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Tag: wide-screen

  • Tried PC Videoconferencing – Well How About On An HDTV?


    With webcams now commonplace on PCs and laptops it seems natural that they should take the next step – to HDTVs.

    Videoconferencing expert Emblaze VCON says it has developed technology that allows up to six different users to interact through home TV screens.

    Linor Shachar, VP sales and marketing for the Israeli company, told hdtv.biz-news that it hoped to have found a partner "within months" to develop its TV videoconferencing solution.

    Emblaze is best known for its desktop videoconferencing applications.

    She said having the ability to videoconference from your home HDTV set was the logical "next stage" with the advent of internet-connected televisions.

    "It’s very interesting and we are very confident that it will be everywhere," she said.

    "We have the technology, now we are looking for a partner."

    Shachar said the preferred partnership was with a TV manufacturer and the intention was to have the technology embedded rather than as a set-top box.

    She said companies such as LG were already working on HDTVs with built-in cameras.

    The Emblaze technology will allow a user to open up to six windows on the screen and videotalk with others.

    "So, for instance, you might be watching a football match on TV and want to speak to a friend," said Shachar.

    "You can do that through a window within the main TV screen."

  • Shoppers To Be Tempted With Reduced Price HDTVs And Bundled Blu-rays


    Greatly reduced HDTV price tags and packages bundling sets and blu-rays are among the retailing treats likely to be on offer to US shoppers this holiday season, according to DisplaySearch.

    With the US economy ailing, Paul Gagnon, DisplaySearch’s director of North America TV market research, said stock market declines have impacted on people’s investments and consumers weren’t generally saving very much money.

    Paul Gagnon, director of N.American TV market research,DisplaySearch

    He said this could impact on their purchasing decisions during the Thanksgiving weekend and Black Friday holiday period, traditionally one of the busiest weeks of the year for the US CE and PC industries.

    “It’s an interesting time we’re in now," he said. “To combat this, retailers are expected to pull out all the stops this holiday season—lowering HDTV prices, offering bundled electronic packages with HDTVs and Blu-ray disc players, using ‘creative’ financing deals when possible such as in-store credit or ‘pay when you get your tax return’ options with the hopes of achieving their sales targets this holiday season.

    "Keeping shopper traffic high for the holiday season will be a priority for both retailers and TV manufacturers.”

    Speaking in a webinar exclusively for DisplaySearch clients, Gagnon detailed several potential TV scenarios for the 2008 holiday season:

    •   Consumers will become increasingly conservative in discretionary holiday spending, despite discount and promotion opportunities—leading to negative Y/Y Q4’08 shipment growth.
    • Consumers will take advantage of the best bargains and low price points—causing retailers to hit their unit sales targets, but miss revenue goals and negatively impact margins.
    • Consumers will continue to spend as they have on larger sizes and better featured sets—taking advantage of dramatically lower prices and sggressive retail promotions.
    • Consumers will turn to discount stores such as Costco and Walmart in greater numbers for electronic purchases this holiday season, in order to save money and get more shopping done in fewer trips.

  • HDTV Has Become Simply TV


    HDTV penetration in US households is climbing so steadily that it’s apparently no longer deemed necessary to mention the high-def part.

    According to Paul Gagnon, director of North America TV Market Research for DisplaySearch, “HDTV has simply become TV, with nearly every consumer either owning or understanding the benefits of HDTV and desiring to become an owner”.

    He went on to say: “As HDTVs becomes mainstream, the TV supply continues to benefit and prosper. The outlook for growth is still very positive, but it is critical that the industry continues to focus on refinement.”

    Speaking after DisplaySearch’s recent HDTV Conference, Gagnon noted that the transition to HDTV was well underway and many households were now watching their favorite programs in HD.

    Content and distribution were expanding the selection of HD programming, further encouraging the adoption of HDTVs.

    However, before anyone gets complacent, Gagnon pointed out that there was still a substantial number of homes without HDTVs – or other rooms in the homes of HDTV owners that could be upgraded – leaving a substantial market opportunity.

    HD downloads were among other topics covered at the two-day conference.

    Delegates were told the dreams of the industry about HD via broadband for connected TVs would remain dreams, until the infrastructure is improved.

    It was pointed out, though, that there were increasing demands from consumers for new connected applications and these were evolving rapidly.

    The overall adoption of digital downloads is also growing but remains fairly low in comparison to other methods of consuming video, the conference heard.

    The number of devices that can play back digital downloads is increasing, with game consoles, standalone set-tops, and BD players now part of the mix.

    However, DisplaySearch’s Paul Erickson said that a primary limitation to HD downloads was broadband – both penetration and speed.

    He said it would be some time before digital downloads catch on as mainstream consumers shift their disc-based consumption behavior gradually.

  • Why Isn't VoIP Videoconferencing Taking Off?

    Voip.biz-news.com spoke to Huw Rees, VP of marketing and sales at Internet-based voice and video telephony company 8×8, to get his feedback on VoIP videoconferencing as a corporate communication tool.
    In these times of budget cuts and soaring travel costs, videoconferencing has been hailed as an effective means of communicating with far-flung employees and customers.

    Companies such as Cisco TelePresence, HP Halo and Lifesize have invested heavily in videoconferencing – or telepresence – technology and offer a range of HD products, some of which cost upwards USD $100,000.

    While these studio-type devices are beyond the range of small businesses, there are an increasing number of affordable desktop IP-based videoconferencing systems on the market.

    With early problems of video quality now overcome, VoIP videoconferencing products would seem to be an ideal corporate communication tool.

    Although more geared to two or three-way conference calls – rather than larger groups – they a provide clear, face-to-face visual link.
    Yet these easy to use, low-cost alternatives have still to catch on.

    Internet-based voice and video telephony company 8×8 introduced its videoconferencing solution, the Packet8 Virtual Office Tango Video Terminal Adapter (VTA), in January.

    However, Huw Rees, vice president of marketing and sales at 8×8, said so far it had not proved to be very popular.
    He said it had been adopted by around 5 per cent of subscribers.

    “It’s not really a runaway success,” he said. “Generally people do not use video to phone a lot of people.

    “They are still a bit unconfortable being in front of a camera rather than having a straight audio call.”

    Headquarted in Santa Clara, California, 8×8 is the second largest stand alone VoIP service provider in the US.

    Benefits Of  Videoconferencing?



    Rees said that, apart from in specific circumstances, business people didn’t see any benefit from using video.
    “We believe that will change, but we have been saying that for several years and haven’t seen it yet,” he said.

    Rees said that he remained to be convinced that even the expensive room systems with giant HD screens were realy going to catch on.

    “Presumably these companies have done their research but it will be interesting to see what happens,” he said.

    “There are certain circumstances where these set-ups work, such as when a business has two teams involved on a project in different parts of the country. But this is very specific.”

    Rees said the VTA, which has a built-in TFT LCD 5” display, has been adapted from an existing consumer product for its business customers.

    He said the main difference was that it was an extension on a PBX rather than being a stand-alone device.

    A phone is supplied with the package, with features such as call transferring built into it.

    Video Quality Not An Issue

    Joan Citelli, direct of corporate communications for 8×8, said video quality had been poor in the early days of IP-based videoconferencing but that was not the case today.

    “Quality is not an issue any longer,” she said. “Videoconferencing does seem to make a lot of sense and you would think that it would allow companies to cut down on commuting and travelling.

    “But it seems that seeing someone on a phone call is not a replacement for meeting and sitting down with them.”

    Have you used a desktop videoconferencing package? We would be interested to hear your comments on videoconferencing and whether it is going to catch on with small business users.