Sony's PlayStation 3 Could Plug The HD Content Gap

At the recent Understanding & Solutions 'High Definition in Europe' event in Barcelona some forecasts have predicted that Sony's PlayStation 3 could fill the content gap between the massive rise of HDTV ownership and the correspondingly slow one of HDTV broadcast.

This news arrives on the day that Spain announces 20 channels of HDTV including content from the BBC, Discovery, ProSieben, Sky, Premiere, Canal Sat and Anixe. Also a day after the UK broadcasters behind Freeview HD announced very positive reaction to their London-based trial.

U&S predict that by 2010 there will be 115 million HD Ready sets in Europe but only 17 million of them will be showing any high definition content. They also believe that by 2010 28 million PS3s will be sold all with HD Bluray players on-board. This figure is huge and makes-up over 50pc of all high definition DVD players including Xbox 360 & PC sales.

This large take-up of the PS3 will itself ignite the Bluray disc market and U&S believe that by 2010 there will be sales of 215 HD title sales (HD DVDs included).

They also think that by 2010 all high definition DVDs players including PS3 will bottom out at around €300.

The conclusion is that people buy HDTVs because they are flat and can fit in places your CRT couldn't. That's fine for a while but then owners will want to get hold of some HD content and the demand will grow.
pdf of analysis

Freeview HD UK Trial - A technical success!

Encouraging findings from the UK's first ever trial of high definition (HD) television over the digital television platform (DTT) were issued today by the joint trial broadcasters BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five.

The trial, which set out to prove that HD broadcasts over DTT (digital terrestrial transmission) were feasible and investigate their appeal to viewers, was a technical success. Quantitative research amongst the panel homes indicated that HD ready viewers expect high definition broadcasts on Freeview in the future.

The four broadcasters have been running the trial since June 2006 to a small closed sample group of 450 selected households in the London area, under a non-operational licence from Ofcom.

In a report published today, the broadcasters have outlined feedback from the sample group, all of whom were issued with a prototype HD set top box that could also receive Freeview broadcasts. Nearly all (98%) triallists stated that it was important to have HD services on Freeview (the UK DTT platform) in future, with 86% of those surveyed expecting to see these services within three years.

And nine out of ten (90%) believed that the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five (together the public service broadcasters – PSBs) should be at the forefront of HD developments.When asked about which programme genres would benefit most from being broadcast in HD, wildlife and sport lead the way with scores of 9.4 and 8.9 out of 10 respectively.

Triallists also, on average, felt that there should be at least six or seven channels of HD content available on Freeview, with an ideal of 10.

Overall, the experience of DTT HD exceeded most triallists' expectations, with all but 5% reporting that it looked as good as or better than they had hoped.

Charles Constable, Director of Strategy, Five, said: "All of us are exploring the possibilities for HD programming, and this trial set out to eliminate technical concerns about HD on Freeview and establish demand for services. Both of these objectives were achieved."

Seetha Kumar, Head of HD TV, BBC, said: "It's clear even from this small trial that audiences increasingly expect us and the other major broadcasters to offer high quality HD programming on Freeview in the future.

"All triallists experienced our HD programmes first hand. Many of them liked what they saw, and wanted more of it.

"We would like to be able to provide that level of quality to Freeview viewers, alongside other platforms, in years to come."

Simon Fell, Director of Technology, ITV Consumer, said: "Technically, the trial has more than fulfilled our expectations. With the help and co-operation of our transmission partners and the consumer electronics industry, we have conclusively demonstrated that HD services can run effectively alongside standard Freeview broadcasts.

"All major technical hurdles are behind us, and collectively we can focus on potentially providing services for the forecasted sales of 10 million flat screen TVs by 2010."

Jonathan Thompson, Director of Strategy & Research, Channel 4, said: "Both the broadcasters and Government need to ensure the ongoing strength of the DTT platform as we approach switchover. The trial has raised important questions about how the platform needs to evolve in order to support the delivery of the HD services required to ensure its future appeal."

