Digital Lifescapes

While there's still a raging debate over the full upside potential of the Digital Signage market, particularly within the retail industry, pundits and insiders know that the most effective way to quantify the market is to follow the display technology outlook. NPD DisplaySearch will once again host a one-day Digital Signage Conference at InfoComm, providing in-depth insight into the projected growth and emerging trends of the digital signage industry. The fifth annual Digital Signage Conference is taking place on June 12, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Practitioners in the digital signage sector will address the key distribution channels, revenue opportunities, hot markets and new technologies throughout the entire supply chain. "Flat panel displays continue to be a major force in the digital signage industry, as new technologies come to market and existing technologies adapt to changing demands," said Chris Connery, Vice President of Large Format Commercial Displays for NP...

The latest global market study by MRG demonstrates how Over-the-Top (OTT) video services may offer new opportunities for Pay-TV providers to expand their reach through TV-centric "open" Internet services. Is this the beginning of the end for walled-garden (closed) Pay-TV services? Well, that depends on your point of view, and perhaps if and when the CE manufacturers can bring new and improved Internet Video-Ready television sets to market. Revenues in 2012 should exceed $11 billion, with Internet Set-top Box (ISTB) penetration (including game consoles) exceeding 57 million. Besides cost containment practices, MRG identified what kinds of OTT video content consumers want (and will pay for), based on a global consumer survey. "The real question isn't whether Pay-TV Service Providers (SPs) should implement OTT, as most analysts already agree (they should)," says MRG Analyst Mike Galli. "The real question is how and with what results, which is why we did a ROI ...

Consumers will buy in excess of 100 million Blu-ray discs (BD) across the USA, Western Europe and Japan this year, with reductions in BD player prices continuing to fuel interest in packaged HD video content, according to the latest study by Futuresource Consulting. "In the USA, BD has moved from early adopter phase through to early majority, with the format gaining real traction in the marketplace," says Mai Hoang, Senior Market Analyst at Futuresource Consulting. Last year in the U.S. alone, BD video retail sales increased by 320 percent to 24 million units -- and momentum will continue in 2009, with over 80 million disc sales forecast. Although the uptake of BD in Western Europe is still at the early adopter stage, it continues to gather momentum. Consumer video retail sales reached nine million units last year, and further healthy growth is expected in 2009. The UK is the largest market for BD in Western Europe. With sales of more than 3.5 million units in 2008, it repres...

Creating a video composition with a music soundtrack has its challenges. Using commercially published music is often the most troublesome approach, due to copyright limitations and licensing requirements. Besides, there are several alternatives for videographers that produce content -- even those on a small budget. Some non-linear video editing software packages include a few sample music tracks -- often referred to as license-free or royalty-free music. There are a variety of online sources that sell stock music , which is also royalty-free. And, there are a few sources that offer songs with creative commons music licenses that you can use at no cost, providing you give attribution to the creator. However, all those options require that the music still must be customized to fit your specific needs, and trimmed to the exact durations of each segment within your video. Instead, there's fully automated soundtrack creation software that enables customizing the score by actual...

It wasn't long ago that finding a notebook PC with a FireWire port (IEEE 1394) was quite rare. Clearly, it's now a standard interface. Adoption of high-definition digital multimedia continues to drive the need for increasingly faster data transfer options between consumer electronics devices. As adoption of HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) ports approaches 100 percent in digital televisions, the interface is now moving into TV set-top boxes, DVD equipment and mobile PCs, according to the latest market study by In-Stat. Overall, HDMI-enabled product shipments will increase at an annual rate of 23 percent between 2007 and 2012. In the near future, portable electronic devices, such as digital camcorders, digital still cameras, and portable media players (PMPs) will be among the emerging device categories to watch. "The rapid escalation of HDMI in standard-definition and Blue laser DVD players and recorders is directly related to HDMI's success in HDTVs," s...

Digital visual interface (DVI) and high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) are related high-bandwidth, unidirectional, uncompressed digital interface standards. According the the latest In-Stat market study, 2008 has brought continuation of trends that have developed over the last few years -- the rapid rise of HDMI and the slow decline of DVI. Over 100 million DVI-enabled devices shipped in 2007, most in the PC space. High-end consumer desktops, aftermarket graphics cards and LCD PC monitors comprise the lion's share of the DVI market. However, both DVI and new entrant DisplayPort are encroaching on DVI's space resulting in long-term decline. The primary driver of HDMI's success is the Consumer Electronics (CE) segment, where HDMI was instantly successful upon its 2003 launch. In 2007, HDMI ports were found in over 90 percent of the digital televisions (DTV) shipped worldwide, the greatest volume for HDMI in any product. The rapid escalation of HDMI in all types of DVD...

If you were an early-adopter of video camcorders -- like me -- then you probably have a significant amount of personal video content trapped on VHS video tape. Perhaps you have also used your camcorder for business purposes, capturing training sessions, seminar presentations, etc. In the past, the choices to convert your video to a format that you could use on your computer, and ultimately make it available online, were limited by your technical skills. While video capture cards that insert into a desktop PC slot have been available for years – this approach was not user-friendly for mainstream consumers. The alternative was cost-prohibitive. I've used professional video transfer services, but due to the processing fee I've only converted a small amount of my analog video content to a digital format. I recently had a situation where I needed to convert and enhance very old video content. I decided to try a do-it-yourself solution that promised to be easier to embrace, and I was...

