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Category: hdtv

  • BBC to launch regular HD DTT broadcasts


    Catherine Smadja, head of strategy at the BBC, said the Corporation is to start regular DVB-T2 HD broadcasts in November 2009.

    Speaking at the the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) 2008 in Amsterdam, she said: “One of the multiplexes will be upgraded to DVB-T2 and MPEG-4, on which there will be the BBC HD service and two others. And very soon thereafter, three other HD services.”

    The new multiplex will launch in November 2009 in the first regions, but should eventually be available to 98.5 per cent of the UK population.

    Five other DTT muxes will remain DVB-T.

    “DVB-T2 is for us an absolute necessity, because DTT is the number one platform in the UK,” Smadja said.
    “We have to offer HD as a public service broadcaster on DTT, not only on cable and DTH.

    Smadja said there was no business model for how to accomplish this and HD would only add to the cost.

    “There might develop a market for HD pay-TV, but not for free-to-air,” she said. “Luckily, the DVB Group solved the spectrum scarcity problem.”

  • The Future is 3-D HDTV

    DreamWorks CEO says 3-D will transform movie watching.

    Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of Dream Works, believes that 3-D HDTV is the future of the TV and movie industries.

    Fittingly he made his comments in a speech that was beamed by satellite across the Atlantic and displayed in glorious 3D HDTV at the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) 2008 in Amsterdam.

    In what was described as the world’s first live transatlantic broadcast in Stereoscopic 3D, Katzenburg told over a 1,000 delegates that the technology is the “most exciting thing to happen to the visual experience in 70 years”.

    As well as laying out his vision for 3D, Katzenberg entertained the 3-D glass-wearing audience with 3-D HDTV clips from the animated Kung Fu Panda, which has been released in theaters, and Monsters vs. Aliens, set for a spring 2009 release.

    “I believe this is the future,” he said. “Not only my future, but all of our futures.”

    Katzenbugh said that 3-D is being seen as a means of enticing people away from their home screens and into cinemas.
    “The theater experience, in many ways, has been trumped by the home experience,” he said.

    “This is a chance for them to leap back ahead, and make it a growth business again … It’s a chance to bring people back to movie theaters who stopped going.”

    While there are only an estimated 2,500-3,000 3-D-capable theaters in North America, Katzenberg said this was expected to change.

    He forecast that up to 80 per cent of theater attendees would be able to see Shrek 4 in 3-D when it opens in 2010.
    Video games are expected to be a driving force in 3-D viewing in the home.

    Barrie Woolston, commercial director at Arqiva Satellite Media Solutions division, which broadcast the 3D transmission, said digital cinema was an important new medium and demand for alternative content was growing rapidly.

    “Live 3D High Definition broadcasts add an exciting new dimension to the audience experience and present significant opportunities for live event organisers and exhibitors,” he said.

    “The big screen is the perfect showcase for the 3D experience and this demonstration has highlighted its enormous possibilities for driving revenues across an exhibitor’s network.”

  • Blu-ray disc or three hour HD download?


    Much has been made of the role the high cost of Blu-ray Discs has played in hampering the high def format’s uptake.

    Yet if reports from Engadget are borne out, VUDU is shortly to offer HD downloads “equal in quality to Blu-ray movies”.

    The US-based internet video download service is said to be already currently in private beta testing for the new content format, which is dubbed HDX.

    While VUDU has not confirmed the report, the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) would certainly have something to say about such claims if it were to do so.

    Just last month, the BDA reacted swiftly to the DISH Network’s claims that its “full” HDTV 1080p/25Hz image matched Blu-ray quality.

    Whether the BDA has any need to feel threatened remains to be seen.

    This was the view espoused by David Mercer, principal analyst at Strategy Analytics, who suggested satellite providers are competing primarily with cable and IPTV companies, and not with the Blu-ray Disc format itself.

    Yet even if VUDU does start offering HD downloads approaching Blu-ray quality would the prospect of approximately three-hour download times appeal to many people?

    The company currently offers SD as well as HD downloads but it appears it is aiming for the high-end home theater owner with the new HDX codec.

    While streamed SD content can be played immediately, HD downloads require several hours to begin.

    Not surprising since the downloads would be over 6GB, requiring over two hours to download in most cable cases, and over four hours for most DSL users.

    We’d be interested to hear what would you would prefer – a handy, albeit still pricey disc, or a three hour wait to watch HD content on demand?

