This Week In Marketnews: The Image Constraint Token

Marketnews: Custom Corner: Image Constraint Token - Real Threat or Tempest in a Teapot? Part 1

* image courtesy of the HDMI Sucks Facebook group, used without permission.

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This Week In Marketnews: HDTV For Retail And Custom

Marketnews: Custom Corner: Showing HD Video Distribution

*pictured: the Avatrix from Audio Authority will, out of the box, punt HDTV to six different displays. Further units can be cascaded to output to 36 displays. That should be enough for most homes.

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Interesting Facts About Broadband Performance

I'm indebted to The Stalwart for making me aware of the tech policy blog Technology Liberation Front which has now rocketed to the top of my list of favorite tech blogs.

Linked up at The Stalwart was a piece that discussed the evolution of broadband services, and how the actual delivery of service differs from popular opinions about it.

Technology Liberation Front: More Broadband Progress

One of the things that makes it hard to judge is that broadband speeds and prices don’t tend to grow continuously and evenly around the country. Rather, carriers take turns leap-frogging one another, with each upgrade accompanied by a temporary price increase. So it can be tricky to judge the average rate of improvement by looking at just one market, because one market may seem to stagnate for several years at a time. But if one looks at the country as a whole, and focuses on time horizons closer to a decade, I think it’s undeniable that things are improving at a fairly rapid pace.

The facts that Technology Liberation Front present interested me because I've been keenly observing the improvement in broadband speeds primarily because of the advent of HD downloads, a subject that's very important to me. I don't think I'm being overeager when I say that quick and convenient HD downloads on demand are going to be here before a lot of people think.

On a related note, Going Private has an extraordinarily long diatribe (even by her standards) that is both archly caustic and achingly beautiful on several separate levels. There's almost a graduate-level seminar's worth of business acumen in that single post, but what I'm focusing on in particular is her comments about the bogus nature of telecom's service fees for broadband service.

Going Private: The Five ForcesCircles of Hell

Coming full circle, we arrive at the business model for every telecom company on the planet. The amazing part to me is that, almost De Beers like, wireless providers have managed to somehow maintain the fiction that they maintain massive proprietary networks, and price data transmission accordingly.

There's more to her post than that, but she's almost impossible to excerpt into small bites.

Consumers are well aware that they're being jacked by telco's on data rate prices. Note the recent post on Marketnews Gadget Talk about Bell's data shaping plans. Anytime this subject comes up it triggers a flurry of comments from angry readers. As it happens, I was IM'ing on Friday with Christine from Marketnews about the adoption rate of fibre to the home in the US. I glibly commented "If Bell or Telus or Rogers were offering fibre here in Canada, can you imagine how hard they would gouge us on it?"


I'm not 100% sure where I'm going with this post, but mostly I'm just talking out loud, putting the pieces of the puzzle together for myself. Thanks for listening.

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Low-Grade HDTV: Why The Hell Am I Paying For This!?

Marketnews' Christine Persaud has a great screed on her blog about CRTC rules forcing Canadian feeds to override US feeds, and how the audio on the Canadian HD feeds is often far, far inferior.

MarketnewsGadgetTalk: HD Feed Overrides Drive Me Nuts!

I understand that we need to air the Canadian commercials in Canada, and that's fine. And I get the Canadian content rules imposed by the CRTC. But why should I be forced to watch a worse-quality feed when I pay for these extra channels? Instead of enjoying the full surround sound experience, I'm stuck with hollow sound and an annoying echo or, as my partner described it, "processed...almost to the point of being over-compressed". It has gotten to the point where we've opted for the standard-def feed just because the audio quality is unbearable (especially when we know what it should be like!)

Exactly! She's right about the audio, but in addition, my pet peeve is SD ported over to the HD feed (TSN being the biggest offender in this regard), and badly processed HD video full of artifacts and dropouts. I'm paying all this goddamn money for HDTV, I expect to get the best possible quality! Shortcuts and indifferent audio and video annoys me.

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This Week in CE Pro: Bringing Wireless HD Home

CE Pro: Preparing for Wireless HD Distribution

I recognize that in this article I am basically cheerleading for a bunch of products that haven't even been released yet, but dammit, I'm excited!

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Apparently, not everyone is on the same HDTV page

Great tirade by my friend and Marketnews editor Christine Persaud on her blog about the stumbling blocks that customers face in trying to get the straight goods on HDTV.

Marketnews - Gadget Talk: The Uninformed Person's Guide to Getting HDTV (Apparently, We Still Need This!)

A Canadian industry member recently told me that retailers are experiencing an increase in the returns of HDTVs. This reportedly isn't because flat-panel displays aren't up to snuff, or content isn't available: in fact, HDTVs are looking the best they ever have, and there's more HD content available than ever! The problem is that apparently, the average consumer stilldoesn't understand how to get HD content. Are you for real? I had to ask. Unfortunately, he was. Consumers, he said, are disappointed with the image quality when they plug in their units, and frustrated when they find out they aren't instantly getting HD.