Programmes from all four broadcasters featured in the trial, including Planet Earth, Bleak House, Poirot, the 2006 World Cup, Desperate Housewives, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Later with Jools Holland.

Gaming at 2K at the Cinema

Gaming enthusiasts at Kinepolis Bruges have been playing on the big screen with the help of Barco’s latest Digital Cinema projectors. The gaming concept is also to be rolled out to other Kinepolis complexes in 2007.

The pilot project, known as XL Gaming was launched on 18 November. Kinepolis is now planning to combine cinema and gaming in a unique and revolutionary concept.

Gaming might be the one thing that buys cinemas a life line. The age range is right and the content is now high definition and so should project well.

Only 2pc of iPod content is video

Nielsen Media Research in the US has measured iPod content and found that video plays a very small part of the mobile experience, even from video enabled models.

Music and audio podcasts make up the majority of the content which may go against Apple's own video download figures from their deals with broadcasters.

Nielsen monitored a panel of 400 iPod users in the U.S. from October 1 to 27 . Among the findings: Less than 1 percent of content items played by iPod users on either iTunes or the device itself were videos. Among video iPod users, that percentage barely improves, up to 2.2 percent.

This is good news for traditional broadcasters who still believe the best visual experience is watching tv at home.

Stars Wars HD Marathon on New Year's Day

Sky HD will show all six Star Wars movies in HD and in turn on Jan 1 2007 with IV, V, & VI seen for the first time re-scanned in HD.

The movies will have two parallel sequences so you can plan the viewing around hangovers/relatives/more drinking/planning for CES!

First ntl Customers Offered Telewest HDTV

The fruits of one of ntl's on-going mergers (Virgin and ITV are others) is the launch of ntl Telewest's TVDrive, its personal video recorder (PVR), to over 650,000 ntl customers in Glasgow and Teesside today.

The service was launched to Telewest customers earlier this year and will now be rolled-out to all 12 million cable homes by early next year.

The Box has three tuners which means more flexibility than the Sky+ PVR, allowing up to two channels to be recorded whilst watching a third. (Not really a problem yet, but nearing the Xmas scheduling it could become one!)

Ernie Cormier, chief commercial officer of ntl Telewest, said: "TVDrive has been hugely popular with Telewest customers so we are launching to ntl areas as soon as possible. Our combination of TV on demand, HDTV and a personal video recorder is unique in the market.

Virgin, ntl & Telewest form to make Virgin Media

ntl, Telewest and Virgin Mobile have unveiled the merged company’s future name and logo. The re-branded company will be called Virgin Media and launches in the first quarter of 2007.

Virgin Media will be able to offer a ‘quadplay’ of digital TV, broadband, mobile and home phone all for a monthly fee of around £40.

There doesn't seem to be any mention of HDTV within this offering and we're wondering if Telewest's fledgling HDTV VOD services will be allowed to quietly disappear under the 're-branding'.

PS3 Ad Sells On High Definition

A new commercial for the PlayStation 3 focusses directly on the high definition quality without ever mentioning the games. Certainly this is a ploy to attract the non-gamers in to the future use of the PlayStation with its Blu Ray player and possible 'digital amplifier' abilities with media including HD.

With the XBox 360 now becoming a fully fledge TV player Sony will surely do the same with their PS3. Suddenly the traditional broadcaster has two foes, IPTV and now TV by download by games console. Do you ever dream for those old four channels??

TV ad at www.ps3films.com/hd.htm

DTT HD Findings Presented Nov 21st

The four broadcaster involved in the DTT HD trial (BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and FIve) will be presenting a range of findings from willingness to pay for HD services, desirable content and genres through to the technical challenges posed by the trial.

The four broadcasters have been running a joint technical trial to test the viability of HD broadcasts over DTT. This has been taking place since the beginning of June, with the help of a representative sample of over 400 viewers from the London area who had already bought HD screens.