  • Coming Year Important for New Wireless HDTV Products

    Wireless High Definition Special: Over the coming weeks hdtv.biz-news.com will be interviewing representatives from the competing wireless high definition TV systems to assess their current state of readiness and future viability.

    To kick things off, Steve Wilson, principal analyst at ABI Research, which recently produced a report Wireless Video Cable Replacement Market and Technologies, gives his opinion on wireless HDTV developments.

    The end-of-year shopping season, followed by the annual CES trade show in January, will give the next indications of the likely short-term prospects for wireless high-definition television systems in the consumer space.

    Holiday sales of existing products and new product announcements at CES will help paint a picture as to which of several competing systems – if any – is likely to lead the charge towards wide consumer acceptance of wireless HDTV.

    There are three contending technologies, loosely characterized as: 5 GHz, 60 GHz, and ultra-wideband (UWB).

    Small numbers of 5 GHz and UWB devices are currently shipping; demo products of 60 GHz systems are expected early next year.

    “Over the next two to three years, we’re going to see one or two of these wireless HDTV approaches emerge as the primary ones,” said Wilson.

    Two industry groups have emerged to promote 5 GHZ and 60 GHz solutions.

    Israeli company Amimon, around whose technology the 5 GHz platforms are based, took an initiative in July, forming the WHDI Special Interest Group, which has been joined by Hitachi, Motorola, Sharp, Samsung and Sony.
    Hedging their bets, the latter two vendors are also members of the competing industry body, WirelessHD, which is intended to promote the 60 Hz approach designed by SiBEAM, Inc.

    Other members of WirelessHD include Intel, LG Electronics, Matsushita Electric, NEC and Toshiba.

    Samsung is said to believe that WHDI should be seen as a stopgap technology until WirelessHD becomes “the ultimate solution in the long run”.

    But until then, Wilson believes “the WHDI group has the early momentum”.

    He continued: “Announcements at CES of systems using the 60 GHz band will give some indication of whether consumer products will actually make it to market in 2009.

    “The coming year will be a very important period for the introduction of all types of new wireless high-definition TV products.”

  • HDTV sales surpass 10 million in UK

    Sales of HDTVs healthy but viewers face problem of content gap

    Cumulative sales of HDTVs to date surpassed 10 million in the UK, according to a report by GfK Retail and Technology.

    In the first six months of 2008, more than 2 million were added and the market research firm expects the cumulative total to be approaching 15 million by the end of 2008.

    While the UK lags behind other nations such as the US in HDTV pentration, the GfK report said the figures were significant considering it was a product which only really started selling in significant quantities in 2004.

    It pointed out that since some homes had more than one HDTV, the number of households not yet owning a high def set “must be well over 10 million”.

    “In other words, the spectacular uptake of this product so far may not even equate to half of its potential sales,” the report said.

    However, GfK said any enthusiasm should be tempered by the sobering thought that an overwhelming majority of HDTVs are not yet relaying genuine high definition broadcasts.

    This is because the digital terrestrial platform cannot yet broadcast in HD.

    “Fortunately, there has been a sustained growth in large screen TVs, and HD is now a standard feature on all of these products,” said the report.

    “Manufacturers and retailers have also been quick to move their focus to 1080p (so-called Full HD) products.
    “By June 2008, this segment accounted for 18 per cent of flat TV market volume and 33 per cent of the turnover.”

    Intense pressure on prices is key feature

    A comparison between the 52 weeks ending June 2007 and June 2008 confirms that HD was transformed from GBP £721 down to GBP £502.

    The 32"+ large screen decline was an equally steep GBP £859 to GBP £646, despite the move to larger screen sizes.

    Narrow the parameters to 1080p only and the price in the same reporting periods plummets from GBP£1660 to GBP£954.

    Other points arising from the GfK market monitor include:

    * In the small/ medium segment (up to 26"), the HD volume share increased from 37 to 63 per cent.

    * The Internet accounted for 29 per cent of HDTV sales in the first half of 2008, compared to 17 per cent purchasing all TVs.

    * In the 12 months to March 2006, 9 per cent of HDTV sales were for use in a household bedroom, compared to 85 per cent of sales intended for use in the living room. In 2008 – HDTV sales for use in a bedroom had risen to 19 per cent, while HDTV’s bought for the living room had dropped to 73 per cent.

  • Set-top Box Capable of HD Content Over DVB-T2


    Pace plc, a developer of digital TV technologies, has made the first set-top box capable of receiving and displaying DVB-T2 HD content.

