ISSUE 24 | WINTER 2012
COMMUNICATES Yo u r i n d u s t r y, y o u r v o i c e … n e w s f r o m t h e C u s t o m E l e c t r o n i c D e s i g n & I n s t a l l a t i o n A s s o c i a t i o n
The last ten years has seen nothing short of a revolution in the way we consume TV content in our homes. But what does the future hold and how will this affect the residential CI business?
What next
FOR TV? Paul Gray, Director TV Electronics and Europe TV Research at research organisation, DisplaySearch addressed this subject in one of the highlight sessions at the inaugural CEDIA conference recently. CEDIA Communicates invited Paul to share his insights with us:
“On a global scale, the TV business has peaked as the shift to digital broadcasting in developed regions, combined with rapid price reductions, accelerated the replacement cycle. The industry now has to learn how to survive in a slow-growing market, with growth largely from consumers in emerging markets who have less money to spend. Developed markets are suffering from the aftermath of the sales surge combined with less disposable income and a slowing in the pace of innovation in TV. Smartphones and tablets have captured consumers’ imaginations now.” “TV setmakers are responding in three
ways: bigger, better and more functions. Bigger speaks for itself; the underloaded Sharp Sakai Gen10 panel fab is optimized for 60” and larger. Such huge displays are now available as the company seeks to fill its capacity.” “Better is being met by AMOLED and 4k2k. Both technologies are immature at this time: AMOLED will ship in tiny quantities this year (perhaps 200) worldwide, with the technology too immature to become a significant force for the next year or two.“ “4k2k offers double the resolution of current TVs. At present both the display technology is somewhat immature and native content is not available beyond still
photos. While terrestrial broadcast remains some years away, it is possible that an ecosystem could be created in 5 years for satellite broadcast. The risk is that TV products become available too fast and disillusion sets in, as it did with 3D.” “The functional side is being met by ‘Smart TVs’ which offer more than conventional viewing. However, our research suggests that consumers’ app usage habits gravitate towards long-form video: the value proposition of TV is simply watching TV. Adding complexity merely exposes the difficulty of using a screen you cannot touch. “ “Yet, at the same time tablets and smartphones are in the room and the TV has to learn to coexist with them. Such devices win in terms of the usage experience and the TV will have to learn to play nicely and seamlessly with them. The TV set maker’s job will be to concentrate on a seamless interoperation of the two.”
To download a video of Paul’s presentation at the CEDIA Conference, and other sessions from the two day event, visit: www.cediaeducation.com/resources/webinars
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