Households in the U.S. are increasingly looking to the remote control as their link to easing the complexity of control and search among the growing number of disparate consumer electronic systems in their homes, according to a new market study. A new report from Parks Associates confirms and expands upon the trends identified in the 2006 first edition. These include the increasing desire and willingness of U.S. households to replace current remote controls with one that is more capable and can enhance their experiences with new entertainment systems. "The market size in revenues for aftermarket remotes promises a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of about 10 percent between now and 2013," said Tricia Parks, CEO, Parks Associates. "That rate increases to 14 percent for mid-level remotes, which cost between $30 and $250." The report provides purchase process details for aftermarket remotes, brand shares among U.S. Internet households, unit numbers and revenues for...

Last year, India's Consumer Electronics (CE) market grew by more than 30 percent to reach $3.8 billion and will continue to increase. According to a market study by Futuresource Consulting, the market value is on track to quadruple in the space of five years, to reach nearly $16 billion by 2012. "This rapid growth is being driven by the country's rising levels of disposable income," says Kanti Thota, Research Analyst at Futuresource. "Its economy is riding a phenomenal growth curve, and with current penetration rates low for most CE products the market opportunities are huge." As an example, the TV market which represents more than 80 percent of the total CE market value in India is witnessing the strongest growth, with shipments up 22 percent last year and forecast to more than double by 2012 -- reaching 34 million units. CRT accounted for 97 percent of CTVs shipped in 2007, and India's price sensitivity can be a barrier to growth for flat screen and fl...

While a multitude of non-PC devices will play a role in the connected living room of the future, that doesn't means the PC will fade away. In fact, according to a new study from ABI Research, PCs are destined to play an ever-increasing role in the management, distribution and playback of multimedia content in the home -- with both network-connected PC media servers and in-living room PCs growing in adoption over time. Both AV form factor home theater PCs and more traditional home theater PCs will grow to an installed base worldwide of 25 million by 2013. "There are two primary ways the PC can be incorporated into the digital living room," says principal analyst Steve Wilson. "One has a PC directly connected to a client device, a home theater PC, or in the form of a PC integrated with a display. The other involves using an embedded client to extend the PC output to a TV." Microsoft's bundling of the Media Center application with Vista will help solidify the r...

Integrators are cautiously optimistic about the prospects for 2008 sales of home systems and controls technologies despite the current slowdown in new home construction, according to Parks Associates and EH Publishing. The two firms presented a summary of their latest research, analysis, and forecasts at EHX Spring 2008 in Orlando, FL, March 14. "Despite the severe contraction in new home construction, home systems integrators are hopeful for continued sales gains in 2008," said Daryl Delano, director of research, EH Publishing. They have benefited from the fact that approximately 50 percent of their business comes from installation work within existing homes. "Powerline and wireless technologies have developed to the state where they are stable, reliable, and offer the performance demanded in the custom installation channel," said Bill Ablondi, director of home systems, Parks Associates. Many dealers have adopted these technologies to expand their retrofit bus...

Global TV shipments rose 4 million to almost 200 million units -- worth over$100 billion last year -- and growth will accelerate to reach 280 million units -- worth $160 billion by 2012 -- according to a new consumer electronics industry report from Understanding & Solutions. The global TV boom is being powered by consumer desire for Flat Panel TV, which is rapidly replacing CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) sets, plus growth in emerging markets, which are also trending away from CRT to flat panels. Emerging markets accounted for over 50 percent of global TV shipments in 2007 and will rise to more than 65 percent by 2012. LCD is rapidly growing to become the dominant display technology for television, and accounted for 40 percent of shipments in 2007 and 64 percent of market value. By 2012, LCD will account for over 80 percent of the market. "Strategic supply of LCD panels has become a critical competitive issue, with huge concentrations of volume under the control of major producers, i...

Mobile phones are big business. In fact, so are the accessories. Sales of mobile phone accessories are expected to generate over $40 billion in revenue in 2008. Handset vendors and mobile operators know that to increase sales of their feature-rich handsets, they also need to provide accessories that will allow users to fully enjoy and benefit from the applications and features supported by the handsets. This means providing accessories such as headsets, memory cards, and data connection kits, in addition to chargers and batteries. "Current market trends including the growing adoption of smartphones in the prosumer and consumer segments, as well as the increasing popularity of iPhone-like feature-rich devices with touch-screens are contributing to the growing demand for mobile phone accessories," says ABI Research industry analyst Shailendra Pandey. Further, more people buying expensive smartphones and feature-rich devices mean greater demand for accessories that protect hands...