    The prototype consists of the world’s first DVB-T2 front-end (the silicon tuner TDA18211 and a prototype of the forthcoming demodulator TDA10055) from NXP Semiconductors and a Pace high definition terrestrial set-top box.

    It will receive a live MPEG-4 HD stream from an Enensys DVB-T2 Modulator based at the DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) stand at the IBC 2008 show in Amsterdam, which begins on Friday.

    DVB-T2 brings efficiencies of between 30-50 per cent in its use of spectrum compared to DVB-T and is expected to be a key enabler to the roll out of high definition TV in the UK over Freeview.

    Earlier this month, the BBC succesfully received high def pictures compliant to the DVB-T2 standard using a real-time demodulator during test transmissions.

    As a set-top box developer, Pace has been involved in the creation of the DVB-T2 draft standard, focusing on key technical aspects that add to the improvement and robustness of the standard, which was only confirmed in June this year.

    Darren Fawcett, chief technologist for Wireless Systems at Pace plc said the take up of high definition services within mature TV markets was picking up speed.

    He said it was expected to grow substantially over the next five years. “But this HD content is currently in the cable and satellite domains,” he said.

    “To enable terrestrial services to compete effectively with the other platforms, DVB-T2 is an essential move.

    “As we saw with the shift to the DVB-S2 standard for satellite services, the extra efficiencies in the use of the spectrum will make the option of delivering HD via DTT viable.”

    With DVB-T2 the DVB Project offers broadcasters a means of using that spectrum in the most efficient ways possible using state of the art technology.

    The first country to deploy DVB-T2 is likely to be the UK, where ASO is already under way.

    The regulator there, Ofcom, has stated its intention to convert one nationwide multiplex to DVB-T2 with the first transmissions of multichannel HDTV set to begin at the end of 2009.

    Test transmissions began immediately after the approval of the standard in June 2008.

  • Netflix focuses on video-streaming

    Netflix puts more emphasis on video-streaming with new appointment and partnerships

    Netflix has hired Bill Holmes, a five-year veteran of digital-media company DivX, to help build its video-streaming business.

    Holmes is to head its business-development efforts as it continues to try to boost sales from its video-streaming service.
    His appointment is the latest in various moves by the company to build on its 8.4 million subscriber base with its streaming services.

    It has entered onto a partnership with LG to produce a new Blu-ray Disc Player with direct internet access to the Netflix film catalogue.

    Netflix, the largest U.S. movie-rental service via mail, said that it brought on Holmes to help embed software into more devices that will allow customers to stream content from Netflix.

    Holmes negotiated licensing agreements with companies such as Qualcomm, Matsushita and SanDisk when he was with DivX.

    Reed Hastings, Netflix CEO, said: “Bill Holmes will lead the ever-increasing effort by Netflix to develop more partnerships with great consumer electronics companies as we enter the era of Web-on-TV.”

    The LG Blu-ray Disc player that instantly links to Netflix’s 12,000-title streaming service will go on sale this month.
    The BD300 has firmware and hardware that will enable it to stream movies directly from the Netflix online video rental service.

    Although it has full 1080p high resolution capability on Blu-ray, the Netlflix service will only provide standard definition movie streams initially.

    However, the BD300 does offer 1080p upscaling for standard definition content via the HDMI output connection.
    The BD300 also has the latest Profile 2.0 specification, which allows full access to all interactive and online content that may be available in relation to specific Blu-ray Discs.

    In July, Netflix expanded its partnership with Microsoft that allows customers to stream Netflix’s movies and TV shows through Microsoft’s Xbox 360 videogame console.

    In May, Netflix introduced a set-top box allowing customers to stream from an inventory of about 10 per cent of its 100,000 titles.

    Later that month, Hastings said products such as Netflix Player by Roku, which had to be back-ordered within three weeks of its introduction, would double the company’s subscriber base within a decade.

    Holmes started the DivX Certified program with the San Diego-based company, whose revenue jumped 43 per cent last year to US$84.9 million.

    That program, which tracks all components containing devices either produced or licensed by DivX, encompasses more than 100 million devices made by companies such as Sony, Samsung and Toshiba.

  • HD test success spells bandwidth boost

    BBC succeeds with world’s first reception of HD pictures over DTT using DVB-T2

    Test transmissions in the UK have successfully received high def pictures compliant to the DVB-T2 standard using a real-time demodulator.

    The BBC, which performed the tests, says this is the first time anywhere in the world that a live end-to-end DVB-T2 chain has been demonstrated.

    DVB-T2 is a new version of the DVB-T standard currently used for digital terrestrial television in the UK.

