Gazing at faded black-and-white photos from the first CES, which occurred 50 years ago this week in New York, it’s tough not to laugh at the antiquated gear that was considered cutting-edge at the time—fat tube black-and-white TVs when 23 inches was considered “big screen,” giant wood console cabinet TV/record player/radio combos, “portable” TVs that […]
Archive | Televisions
Next-Generation TV: What’s Next?
Next-generation TV (aka ATSC 3.0) got top billing at the recently concluded U.S. National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) event and for good reason. The need for broadcasters to adopt a next-gen system—especially one that incorporates a blending of terrestrial broadcast and IP—is obvious especially since everything “television” (more and more an amorphous term) is getting […]
Samsung Rallies Industry Support For `QLED’ TVs
Samsung has started making it known throughout the consumer video display industry that it would like anyone involved in the development, production and sale of display devices enhanced by quantum dot technology to begin referring to those devices as “QLED,” short for Quantum Dot Light Emitting Diode,” displays. Samsung is hoping that broad-based use of […]
Is History Repeating Itself in Japan?
One of the starkest trends in the consumer electronics industry over the past 15 years has been the collapse of Japan’s once mighty TV industry. Formerly iconic brands with immense global reach have shriveled in the face of intense pressure from South Korea’s one-two punch of LG and Samsung and a glut of low-cost competition, […]
Nagra TVKey Looks To Eliminate Set-top Boxes Around The World
Swiss-based encryption-systems developer Nagra used last month’s CES 2017 to showcase a new conditional access (CA) platform that can eliminate the set-top box (STB) from the pay cable and satellite TV business paradigm, while bringing television manufacturers a potentially lucrative ancillary revenue stream. The company demonstrated at the show its TVKey platform, which is being […]
Many Monstrous Notes at CES 2017
While wandering around CES 2017, I was reminded of that scene in Amadeus, in which the Emperor Joseph II decides that the new opera by Mozart had “too many notes.” (The actual quote is “monstrous many notes” and referred to Mozart’s “The Abduction from the Seraglio,” but I digress.) That’s what I felt about CES—monstrous […]
The Chinese are Coming, the Chinese are Coming
Seven months ago, I reported on fifth wave of regional TV manufacturing dominance, the first wave from the U.S., the second from Japan, the third from Europe, the fourth from Korea and, now, the fifth, potentially from China. At least one Chinese TV vendor, Hisense, seems poised to try and make me look prescient. As […]
Japanese Electronic Giants Then and Now
Once upon a time, Japanese companies like Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba and Sharp were the giants of the consumer electronics business. Years of ascendance of Samsung, LG and now Chinese manufacturers has resulted in a significantly shrinking consumer-electronics market for the premium Japanese brands. An analysis of DTC’s historical worldwide market-share estimates for digital TVs is […]
Tuner-Free ‘TVs’: Why Now?
Earlier this year, Vizio, a market share leader in U.S. TV sales, announced it is removing the ATSC tuners that facilitate free-to-air viewing from several of its TV product lines. This move, along with the slow-down of TV sales in Mexico where analog TV transmissions have been primarily shut off, results in a forecasted 10% […]
Is UHD Blu-ray The Last Gasp of Packaged Media?
It’s not exactly a secret: UHD TV sales are on the rise. Duh. According to DTC, sales of UHD sets are due to rise 142% this year, and are projected to reach 43.6 million units and 60% of the total market by 2020. What’s puzzling is why UHD TVs are selling well, considering the dearth […]