Advanced Television

UHD

HD channels continue European growth

The first months of 2012 showing a strong acceleration of the launching of new HD channels. From 274 at the end of 2009, the number of HD channels in Europe rose to 612 at the end of 2011 and 941 end of September 2012 (+54 per cent) according to the European Audiovisual Observatory Among the […]

October 9, 2012

4K HD only 1% of market to 2017

Despite some high-profile product introductions, consumer demand for televisions with the ultra-HD 4K resolution will remain negligible for the foreseeable future, with shipments never accounting for more than 1 per cent of the global LCD TV market during the next five years. Worldwide shipments of 4K LCD-TVs will rise to 2.1 million units in 2017, […]

October 5, 2012

Ultra-HD: 135 channels by 2017

Ultra HDTV, the ‘next generation’ broadcasting standard should see test channels launched next year, says Credit Suisse in a report for clients. The investment bank, which used its report to examine the state of health of Europe’s satellite industry, said the 3840 x 2160 pixel transmissions (8.3 megapixels) were good news for satellite operators in […]

October 4, 2012By Chris Forrester

Sony sticks with TVs, commits to 4K

Sony’s new CEO Kaz Hirai has told journalists that the electronics giant will stay firmly in the TV manufacturing business, and that it was readying production of new, lower-priced, 4K models. Hirai was speaking at the giant Ceatec electronics show near Tokyo, and said he recognised that today’s 4K sets were unaffordable. “The pricing right […]

October 2, 2012By Chris Forrester

DirecTV commits to Ultra-HDTV

US satellite pay-TV operator DirecTV has re-emphasised its commitment to ‘next generation’ Ultra-HDTV transmissions. The broadcaster reportedly says it expects to start Ultra-HDTV in about four years. Philip J. Goswitz, DirecTV’s SVP for space and communications, told delegates at the recent Euroconsult conference in Paris that DirecTV were “huge proponents of [U-HDTV)”. He explained that […]

October 1, 2012By Chris Forrester

earthTV goes HD and 3D

October 1st, and just nicely timed for the MIPCOM programming market which opens this weekend, earthTV is upgrading its transmissions to HDTV and even adding some 3D content. Munich-based earthTV (and sister service The World Live platform) captures up-to-the minute footage from the world’s best known cities and most photogenic locations. Their technicians installed their […]

October 1, 2012By Chris Forrester

Eutelsat backs U-HDTV

Paris-based satellite operator Eutelsat is fully backing the emerging U-HDTV concept of improved-definition broadcasting. Eutelsat is shooting its own 4000-line ‘test footage’ ahead of starting a demo channel ahead of what they expect to be commercial deployments around 2015. Michel Chabrol, who heads up Eutelsat’s Digital Cinema initiative, says that despite the investment needed for […]

September 28, 2012By Chris Forrester

TV to drive demand for 3D-ready devices

The 3D display market is set to grow from 50.8 million units and $13.2 billion in revenue in 2011 to 226 million units and $67 billion in revenue in 2019 worldwide, according to NPD DisplaySearch. 3D TVs contribute heavily to this projection and create the largest revenue stream with anticipated growth from 25 million units […]

September 27, 2012

Sony unveils super-slim PS3

Sony is to launch a new smaller, lighter version of the PlayStation 3 console on September 28th The updated console is half the weight and volume of the original machine and will be available in two specifications: one with a 500GB hard drive, and the other, a budget version with a 12GB flash memory. The […]

September 19, 2012

Voom HD case comes to court

The bitter dispute between EchoStar’s Charlie Ergen and Cablevision’s Dolan family over the long-abandoned Voom HDTV portfolio of channels is about to come to court. Cablevision is suing EchoStar for $2.5 billion in damages, arguing that in taking Voom down from its Dish Network the broadcaster breached a binding contract between the two parties. The […]

September 17, 2012By Chris Forrester