    It offers an increase in efficiency over DVB-T, which means more bandwidth will be available on the multiplex when it is reconfigured in tandem with digital switchover to permit the carriage of high definition services.

    That, combined with a switch from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4, will allow for increased HD content.

    The UK’s analogue transmission ends in 2012 but some parts of the country will get the benefit of DVB-T2 earlier, with a few places going live next year.

    The current estimate is that in 2009 there will be three HD channels available in the UK, one of which goes to the BBC and the other two going to ITV, Channel 4 or Five.

    The BBC started DVB-T2 test transmissions from the Guildford transmitter in June.

    Justin Mitchell, leader of the BBC’s DVB-T2 modem development team, said: “Following the approval of DVB-T2 in June and the launch of test transmissions from Guildford transmitter the next day, we are delighted that on Kingswood Warren’s 60th anniversary our team has been able to deliver a working demonstration of a DVB-T2 modulator and demodulator.”

    The modulation and demodulation devices will be made available for licensing.

    There will be a demonstration of the DVB-T2 modulator and demodulator on the DVB stand 1.D81 at IBC in Amsterdam.

  • OLED is coming – but at a price


    As a next-generation display technology, the first OLED (organic light emitting diode) screens were never going to come cheap.

    For the introduction of the first OLED to the European market, Sony is said to be putting a €3,500 (US$5,000) price tag on its XEL-1 when it becomes available before Christmas.

    The astronomical cost, reported by OLED-Display.net, dwarfs the US$1850 paid in Japan and even makes the US$2,100 price stateside seem reasonable.

    When the XEL-1 launched in Japan it was unveiled as a kind of prototype for what could be. Sony was said to be making a loss on each set.

    While the XEL-1 has received a positive reception from consumers in Japan, expansion into other markets is sure to be slower at such elevated prices.

    Competition from Sony’s rival Samsung

    OLED TVs, which could potentially replace LCD and plasma TVs, are predicted to sell close to 3 million units in 2012.

    Samsung, which released the world’s largest OLED television at the IFA trade show in Berlin, has committed itself to
    commercial production of mid to large screens by 2010.

    “Samsung will begin commercial production of mid- and large-sized OLED televisions around 2010,” according to a statement from Samsung.

    At IFA, Samsung displayed two OLED screens – a 14.1-inch model and a 31-inch model.

    Sony had the XEL-1 and a 27-inch prototype, which was introduced at the CES in Las Vegas earlier this year.

  • How Do You Turn a PS3 Owner Onto Blu-ray? With a Remote

    Hollywood studios recognise the importance of PlayStation as a driver for Blu-ray Disc (BD) sales and remote control is indicator of household demand

    Reports on Blu-ray’s progress – and difficulties – on the road to becoming the mass-market video format are legion.

    Monica Juniel, vice president of international marketing for Warner Home Video, added an interesting statistic into the mix during her presentation at IFA 2008 in Berlin last week.

    According to the former commercial banker, Sony PlayStation owners that possess remote controls for their games consoles buy more than twice as many BDs as those that don’t have them.

    Perhaps not rocket science, since if you are going to be watching movies on the PS3 it’s fairly fiddly doing it with a game controller.

    But with millions of PS3s sold around the globe, it’s understandable why those with an interest in the Blu-ray industry pay particular attention to how they’re used.

    Games and Movies

    In July, a report from the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) showed that 87 per cent of PS3 owners watched Blu-ray movies on their console.

    While this is an impressive headline figure, Warner aren’t getting carried away with it.

    According to Juniel owners of stand-alone Blu-ray players buy twice as many BDs as PlayStation households.
    She said this undoubtedly meant there were “other opportunities” for the format.

    “There are a few things that are slowing us down,” she said. “PS3 comprises the majority of the installed base, but with software buy rates significantly lagging behind those of Blu-ray set-top box owners.”

    Control by Remote

    Juniel said one way to drive BD movie sales was to “convert PS3 households via remote control usage” – the logic presumably being that if it’s easier to play the disc, you’re more likely to buy more of them.

    No figure was given for the percentage of PS owners who had remote controls but HDTV.biz-news.com has asked for the data and will post an update as soon as its received.

    She also detailed a few other barriers to purchasing Blu-ray Discs, such as hardware prices and consumer indifference.

    Remove issues such as these and there might be a lot more people happily zapping their PS3s.

    Do you agree? Please let us know your comments on what the real barriers are to consumers adopting Blu-ray technology.