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Issue: May. 08, 2008
LCD, Plasma Shipments Hold Up in Tough Economy
The global economy may be sailing through some choppy waters these days with uncertainty being the persistent theme. But shipments of HD sets to dealers appear to be holding their own, although sales of smaller sized screens are growing, in order to accommodate a preference for lower prices.
While shipments do not always reflect actual sales activity at the retail level, they usually provide a generally reliable barometer of supply and demand. And according to DisplaySearch’s most recent survey of LCD shipments ending in the first quarter, panel shipments grew 69 percent compared to last year, to just over 25 million units worldwide.
At the same time, those numbers also represent an expected seasonal decline of 11 percent from the traditional active final quarter of the previous year (which includes the holiday season) to Q1 2008.
Also, according to DisplaySearch, 1080p continues its strong market penetration and is expanding to smaller panel sizes, reaching nearly 24 percent of all LCD TV shipments in the first quarter. For 40-inch sets and larger, the 1080p share was nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of all LCD units sold in the first quarter (unchanged from Q4 2007). And 1080p shipments of 32-inch units were the most impressive of all—with shipments of more than 500,000 in the United States in the first quarter.
As for plasma HD, after record-setting shipments in the last quarter of 2007, plasma units fell 19 percent in Q1 2008 “on normal seasonal weakness,” said DisplaySearch. However, quarterly orders for plasma units were up 53 percent on a year-to-year basis.
Sony to Double HD Output in Key Slovakian LCD Plant
Sony will double its annual output of its Bravia line of LCD HD sets in its current Slovakian plant—growing capacity from 2 million sets in fiscal year 2007 to 4 million units by the end of 2008. In doing so, Sony said, its Slovak factory soon will become its largest LCD producer of HD sets in the world.
To enable the expansion, Sony said it is on target to increase the number of employees by about 50 percent—from 2,300 to 3,500—by the end of this calendar year.
Sony began making Bravia-brand LCD TV panels at a plant in Trnava, Slovakia, more than two years ago. With no possibility for further expansion upon quickly reaching full capacity output, Sony then opened another Slovakian facility, the Nitra Technology Center in Nitra, situated about 25 miles from Trnava, and thus relocated its central LCD production function in response to what it said was a growing demand for liquid crystal sets in Europe. The Nitra plant began making Sony’s Bravia panels last August, in tandem with a Sony facility in Barcelona, Spain.
JVC Develops Tiny Image Amplifier for Super Hi-Vision
JVC said its latest D-ILA (direct-drive image light amplifier) for projectors is a 1.75-inch device (model 8K4K D-ILA) that has the world’s largest number of pixels and is able to display images at 8192x4320 pixels—which would be the equivalent of many times today’s 1080p. The small display device can produce and display images for Super Hi-Vision with the highest number of pixels currently defined under international standards.
Super Hi-Vision is a prototype television broadcasting service currently under development at NHK in Japan. A single image has approximately 7680x4320 pixels with 60 fps sequential scanning and 22.2 channels of audio. (The image format is international standard ITU-R BT.1769, SMPTE 2036.)
Blu-ray: ArcSoft Software is BD-Live Certified
ArcSoft said its TotalMedia Theatre software received BD-Live Certification (Profile 2.0) from the Blu-ray Disc Association in late April—marking the first certification of PC-based desktop software for any developer in the world, it said.
ArcSoft’s TotalMedia Theatre is Windows XP and Vista-compatible software and its certification signifies compliance with standards and set by the Blu-ray Disc Association.
Some recent (and many future) Blu-ray movie releases and other Blu-ray packaged content include software permitting BD-Live capabilities for users. These enhanced features include the use of online resources when using the latest models of Blu-ray players. (Many Blu-ray players sold until recently do not have BD-Live options.)
Q&A: Sony Pushing BD-Live as Next Blu-Ray Move
Asad Qizilbash is product marketing manager for Sony Electronics, the chief proponent of the Blu-ray Disc standard. He spoke recently with HD Notebook:
HD Notebook: Now that Blu-ray is alone among next-gen disc systems, where might Sony’s strategy in marketing, as well as growing other aspects of Blu-ray’s future, change?
Qizilbash: From the beginning, Sony’s strategy has been to educate consumers on the benefits of Blu-ray Disc, including full high-definition 1920x1080 resolution and uncompressed 7.1 theatrical audio. This will not change, but as ‘BD-Live’ features become more and more compelling, we will make sure that the market knows the Blu-ray experience is more than your run-of-the-mill movie watching experience.
HD Notebook: What is Profile 2.0 of BD-Live, and what might it portend for Blu-ray users who already are being asked to pay noticeably more for Blu-ray titles compared to the same titles on standard DVD?
Qizilbash: BD-Live is the coming together of packaged media and online interactivity, allowing consumers to go beyond watching movies. Unique interactive features allow movie fans to access extraordinary extras that include trailers, behind-the-scenes interviews, short subjects, games, ringtones and various other features. Since BD-Live is driven online, the options are limitless as studios devise new content at-will.