Adoption of networking technologies will make installed home theaters and multi-room audio systems more affordable, opening up this market to more consumers at low-to-medium income levels, according to the latest study by Parks Associates. Total U.S. revenues for installed home theaters and multiroom audio systems will grow from $6 billion in 2007 to more than $11 billion by 2012, and analysts forecast the number of new installations to grow 67 percent over the same period, from 166,000 per year in 2007 to 277,000 by 2012. The high-end A/V market is in a major stage of transition. Digital media content is approaching the performance and quality of analog media, with the added flexibility only digital content offers. Reduced costs coupled with advancements in wireless and powerline networking technologies are also growing the retrofit portion of the market, at a time when mid-market construction is slowing down. Soon, according to the Parks' assessment, PC-based systems from compani...

With a record 1.85 million net square feet of exhibit space -- the largest in show history -- featuring more than 2,700 companies launching their latest innovations, the world's largest tradeshow for consumer technology wrapped up four full days of technological innovation. Major trends sweeping the show floor and defining the future of the consumer technology market included digital entertainment, HDTV, green technology and free trade. Produced by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the 2008 International CES ran January 7-10, 2008, in Las Vegas, Nevada. "The 2008 International CES succeeded spectacularly, and will help fuel the growth of the consumer technology industry throughout 2008 and into the future," said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CEA. "This year's International CES was a show of firsts; the first leaders from the automotive and cable industries to deliver CES keynote addresses, the first time the president of a country has spoken at CES, ...

The holiday season will be a key milestone in the success of High Definition disc formats within the U.S. market, according to a timely market study by Understanding & Solutions. Performance of both Blu-ray and HD DVD during this second holiday season is crucial in establishing the new generation of optical discs, and may bring the market a step closer to resolving the war between the two competing formats. "Blu-ray and HD DVD player prices have been falling since the summer, culminating in Toshiba's loss leading sub-$100 HD DVD player, available in the USA last month for a limited time," says Jeremy Wills, Consultant at Understanding & Solutions. "Price reductions in the USA have continued into December, with Blu-ray players dropping below $300 for the first time, and HD DVD players below $200." Understanding & Solutions Senior Technology Consultant, Bill Foster adds, "Drive, chipset and other system components are now benefiting from economies...

The market for Ultrawideband (UWB) silicon is finally beginning to take off in 2007, according to the latest market study from In-Stat. Though regulatory hurdles over UWB still persist worldwide, the first UWB-enabled notebook PCs have shipped this year from Dell, Lenovo, and Toshiba, the high-tech market research firm says. "The primary question for UWB now is: Will other product segments follow where PCs lead?" says Brian O'Rourke, In-Stat analyst. "UWB is a very flexible technology in that it supports multiple standards, including WUSB, Bluetooth 3.0, IP over UWB, and Video over UWB. This should enable the technology to gain design wins in a wide range of product segments, including PC peripherals, Consumer Electronics (CE), and mobile phones." The research study covers the worldwide market for Ultrawideband. It contains analysis and annual shipment forecasts through 2011 for the penetration of UWB into 26 separate applications within the following product se...

Most people's relationship with their pay-TV service starts and ends with the remote-control device associated with the box that connects to their television set. Clearly, it's a key part of the overall user experience. As revenue from traditional television set-top box (STB) sales declines along with demand in the period 2008 to 2012, STB vendors will initially rely on firmer markets for DBS (Digital Broadcast Satellite), IPTV (Internet Protocol Television), and DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television) devices. However, according to a market study from ABI Research, by the end of the decade even those sectors will be under pressure from alternative technologies being introduced to facilitate the connected home, and vendors will have to add new features and functions in order to revive flagging shipment numbers. "The development of two-way digital cable-ready TVs, residential gateways, media centers, and even video capabilities on gaming systems will put the STB status at risk...

As in recent years, consumer electronics (CE) products will be popular holiday purchases in 2007, according to the latest market study by In-Stat. The company's latest survey yielded over 2,000 responses from North American consumers -- more than 80 percent of these respondents have plans to purchase a CE product this holiday season, the high-tech market research firm says. "In 2007, High Definition Televisions (HDTV) top consumers' holiday wish list, most likely due to plummeting price tags for these products. HDTVs will bump digital cameras down to the third spot," says Stephanie Ethier, In-Stat analyst. I believe that we will also witness a second-wave of new gaming console purchases during the holidays. We typically see these type of deferred CE product purchases from families with limited incomes. The research report entitled "2007 Holiday Spending on Consumer Electronics" covers the North American market for CE product categories. It contains extensive...

Texas Instruments (TI) is showcasing high definition 3-D DLP technology at CEDIA Expo . DLP core technology is enabling stereoscopic 3-D capability for HDTVs that are currently on the market. CEDIA attendees will see first-hand how TI DLP Products is providing consumer electronics manufacturers with a simple, yet high performance solution that will deliver the thrill of 3-D content in the home. As the technology behind 3-D HDTV applications, the extremely fast response and refresh rate of the DLP chip allows consumer electronics manufacturers to innovate options for HDTVs that add an immersive third dimension to TV viewing. HDTVs with 3-D capabilities is especially desirable for video gaming, immersive action scenes, and watching fast-action sports. Following a similar path to DLP Product's innovation that launched DLP Cinema and the digital cinema industry, 3-D DLP HDTV opens the doors for immediate adaptation of existing 3-D computer games, software and future 3-D content creator...