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January 19, 2006 -- On Wednesday January 4, 2006 Insight Media sponsored the highly successful inaugural HDTV Business Conference. The HDTV Business Conference brought together top industry leaders to discuss strategic challenges and opportunities in ushering in the HDTV era. Insight Media is pleased to announce the availability of the HDTV Business Conference Proceedings on CD-ROM, available for $299.00 USD.
In addition to the speaker presentations outlined below, the CD-ROM includes session summaries, speaker bios, sponsor information, and the conference attendee list.
Session 1: HD Content and Delivery Platforms
- The Last Hurdle is Falling: Low Cost HD in the Field
Hal Protter (WB Television Network) outlined three major issues that still challenge the roll-out of HDTV: educating the consumer on display and connectivity issues; getting the bugs out of HD broadcasting while improving quality, and expanding the content to include more popular (lower-budget) reality shows. (No presentation available.)
Hemang Mehta (Microsoft TV) explained how IPTV will be becoming more available and offer some sophisticated features, such as multiple picture-in-picture capability and the on-line ability to see if friends and family are also watching TV (and sending them an instant message during the program). His presentation covered the evolution of IPTV, including the long- and short-term visions for IPTV, SOCs, and pricing trends and projections.
- The Mobile Video Opportunity
Michael Boyd (Qualcomm MediaFLO) provided some insights from Qualcomms recent extensive market research. He said video is the top feature, after audio, demanded by consumers for cell phones. It ranks ahead of camera, Internet and game features, and by Qualcomm's calculations, consumers were willing to pay about $15 per month for the service.
- The Broadcaster's Perspective
Bob Seidel (CBS Broadcasting) covered the DTV transition; including FCC mandates and broadcaster requirements, cable's transition to HD, the increased consumer demand for HD, and the current availability of HDTV programming.
Session 2: DRM and Blu-ray vs. HD DVD
- Viewpoints on Digital Rights Management
Seth Schoen (Electronic Frontier Foundation) said he would like to see innovation freed from the "permission culture" that DRM is designed to enforce. In a wry and witty presentation, he noted that DRM schemes - such as CSS (DVD), FairPlay (Apple), and WMDRM (Microsoft) - have frustrated users, implementers and innovators, and have never been shown to prevent indiscriminate redistribution. Seth covered copyright infringement and user rights as well.
Mark Knox (Advisor to the Toshiba HD DVD Promotion Group) reported wide support for HD DVD from IT companies, studios and CE manufacturers, including Toshiba's announced slimline drives for laptops. Topics covered included HD DVD development status, single, dual, and triple layer optical disks, the need for HD for large screens.
Jim Taylor (Sonic Solutions) emphasized the 150 supporting Blu-ray Disc Association members and specifications like the higher bit rate (36-72 Mbps) and the strongest content protection (AACS + SPDC + ROM mark). Still, Taylor acknowledged that the format with "the most content published wins the game in the long run."
Session 3: TV Technology-Price-Performance-Desires
Joe Virginia (Samsung Electronics) said that the LCD-TV industry has the ability to continue to grow at its current exponential rate for many years to come. Virginia also noted that LCD-TV's technical weak points have been or are being overcome. Much of the new demand, however, comes not from better performance but from lower cost. (No presentation available.)
John Reder (Texas Instruments) observed that HD was made for large screens, and that high resolutions are not appreciated on small screens at real-world viewing distance. Accordingly, the 50-inch-and-larger market is 100% HD. Reder said the HD segment is the only DTV market that is growing at a healthy rate. Moreover, the MDTV category enjoys the number one sales position among televisions 40 inches and larger.
Chris Kim (Samsung SDI) maintained that 2006 would be the year that HD content will overtake standard definition. Large-screen television, especially PDPs, will benefit greatly from the trend toward full HD content becoming mainstream. Plasma will continue to dominate, while LCD-TV will gain share in the 30-39-inch category. In 2006, full HD (1920x1080 resolution) will be plasma's focus, which, along with other planned performance breakthroughs, will allow plasma to continue its large-screen dominance.
Glenda Dorchak (Intel) pointed to connectivity and connected devices as the way for the industry to turn television shoppers into television buyers. Thus, the focus of the television industry should not be on the display technology but on usage models as drivers of growth. These new usage models will include online content, interactivity and connected peripherals, such as cell phones and digital cameras.
- The Retailer's Perspective
Joe McGuire (Tweeter Home Entertainment Group) pointed out that his consumers do not care about whether the television is called LCD, PDP, DLP or any other three-letter combination. Rather, consumers are drawn to retailers like Tweeter by affordable features and benefits, such as a product's ability to fit into the consumer's existing décor.
Session 4: Growing the Industry
- Selling TVs Will Never be the Same
Jan-Luc Blakborn (Hewlett-Packard) kicked off the conferences final session claiming "selling TVs will never be the same." CE and IT convergence has arrived, and consumers are changing their viewing habits, demanding time-shifting and place-shifting options. They want lots of content when and how they want it, including more TV experiences via their PCs and laptops. They want personalization, interactivity and easy networking.
- Can New Display Technologies Increase Demand?
Steve Hix (Steridian) emphasized that technology developers must help TV manufacturers build better TVs that increase consumer demand. Alternative technologies must be innovative (that is, not already available) and must enable manufacturers to offer better price/performance than existing products. Brightness and cost are the most important features to the end-user, said Hix, and name brands exert major influence.
- HDTV: Who Will Likely Make Money?
Michael Bertz (WR Hambrecht) reported that flat form factors are driving current TV purchases more than HD content, but the overall quality of experience will dominate consumer perception. He went on to grade the investment-return potential for all the players in the supply chain: service and content providers, retailers, major brand OEMs, panel suppliers/ODMs, component makers and semiconductors, with the latter receiving the highest grade for investment potential. Service and content providers earned WR Hambrecht's lowest grade due to low margins, limited ability to drive earnings and tough competition.
To order the 2006 HDTV Business Conference CD-ROM, go to: https://special.mags.net/mdreport-ssl/cart/carthtml/69.html
Or, call Insight Media, Annmarie Gabisch, (203) 831-8464, annmarie@insightmedia.info
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