[B&C/MCN] HD Newsletter - January 10, 2008

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January 10, 2008
IN THIS ISSUE
  1. TOP STORY: CES Expands Definition of HDTV
  2. NEWS:

    --CEA Report: 31.8 Million DTV Units Set for Delivery in 2008

    --Warner Support of Blu-ray Leaves HD-DVD Format Vulnerable

  3. Q&A: Shermaze Ingram, NAB
  4. Briefing Room: News from B&C, Multichannel News and TWICE
  5. Around the Web

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Top Story
CES Expands Definition of HDTV

The Consumer Electronics Association this week drew tens of thousands of attendees (and seemingly just as many bloggers), all on the hunt for the latest information on new products designed to keep disposable cash flowing even as the economy appears to be hardening.

Among the highlights? A 3-D HD plasma set from Samsung, the official introduction on U.S. soil of OLED technology, continued advances in the speed with which LCD and plasma screens refresh (cutting down on jitter) and more and more wireless HD options.

Samsung’s Series 4 plasma HDTV brings 3-D HD to the flat-panel market. And while consumers will still have to wear glasses, the hope is that the availability of the sets, coupled with growing interest in 3-D HD in movie theaters, could move 3-D HD into the mainstream.

Jonas Tanenbaum, vice president of flat-panel marketing at Samsung Electronics America, said the company is looking to expand the 3-D technology across all of its HDTV categories, not just the Series 4.

Samsung said the Series 4 features 3-D technology previously only available in DLP sets -- for example, an advanced software algorithm to eliminate dither noise and false contour lines to reproduce clear images, including fast-moving action scenes. The Series 4 Plasma HDTV will be available in March in both 42- and 50-inch model sizes (Model numbers PN42A450P and PN50A450P).

Toshiba looked to deliver some good news at its press event following the bad news of losing Warner Bros. support for HD-DVD. Scott Ramirez, VP of TV marketing, said the company's new lineup of Regza TV sets reflect some trends: 1080p is becoming the dominant display standard, along with 120-hertz picture refresh rates. Toshiba introduced the XV540 with a high-gloss black bezel, 120Hz anti-blur refresh rate, while the XF550 will have a super-narrow 0.9-inch screen bezel. Contrast ratio is 100,000:1. And the promise of wireless HDTV seems to be moving into reality. Westinghouse kicked off the show by announcing a partnership with Pulse~LINK and LG announced the LG71 Wireless LCD HDTV series. In addition, Panasonic introduced a wireless HDTV system that uses SiBEAM 60-gigahertz millimeter-wave technology. That delivers 4 gigabits per second, per channel and, over four channels, a total of 16 gbps of throughput.

Panasonic also offered four screen sizes from the PZ800 plasma HDTV line. Form factors are 42-, 46-, 50- and 58-inch diagonal along with four HDMI inputs, an SDHC slot and a new "single sheet of glass" design concept. To support the new plasma-TV line, Panasonic is building its fifth plasma-panel-manufacturing plant in Amagasaki, Japan, which is slated to come online in 2009.

Panasonic's latest LCD line includes the TC-37LZ85 and the premium TC-37LZ800, Panasonic's first 37-inch, 1080p LCD HDTVs. Sony Sunday launched an HDTV for U.S. consumers built with an emerging display technology that it said delivers images that are better than current LCD and plasma TVs.

As for Sony’s OLED intro, Sony chairman and chief executive Howard Stringer said OLED represented “Sony's vision of television in the future.” While not yet for sale, the consumer-electronics company was showcasing a 27-inch OLED set.

Sony was not the only company to wave the OLED banner at CES. Samsung is showcasing a 14.1-inch and a 31-inch model. The sets, however, are not for sale, and the company doesn't expect to begin commercial production of mid- to large-size OLEDs until "around 2010." Toshiba and Panasonic are working jointly on OLED TVs, but are still in the research-and-development stage.

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News
CEA Report: 31.8 Million DTV Units Set for Delivery in 2008
 

The 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show not only gives manufacturers a chance to trot out the latest HD technology: It also gives the Consumer Electronics Association a chance to discuss the future of the digital-TV transition.

The CEA said more than 31.8 million DTV units will be shipped to retailers in 2008. Taking that number and combining it with a recent CEA report that more than 50% of U.S. households now own DTV sets could mean that up to 70 million homes could have at least one DTV set by January 2009.

Tim Herbert, CEA senior director of market research, said the market in 2009 will see two opposing forces at work, as prices will continue to fall but consumers will embrace larger screen sizes.

“The biggest increase in unit sales has been for LCD sets in the 40- to 44-inch category,” he said. “And we’re still seeing double-digit price decreases in many LCD categories.”

