial audio input ports. Output video format is selectable between Composite Video and S-Video.

    Unfortunately AT-HD530 is NOT-HDCP compatible and will not work with HDCP devices such as Cable/Sat Boxes and DVD players.

    New Atlona’s down-converter will be in stock late August with an MSRP of $299.00.

  • HDTVs in More than Half of All U.S. Homes

    A recent Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) report shows strong growth over the past year in HDTV ownership.

    In 2009, 53 percent of total U.S. households report owning a high definition television, an 18 percentage point increase in ownership over 2008, when 35 percent of households reported owning an HDTV (23 percent in 2007). Among HDTV set owners, 69 percent now subscribe to high definition service, compared to 56 percent a year ago.

    Ownership of large screen televisions –32 inches and larger – has also seen solid growth. In 2009, 59 percent of households owned one, up from 52 percent in 2008 (44 percent in 2007).

    The CTAM tracking study also took a look at recent movers and which technologies they are likely to purchase and services they’re likely to subscribe to over the next year. Movers are more likely than non-movers to buy an HDTV set (26 percent vs. 15 percent), a laptop (24 percent vs. 16 percent), and a video game system (23 percent vs. 7 percent); as well as subscribe to HD programming service (15 percent vs. 8 percent) and DVR service (17 percent vs. 7 percent).

    In 2009, digital cable market penetration was 34 percent, satellite was 28 percent, and telephone company penetration was 6 percent. Overall, cable has 53 percent of the market.

    “Cable continues to be the preferred provider for television services. Cable launched the digital tier well after satellite started selling an all-digital service, yet its customer numbers surpass those of the combined DBS companies,” said CTAM President and CEO Char Beales.

  • LG Integrates Broadcom Bluetooth Technology, Enables HDTVs to Connect with Mobiles and Headsets


    LG Electronics has integrated Broadcom’s advanced Bluetooth technology into a new line of digital televisions (DTVs) that are now shipping.

    Having Bluetooth connectivity in its LH70 TV line of digital televisions allows the sets to connect with a wide range of Bluetooth devices, such as wireless stereo headphones and cell phones.

    With the latter, future applications include functioning as a TV remote control or a QWERTY keyboard input device for TV-based widgets and electronics commerce applications.

    The Bluetooth technology also allows the new LGE TVs to act as a wireless docking station for MP3-enabled cell phones and portable media players (PMPs).
    This enables music and other audio to play over TV speaker systems.

    It also allows ‘picture push’ capabilities that enable users to wirelessly move digital photos and other graphic files from Bluetooth-enabled camera phones to the LGE TV for viewing and sharing.

    Fernanda Summa, TV product manager at LG Electronics, said consumers are continuing to discover that Bluetooth is much more than just a wireless headset. She said the technology is rapidly gaining adoption in digital televisions.

    "Broadcom Bluetooth technology provides the right combination of features and performance for embedded and consumer electronics applications, delivering advanced multimedia capabilities and low power consumption driven by Broadcom’s expertise in mobile handsets," he said.

    Broadcom estimates that the total available market (TAM) for embedded Bluetooth solutions will be more than 938 million units by 2012.

    Craig Ochikubo, vice president & general manager of Broadcom’s wireless personal area networking line of business, said the increasing adoption of Broadcom Bluetooth technology into digital televisions and other consumer electronics devices is driving an emerging connectivity ecosystem.

    He said it allows existing products with Bluetooth connectivity like cell phones and wireless headsets to play new roles.

    "Broadcom is helping to drive this trend and we look forward to our continued collaboration with LGE to transform consumer interaction with these devices," he said.