Report: HDR TV Shipments to Reach Nearly 48M in 2021

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LONDON—HDR TV sets will be making their way to people around the world in droves over the next few years according to a new report from IHS Markit.

In its “TV Design and Features Tracker – Q3 2017” report, IHS Markit forecasts a total of 12.2 million HDR TV sets will be shipped by the end of 2017, but in 2021 that number will jump to 47.9 million. In addition, 88.6 million HDR-ready sets, which feature HDR decoding but no display capabilities, are also expected to be shipped in 2021.

There are still obstacles to people being able to view full HDR programming. “We expect that only 23 percent of the ultra-high-definition televisions that ship in 2017 will offer the full HDR experience,” said Paul Gray, associate director for consumer devices at IHS Markit. “The remainder will be able to decode a signal, but lack the high contrast capability to display HDR content to an advantage.” One of those obstacles is the cost of backlights for LCDs.

The report does suggest that there will be HDR capabilities available in HD TV sets. While congested airways won’t allow broadcasters to transmit the extra data needed for 4K UHD, HD with HDR will be available to provide improved quality with a low data overhead, per IHS.

North America is expected to lead the pack with HDR TV shipments by 2021 with 14.6 million. China is projected as the second largest shipper at 11.8 million.

Read the full report here.