In fact, the prices have fallen so much that Herbert said a 29-inch HD display in 2008 has a price point of roughly $200 wholesale, roughly 15% more expensive than non-HD displays.

Of course, just because a consumer buys a DTV set doesn’t mean they are watching DTV signals. An earlier report from the CEA found that only 44% of HD households subscribed to HD services.

“People are still confused,” Herbert said. “Some have digital cable and think that therefore, they must have HDTV. But the retailers are now helping out with stickers that let customers know that the images they see in the store are not the same as they’ll get at home.”

As for HD DVD players the CEA is forecasting 2008 sales of 2.8 million. “The bottom line is that there is interest, but a lot of people don’t want to take a chance on Blu-ray or HD-DVD,” Herbert said. “But that opinion is beginning to change as the price points change. If someone is looking to buy a new DVD player today, they can spend an extra $100 and have an HD-capable player.”

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News
Warner Support of Blu-ray Leaves HD-DVD Format Vulnerable
 

The HD-DVD versus Blu-ray battle for the HD DVD market tilted significantly in favor of Blu-ray when Warner Bros. Entertainment threw its support behind Sony’s Blu-ray format late last week.

The Blu-ray the format now has exclusive support from Warner Bros., Disney, 20th Century Fox, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Lions Gate and Sony. Universal, Paramount and DreamWorks are the only remaining major studios supporting HD-DVD.

In a further wrinkle, Financial Times reported that Paramount can defect because a clause in its contract with the HD-DVD camp allows the studio to switch to Blu-ray if Warner Bros. drops its support of Toshiba's standard.

The move by Warner Bros. did more than just signal a possible death blow to Toshiba’s HD-DVD format: It also put an end to Warner Bros.’ own Total HD dual-format disc that it unveiled last year.

The idea behind the dual-format disc was to allow Warner Bros. and other studios to master one DVD that included both a HD-DVD version and a Blu-ray version of the same movie. The move would allow for retailers to save shelf space, movie studios to save money on DVD replication and consumers to choose either the HD-DVD or Blu-ray player without fear of obsolescence.

But in subsequent months, Warner Bros. seemed to back away from the idea. In July, senior vice president of marketing management Steve Nickerson said there was no expiration date on the viability of the concept. “We'll do it when it makes sense and when it's right,” he said during a presentation at the Entertainment Supply Chain Academy in Los Angeles. Nickerson also stated that the studio intended to launch Total HD with 10-20 titles.

Toshiba executives remained hopeful that HD-DVD will win out with consumers.

“We firmly believe HD-DVD is the best format for the consumer,” VP of marketing Jodi Sally said at the Toshiba press conference at the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show. People had written it off before as dead, Sally said, and shouldn't be quick to do so now.

Toshiba of America president Akio Ozaka took the stage and asserted that HD-DVD sales in the fourth quarter of 2007 were their strongest yet.

“We were suprised by WB's announcement to abandon HD-DVD,” Ozaka said. “We were particularly disappointed that the decision was made in spite of the significant momentum HD-DVD has made ... in 2007.”

That momentum included 1 million HD-DVD players sold. However because Sony PlayStation 3 units include Blu-ray playback, the Blu-ray format has outpaced HD-DVD in terms of disk sales.

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Q&A
NAB, Local Stations Begin Final DTV Transition Push

Shermaze Ingram
Senior Director, Media Relations
NAB

With a little more than one year remaining until TV stations shut down analog signals, the National Association of Broadcasters is stepping up educational efforts to ensure that over-the-air TV viewers understand the changes ahead. Shermaze Ingram, NAB digital-television-transition senior director of media relations, discussed 2008 plans for helping viewers ready for the analog turnoff.

Q: What is the NAB doing in 2008 to help make viewers aware of the DTV transition?

A: We have a number of big initiatives for the final push, and we’re ramping them up in a greater way. We’ve had an on-air campaign since September 2006, and we will launch more DTV action spots, in both English and Spanish, designed to let viewers know that if they are exclusively an over-the-air viewer, they’ll need to do something. We also have a 20-foot truck on a DTV road show that gives consumers an in-person look at what the conversion boxes look like and how they can get one.

Q: Are there any markets that are more important to reach because they have a higher percentage of over-the-air viewers?

A: Texas and California are the two states we’ll be visiting the most, as there are 2 million in people in both states who rely on over-the-air TV and, in [Los Angeles] County alone, there are 800,000 viewers. And many of those viewers are Hispanic, making it important to be able to talk to them directly in Spanish. Even the signs in the DTV truck are all in Spanish.

Q: How are local stations getting involved?

