Since 1991, the Personal Computer Industry has been trying to create an opportunity for itself in consumers' living rooms. About every three years, the PC industry provides yet another push to expand its reach beyond the home office, the den, or the teenager's PC Gaming room.
Since 1996, Microsoft has been supporting TV Tuners that permit any PC user to at least tune in and watch analog TV programming. The recent launch of the MediaCenter Edition PC permits consumers to tune in local Digital Terrestrial TV (DTT) signals, as well as to convert analog TV into compressed digital files that can be stored directly onto a PC's hard disk drive and played back later as a Personal Video Recorder.
During 2005, In-Stat expects more than 13 million PC-TV Tuners will be shipped worldwide, growing up to nearly 20 million during 2006. This is about one-third of the total Consumer PC market, and momentum is building. "We believe that Calendar Year 2006 will finally be The Year during which everything a consumer wants to watch, including Premium TV programming, will finally become available through a multimedia PC."
Since 1996, Microsoft has been supporting TV Tuners that permit any PC user to at least tune in and watch analog TV programming. The recent launch of the MediaCenter Edition PC permits consumers to tune in local Digital Terrestrial TV (DTT) signals, as well as to convert analog TV into compressed digital files that can be stored directly onto a PC's hard disk drive and played back later as a Personal Video Recorder.
During 2005, In-Stat expects more than 13 million PC-TV Tuners will be shipped worldwide, growing up to nearly 20 million during 2006. This is about one-third of the total Consumer PC market, and momentum is building. "We believe that Calendar Year 2006 will finally be The Year during which everything a consumer wants to watch, including Premium TV programming, will finally become available through a multimedia PC."