According to tech market researcher ABI Research, with the production of HD sets and related digital products accelerating globally, vendors need to look for new ways to make their own goods stand out amid the pack. ABI believes at least two schools of thought are being pursued for moving HD into homes and businesses.
One camp wants to focus on creating intelligence within the TV unit itself, the firm said in a statement, making it network-ready and incorporating storage or recording devices from a hard disc. It cites as an example, LG Electronics, which recently announced three LCD models with built-in DVRs, eliminating the need for any high-end external devices. (One model also has dual tuners to record two HD broadcasts simultaneously, while viewing a third channel -- should the need ever arise.)
The other line of thinking is focused on maintaining intelligence in the various devices which surround the TV unit and connect to it, such as media center PCs, recorders, residential gateways (for home networking), etc. This camp recognizes that an HD set is a costly device with a long replacement cycle. If you build in advanced features and capabilities, the price escalates -- all for a product with intelligence that easily could be outdated within a few years.
This "build it outside the box" group argues that if you keep the HD set as a "dumb terminal," you can easily replace and upgrade the high-end devices which surround it without needing to replace the entire unit, similar to today's consumer behavior with computer software and hardware.