Sharp offers Ultra-thin LCD with Wireless HD
Amimon has teamed up with Sharp Corp. to offer a wireless HD link for Sharp’s X-Series ultra-thin LCD sets. Amimon’s technology (known as WHDI) was designed to deliver uncompressed HD video streams wirelessly. Coupled with Sharp’s thin HD screens, the wireless link eliminates the need for an audio/video cable between the monitor and a separate tuner.
WHDI technology provides a wireless range of up to 30 meters (penetrating most types of walls) with latency under a millisecond, according to Amimon, with its American base of operations in Santa Clara, Calif. Sharp’s new X-series models come in 37-, 42- and 46-inch screen sizes and parts of the panel are a mere 3.44 cm thick. The wireless units hit store shelves in Japan in April, and are expected to reach North America and other regions soon.
VegasHD Taps Multidyne Fiber for HD Site on ‘Strip’
VegasHD has chosen the Multidyne HD-3000 series 3 Gbps SDI video transport link as part of the first permanent HD broadcast studio to be constructed on the Las Vegas Strip. The link will be deployed at one of VegasHD’s locations on The Strip, within the Trader Vic’s night club at the Planet Hollywood Resort Casino—across Las Vegas Boulevard from Bellagio.
VegasHD began operations in Las Vegas (DMA no. 43) several weeks ago, just prior to the NAB Show. Its operations are based upon a mobile HD production facility. (HD Notebook, April 2, 2008).
“This cutting-edge design enables us to provide our clients with the ‘plug and play’ fiber capabilities that they demand,” said Eddie Ferraro, senior vice president of sales for VegasHD. The Multidyne HD-3000 equipment was designed to support 1080p and will provide VegasHD with linkage to multiple venues in Las Vegas. The Multidyne system can accommodate digital signals ranging from 5 Mbps to 3 Gbps.
BMP to Provide ‘Mobile HD’ on a Mammoth Scale
There’s mobile TV, and then there’s mobile TV.
Big Moving Pictures, Inc. (BMP) and Strongbase USA are joining forces to create what they say will prove to be the largest mobile LED screen displays ever produced. Targeted for transport (thus, the ‘mobility’) to a variety of on-site engagements, the screens will top out at nearly 40x22 feet.
The large monitors (dubbed “Megascreens”) will be the first LED displays to provide HD (720p), said BMP, which is headquartered in Las Vegas. Events already scheduled for the enormous HD screens in the United States and Canada include air shows featuring the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, and auto races such as the NHRA and Indy 500. Rock concerts will be another big venue, said the firms.
A BMP exec said in a statement it’s building a “rolling television network with everything that a television network normally has—cameras, graphics, performers, and support by national advertisers—but using giant screens to reach large audiences instead of their home TV sets.” The large screens have a projected lifespan of five to seven years.
Hong Kong Strongbase Investment Group (through Strongbase USA) will handle North American services and marketing in the venture.
United Kingdom: BBC, ITV unite for ‘Free’ HD
The BBC and ITV teamed up to launch a free terrestrial HD service known as Freesat on May 6 that will be accessible to consumers with HD sets and set-top boxes. (“Free HD” or any other “free” television service in Britain must be qualified to include the fact that all TV consumers in the United Kingdom pay mandatory “license fees” to use their TV sets.)
ITV Chairman Michael Grade, a former BBC official, was joined by BBC Director-General Mark Thompson this week to publicize Freesat as the “final piece in the digital jigsaw,” according to Grade. The BBC and ITV will each offer one HD channel, respectively, via Freesat—along with the dozens of other TV (and radio) stations they already provide. Freesat’s satellite footprint covers about 98 percent of the United Kingdom.
While the HD development provides a value-added aspect to the Freesat service, it also competes with BSkyB satellite, whose subs pay monthly fees to receive the DBS firm’s menu of HD channels, in addition to buying or renting receive-equipment. Unlike Sky or cable HD subs, Freesat customers only need to purchase the equipment, which is not exactly cheap: Freesat STBs with HD capabilities go for about $236 (plus an installment fee of $160)—as well as buying a satellite dish, according to the BBC. (A Freesat box without HD cost still costs under $100.)
In its May 6 announcement, the BBC promised to show more than 300 hours of the Beijing Olympics this summer in HD, and ITV holds the rights to Britain’s international soccer matches.
Fox News Channel Goes HD
Fox News Channel wasn’t being conservative, technically speaking, when it jumped into 720p transmissions on May 1, joining competitor CNN to make the next-gen DTV leap. (While CNBC has made the transition on the business side, MSNBC remains the last news channel holdout.)
Fox News HD will have limited HD venues, to begin with. However, it is being offered to Time Warner subs in San Antonio (DMA. no. 37) and several areas of the huge New York market (DMA no. 1), including Queens, Brooklyn, north along the Hudson Valley, and Staten Island, too. It expects to grow its HD presence on cable as the U.S. presidential campaign continues through Election Day in November.
The HD feed is being offered as a separate 720p stream, which is being simulcast with FNC’s SD programming. The SD 4:3 video aspect ratio remains within the HD feed—enhanced by what FNC calls an “HD wing” displaying news headlines, weather, sports scores and financial activity.
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