This has been an issue for some time. I remember reading in the NYT about three years ago where a reporter had stood outside of Manhattan electronics retailers and quizzed customers who had bought a TV. A shocking majority thought that all they had to do was plug in in when they got home, and presto, instant Hi Def.

Call me a rebel, but I've always believed that salespeople need to forge lasting relationships with people if they want to be truly successful. You need clients, not just customers. Part of the relationship building process is to do your job, and educate your client. Informed clients make better purchasing decisions, and become repeat buyers. It's hard to feel sorry for retailers who suffer a high return rate because they didn't manage people's understanding and expectations properly.

At the same time, it's not just retailers who are letting customers down. The broadcasters share a responsibility for not providing enough HDTV content.

I've been ranting for years that HD is often format without content. I'm not alone, Mark Cuban, billionare, loudmouth, and owner of HDNet feels the same way:

Blog Maverick: Lots of HDTV Channels, but No HD ?

If a network calls itself an HD Network, does that make it an HD Network ? Or should the network be required to actually have content that is of high definition resolution ? And if they have HD Resolution content, how much should they actually have before they can call themselves HD ?
In the coming months cable, telco and satellite providers are gearing for a marketing battle over who has the most HD channels. Ads will be everywhere touting big name networks finally bringing HD versions to the masses.
Unfortunately for consumers, the schedules of many, if not most of those new channels will have less than 10pct of their content actually produced using HD cameras and shown at HD resolution. Few will have more than 3 hours a day of HD resolution content.
I think a lot of consumers are going to be very, very disappointed.

He's right. Minimal HD content, or worse, content upconverted from lo res, has been the rule since day one. True HD, stuff that was shot, mastered, and broadcast in HD is stunning. Unfortunately, there still isn't enough of it. You don't have to be a highly attuned videophile to see the difference either. And when TV's are sold by showing great HD demo loops, you can understand the buyer's remorse when that's not what they get at home.

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Do Americans fear having their televisions shut off?

Apparently not. Despite concerns amongst government and industry leaders, the few Americans who have not bought into HDTV don't seem concerned about having their analog signals switched off.

The Bridge: A Big Panic ... Or A Big Yawn?

Committee, said last week that the nation's eventual transition to digital TV could be a video revolution, or "we may find ourselves with a digital disaster."Could it really be that challenging for the estimated 111 million TV households (a figure that includes cable, DBS, telco video and over-the-air viewers) out there?As of Nov. 1, there will be 474 days left for the nation’s broadcasters to turn off analog television signals and convert to digital. The shift, set to take place Feb. 17, 2009, will have profound implications not only for local TV stations and national broadcast networks. It will impact cable, satellite TV, telco video platforms, programmers and electronics retailers.

Granted in the aftermath of a major event, there will always be a vocal group who will cry "Why didn't anyone tell us about this?" But looking at the retail performance of HDTV's, it's hard to believe that Feb 17* will be an End Of The World As We Know It scenario for all but the most clueless of consumers.

Then again, maybe the disenfranchised TV owners will riot and loot in the streets? Maybe in years hence the U.S. will have it's own broadcast television-version of Bastille Day to commemorate the uprising of poor, downtrodden people who had their analog broadcasts of Judge Judy taken from them.

*which is a Sunday, by the way. Too bad that SUPER SUNDAY is already taken.

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Philips goes to bat for HDTV consumers

The Retail Bridge: Philips Offers Post-Purchase Plans for HDTV

Philips last week launched a service plan that it said makes HDTV ownership simple for consumers after they make a television purchase.

The Philips Simplicity Advantage program is for customers who need support during the post-purchase period. Those who buy a Philips FlatTV that's 37-inches or larger will receive three benefits through the program: Lifetime technical support, next-day scheduling of in-home repair and an exchange program for consumers residing in an area without authorized service.
As for customers with smaller-sized sets, technical issues that cannot be satisfied within 30 days will allow purchasers to receive a new replacement unit. After the 30-day window, customers with unresolved difficulties will receive a refurbished unit, Philips said."Today's consumer places a premium on time and is always seeking the most efficient and convenient resolution to issues," said Stewart Muller, president of Philips North American connected displays.
"Philips Simplicity Advantage program provides consumers a hassle free, fast method of resolving all service related issues with their FlatTV purchase long after the warranty period is over."

I'm always foaming at the mouth about the need to offer consumers White Glove service. The money you spend to keep people happy comes back to you a thousandfold.

As a result of my combined expectations and cynicism, I'm absolutely flabbergasted when I see a company actually over deliver. Kudos to Philips for embracing their customers, rather than viewing them as a tedious necessity.

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DIRECTV raising HD fees in US

This news is coincidental in its timing: I had just conducted an informal poll of American friends and acquaintances regarding their broadcast provider. Of thirty odd people, all but two were on DIRECTV.