A: We now have a DTV speaker’s bureau because there is no better way to educate the public than to have them talk to members of their own local-TV-station community. The local weather guy, news anchors, general managers and even ad-sales executives at station are doing four to six speaking engagements each, and we’ll handle the booking. And they’ll discuss what the switchover needs, what viewers will need to do technically and display converter boxes at senior centers or elementary schools.

Q: Have NAB member stations responded to the program?

A: We’ve had amazing participation across the board. In larger markets, there are more speakers participating, but even markets like Baton Rouge, La., have been very active.

Q: It can be pretty easy to lose people when discussing some of the technical details of the transition. How technical are these programs?

A: There’s no way to talk about the transition without discussing technology, and we have a series of Webinars for the speaker bureau to give some details. For the lay person, if technical information is presented in a friendly way and put into context, it is accessible and easy to grasp.

Q: So what else should stations be doing?

A: It’s important to provide a local angle to the campaign and it’s important for stations to work with local community groups to make sure the transition message is heard. In South Carolina, for example, each station has deputized one person to be a DTV czar. And the czars from the different stations will get together and meet. They also work closely with the state capital and invite the print media in to learn more about the transition. It’s not just an on-air TV element.
 
 

--Interviewed by Ken Kerschbaumer

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Briefing Room

FCC’s Martin: DTV Transition Date Locked In
(From a Jan. 8 article at BroadcastingCable.com)

Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin said there is no chance that the nation’s shift to digital television will be delayed, regardless of questions and pleas from various industries. Martin said he expects the cable, broadcast and consumer-electronics industries to defuse the inevitable logistical problems that may arise prior to the transition. Some consumers have expressed concern, for example, that the DTV coupons, which have a three-month expiration date, might not allow enough time to choose a device, especially if retailers are sold out or have limited selections.
For more…

CES 2008: Motorola Rolling Out MPEG-4 Set-Tops
(From a Jan. 7 article at BroadcastingCable.com)

Motorola is introducing new digital-cable set-tops that use the MPEG-4 advanced compression scheme. The all-digital DCX series, which also supports MPEG-2 compression, includes a dual-tuner HD digital-video-recorder model, the DCX3400; a single-tuner HD set-top, the DCX3200; and a single-tuner, standard-definition set-top, the DCX100, which is capable of receiving an HD signal and converting it to an SD output, making it compatible with legacy analog TV sets that can’t show HD pictures.
For more…

Tennis Channel's New Hi-Def Court
(From a Jan. 7 article in Broadcasting & Cable magazine)

When Tennis Channel moved to HD, it didn't just buy new equipment -- it built a new home for all of the gear. The Santa Monica, Calif.-based network relied on Fox Sports' uplink center in Los Angeles as its technical hub since its May 2003 launch. But to introduce a 1080-line-interlace HD service, expand its live production and prepare for growth, it needed a tech home of its own. In early 2007, the network leased space in Culver City, Calif., and created its own production and operations center. The facility went fully live last Monday, the same day Tennis’ HD service launched on DirecTV.
For more…

Comcast CEO Roberts Hypes Comcast 3.0 at CES
(From a Jan. 8 article at Multichannel.com)

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts took to the stage at the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show to plug “Comcast 3.0,” delivering a fiber-optic network, superior HDTV, customer service and leadership in innovation. Roberts said Comcast will ramp up to 1,000 HDTV offerings by the end of the year. “When we make good on these four commitments, I believe consumers -- and all of the companies in this room, including Comcast -- will have a terrific future together, with an unimaginable array of new products and services,” he said.
For more…

Ergen Explains Dish Network HD Expansion and Limited Price ‘Freeze’
(From a Jan. 7 article at Multichannel.com)

Dish Network CEO Charlie Ergen said at CES that the satellite-TV provider plans to launch one satellite each quarter this year, with three of those for domestic use to help facilitate an expansion to 100 national HDTV channels from 76 now. “It’s really one per quarter,” Ergen said. “That allows us to go to those 100 channels of HD in those 100 cities, assuming there are 100 channels to broadcast, which we think there will be by the end of the year.” Three of the birds that will debut this year will be for U.S. use, while the fourth will service China, Ergen said.
For more…

Sling Media Looks to HD
(From a Jan. 4 article at Multichannel.com)

Sling Media cooked up a device that can fling HD content from a cable set-top box to a PC over a home network -- and potentially even over the Internet. The Slingbox PRO-HD, which the company plans to demonstrate at CES, will be able to stream up to 1080i HD content (which has 1920-by-1080 screen resolution) to PCs over a user's home network.
For more…

Samsung Gives Video Road Map
(From a Jan. 8 article at TWICE.com)

Samsung doesn’t plan this year to exit the rear-projection-TV market despite the market’s decline, and it will launch its second dual-format HD-disc player later this year as planned despite Warner’s surprise decision to pull out of the HD DVD market.
For more…