Every evening they have been able to watch programmes from schedules put together by all four broadcasters. Their experience of the trial and the technical issues involved in broadcasting the HD signal are the subject of a report that will be available on the 21st.

XBox Live Beats Apple to HD Downloads (But Only in US)

Microsoft has announced agreements with CBS, MTV Networks, Paramount Pictures, Turner Broadcasting System Inc. (TBS Inc.), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment to bring an initial lineup of more than 1,000 hours of television shows and movies to Xbox 360 consoles in the U.S. by the end of the year.

Additionally, Xbox 360 will be the first gaming console to bring standard and HD TV shows and movies to the customer via digital distribution over the Internet.

Xbox 360 gamers will be able to download full-length TV shows to own, and will be able to rent movies via download from the Xbox Live network.:

For the very first time CBS will offer high-definition download-to-own TV shows including CSI, Jericho, Numb3rs, and even remastered classic Star Trek episodes! Gamers can buy an episode and watch it as many times as they like.
For the first time on any gaming platform, NASCAR.COM will deliver download-to-own condensed versions of select NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races from Race Rewind.
Also for the first time, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will make 50 of its most intense fights available for download as well as select episodes from the original season of The Ultimate Fighter reality series.

The initial lineup of TV shows and feature films available include:

Robot Chicken and Aqua Teen Hunger Force from The Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.
CSI, Survivor, and remastered episodes of classic Star Trek from CBS.
Emmy and Peabody award-winning comedy South Park and Chappelle's Show from COMEDY CENTRAL.
The Real World and Pimp My Ride from MTV.
Avatar: The Last Airbender and SpongeBob SquarePants from Nickelodeon.
Skyland and The Nicktoons Network Animation Festival from Nicktoons Network.
Mission: Impossible III, Nacho Libre, and Jackass: The Movie from Paramount Pictures.
Carpocalypse and Raising the Roofs from Spike TV.
Race Rewind provided by NASCAR.COM.
Select episodes of the original season of The Ultimate Fighter reality series and UFC: All Access from the UFC.
Breaking Bonaduce and Hogan Knows Best from VH1.
The Matrix, Superman Returns, and Batman Forever from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

http://www.xbox.com/marketplaceentertainment.

All HD Video Formats on one chip

Ittiam Systems in India has announced the availability of their Trinity chip which has MPEG2, VC1 and H.264 decoding on board.

In theory the Trinity chip will allow you to play both types of HD DVD and Bluray discs as well as providing decoding for other HD video play back devices like HD set top boxes.

Ittiam claim they are already in talks with potential customers in Asia and the US.

www.ittiam.com

Spain Looks to HDTV

The Secretary of State in Spain has announced the creation of a new High Definition Television Forum which will become a focal point for manufacturers, content developers and others in the sector.

Spanish analogue television is due to be turned off by 2010 so they haven't got long to get HDTV up and running. The government office has said that it is close to finishing the laws establishing 'the requirements and obligations' for the winners of the contracts for the digital multiplexes.

Wireless HD On Its Way

LG Electronics Inc., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (Panasonic), NEC Corporation, SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS, CO., LTD, SiBEAM, Inc., Sony Corporation and Toshiba Corporation have announced that they are working as a special interest group called WirelessHD to develop a specification for a wireless high-definition digital interface (WirelessHD or WiHD), that is intended to enable high-definition audio/video (A/V) streaming and high-speed content transmission for consumer electronics (CE) devices. In addition to actively promoting the new format throughout the industry, WirelessHD will present the format available for adoption as soon as the specifications are completed in Spring 2007.

The migration to high-definition content along with the proliferation of digital source devices has intensified consumers’ desire to simply and flexibly connect to highest quality, high-definition displays and consumer electronics systems. Global sales of devices with a high-speed digital A/V interface are expected to grow from 60 million units in 2006 to 495 million units in 2009.

www.wirelesshd.org