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 | TV spectrum
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 […]
Roku Makes Big Advertising Leap
What do you think of when you hear the words, “hit TV series?” When it comes to linear TV, the meaning of that phrase is pretty concretely anchored in actual audience metrics. A “hit” series is one that the networks are reasonably sure many viewers are tuned into. Indeed, networks have a fairly strong handle […]
Will AI Power the Next Leap in Video Compression?
Artificial intelligence’s (AI) role in the digital content economy isn’t merely confined to better anticipating what TV series you’d like to binge watch next. It’s increasingly being brought to bear to solve a more challenging (and equally long-standing) technical problem: how to shave off bits from a video file without fatally compromising quality. While the […]
Will IP Transform the Broadcast Industry?
It might be argued that the difference between new video-service providers and the old ones (broadcast via cable, satellite and terrestrial) is that the new ones are simply using a different pipe (Internet) to get content into homes and to personal devices. This is true to a point but, of course, overly simplistic. There are […]
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 […]
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 […]
In VR Race, Broadcasters Get a Jump on the OTT Disruptors
In sprinting and swimming, how an athlete reacts to the gun—leaping off the block or propelling themselves into the pool—can often make or break a race. This early-mover advantage isn’t confined to athletics. It can propel business fortunes as well. The gun has clearly sounded in virtual reality (VR), and thousands of players, large and […]
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 […]