Blu-ray Shifts Promo Plans Post-Warner
(From a Jan. 8 article at TWICE.com)

Some members of the Blu-ray Disc Association were not declaring victory in the war of the HD-disc formats Monday, but their actions seemed to be speaking louder than their words. Since Warner Bros.’ surprise announcement that it will exclusively back Blu-ray later this year, leaders of some of the BDA’s largest manufacturers and studios said they have agreed to shift gears in their joint promotional and marketing efforts from a Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD approach to one that will promote the advantages of Blu-ray over standard-definition DVDs.
For more…

JVC Unveils Slim-Design LCD-TV Line
(From a Jan. 8 article at TWICE.com)

JVC unveiled its new Procision series LCD TVs, billed as “the world’s thinnest tuner-equipped LC televisions.” The models measure 1.5 inches deep across most of the set and less than 3 inches at the center. Each is trimmed with a 0.98-inch bezel.
For more…

Panasonic’s Sakamoto Details HD Strategies
(From a Jan. 7 article at TWICE.com)

Toshihiro Sakamoto, president of Panasonic AVC Networks, in an exclusive TWICE CES Daily interview, provided background on his speech and other industry issues. He believes that in the next 5-7 years, Panasonic’s plasma line will do well versus OLED and LCD. “It is true that LCD is expanding its screen size,” he said. “But we feel that plasma enables much larger screen sizes with finer resolution. There are lots of areas of growth where we can improve plasma. Even if LCD continues to increase in market share, plasma can compete.”
For more…

Hitachi Bows Ultra-Thin Plasma TVs, LCDs
(From a Jan. 7 article at TWICE.com)

Hitachi unveiled what it is calling some of the world's thinnest plasma displays, in addition to its recently announced Ultra Thin 1.5-inch-thick LCD TV line, at CES. The Ultra Thin plasma panels, which will see their world premiere at CES, are expected to be available at the end of 2009 in the 50- and 60-inch screen sizes and will measure "under 1.5-inches in depth," said Bill Whalen, Hitachi senior product marketing manager.
For more…

Cameras Enter the High-Def Era
(From a Jan. 7 article at TWICE.com)

The growing installed base of HDTVs has catalyzed a groundswell of support for HD video capture (and output) among digital-camera manufacturers. Several vendors introduced models capable of recording HD video at CES. And one camera, from Casio, is capable of recording video at 1920 by 1080i.
For more…

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Around the Web
iBiquity Asks FCC to Require HD in Satellite Receivers
Radioink.com reports that iBiquity has asked the commission to require XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio to include HD Radio technology in all satellite radio receivers as a condition of their merger. iBiquity also requests an end to exclusive agreements with automakers, suppliers, and retailers by XM and Sirius, as well as a prohibition from making any new exclusive deals.
For more…
 
Miami Dolphins Call JVC’s Number for HD
TV Technology reports that the Miami Dolphins have purchased JVC’s ProHD GY-HD250s for HD production of its Game Day Live show and JVC’s HD100 Series cameras to capture fan action in the parking lots and throughout the stadium. The Dolphins also purchased JVC’s DM-JV600 video encoders to provide 720p HD video to its internal TV network of over 850 video monitors in the stadium.
For more…
 
Blu-ray, HD-DVD Player Prices to Fall
Reuters reports that both Blu-ray and HD-DVD player prices should decline significantly in early 2008, according to a report from Understanding & Solutions. The research group predicted that if both formats continue to sell, HD-DVD and Blu-ray players will retail below $100 by 2011. "Crucially, Blu-ray benefits from stronger Hollywood studio support and represents a greater proportion of high-definition-disc-production volumes and disc sales," said Jeremy Wills, a consultant at Understanding & Solutions. "To date, Paramount's move to sole support of HD-DVD has failed to turn the market."
For more…
 
Sony Halts Rear-Projection TV Production
PC World reports that Sony said it will stop manufacturing rear-projection TVs, stating that the business is just not profitable enough anymore. Sony joins Hitachi and Seiko to become the third major electronics company to back out of the rear-projection-TV business. Sony said rear-projection TV sales plummeted by 50% in 2007 compared with 2006.
For more…
 
BBC Outside Broadcasts Takes Final Cut Pro on the Road
Broadcast Engineering reports that BBC Outside Broadcasts has developed the X-Trailer, an HD-capable mobile postproduction and transmission rig. It is based on Apple’s Final Cut Studio and Xsan technologies, combined with EVS’s XT[2] disc-based production server system. Building on experience from working with Final Cut Pro in-house, the X-Trailer features a 47TB Xraid network, with enough capacity to support 11 weeks of continuous standard-definition recording. It has been designed to service clients that require greater storage, bandwidth and mobile postproduction facilities.
For more…

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