SkyREPORT.com:DIRECTV Raising HD Fees?

While it's true DIRECTV is expanding its high-definition offering at an impressive pace, the company also seems ready to expand how much subscribers are going to pay for it. An email sent to the company's customers this week said that unless they pay $4.99 more each month, three popular high-def channels will be pulled from their channel lineups.

I haven't seen the original announcement, but SkyREPORT's spin sure makes it sound like a good old fashioned shakedown, doesn't it?

"The first one is free" is a time honored business model in both schoolyard drug dealing and broadcast/Internet services. Certain broadcasters up here in the Great White North are famous for that too.

While some DIRECTV subscribers may squawk at the rate hike, they should put it in perspective. An additional five bucks a month is only like three dollars in Canadian money, about what you'd pay for a venti latte at Starbucks. And HDTV has zero calories.

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US DirectTV reaches 70 HD channels

The Retail Bridge: DIRECTV Claims 70 HD Channel Milestone

On Monday the satcaster announced that it had added six national HD channels to its growing high-def lineup, taking its nationwide total to 72 and reaching its promised goal of 70 HD channels by the end of October.
...
But does it really add up to 72 channels of HD programming? Only if you get a little creative with the count.
While DIRECTV does now offer 47 unique national high definition channels, getting to 72 requires adding in some of the local broadcast networks (like NBC HD in both Los Angeles and New York), select regional sports nets (like NESN HD and YES HD) and even its high-def pay-per-view channels (6 of which launched yesterday, by the way).It's getting there, though, and DIRECTV execs are confident that the company will reach the promised 100 national HD channels by the end of the year.

That's the trick, as always. Here in Canada, Bell claims to have the most HD channels, but that's because they count the East and West network feeds for NBC, CBS, CTV etc as one each.

Still, we're getting there. I was just reminiscing last week on the Marketnews blog about how far we've come with HD so far.

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"Lots of 1080p units being sold": Department of Pointing Out the Obvious

TWICE: DisplaySearch: 1080p Is A Winner

Despite major growth brought on by dramatic price declines in 720p high-definition TVs last year, the HDTV market is taking a decided shift toward models with 1080p.
Speaking at the The Future of HD: The Fifth Annual HDTV Conference, presented by DisplaySearch, an NPD Group company, DisplaySearch president Ross Young said 1080p HDTV will be the big winner over the next year, and will bring additional opportunities to affiliated product categories, including HDTV programming services and next-generation HD disc players.
Young predicted that 1080p will win at retail, as retailers, brands and panel suppliers all push the technology to make more money than they could with 720p models.

Um, there could be another reason why 720p sets are no longer outselling 1080p: there aren't as many 720p sets on the market anymore! The reason for the big markdowns on 720p hardware last year was because the industry knew damn well that the next big push would be 1080p, so they unloaded as much inventory as possible.

That's what you call a self-fulfilling prophesy. You didn't exactly need to be Nostradamus to see the way the video market was heading.

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Amazon.com: 1 Traditional CE Retailers: 0

Amazon.com throws the smack down, saying that consumers just can't get good information from bricks and mortar CE retailers.

TWICE: Amazon Launches HD Micro Site

Amazon.com has launched a dedicated HD micro site designed to explain and sell high-definition TV and related products to less tech-savvy consumers.The interactive micro site, called Amazon High-Def 101, serves as comprehensive knowledge base for HDTV and home theater, while also presenting the e-tailer’s extensive assortment of HDTVs, movie players, game systems, PC options, accessories and movies.
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“There are few resources today where the public can find simple and concise information about high definition,” said Peter Faricy, movies and music VP at Amazon.com.

The subtext to “There are few resources today where the public can find simple and concise information about high definition,” is that traditional retailers can't be counted on to know what they're talking about. Ouch!

Unfortunately, they're mostly right. The level of expertise in the mass market is in a sad decline.

Word to owners and general managers of CE retailers, if you don't want Amazon.com to eat your lunch, you might want to tune up your customer service game...

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Today on Gadget Talk: What's Up With HDTV?

Marketnews Gadget Talk: HDTV Needs Quality and Quantity

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802.11n bringing wireless to home entertainment

As Paris Hilton would say, this is hot.

The RetailBRIDGE: Wireless 802.11n Quickly Coming To Home Entertainment

Get ready for more wireless-ready consumer electronics products.
According to a report published last week by ABI Research, the popularity of high-speed 802.11n wireless routers and devices will soon spill over to CE products like home theater systems and set-top boxes, outpacing other networking technologies.
"Many consumer electronics vendors see WiFi as the primary way to get network-delivered content to their devices," said ABI research director Michael Wolf. "As consumers increasingly source video content on the internet and look towards multi-room distribution, older WiFi technologies don't have the bandwidth to deliver this content, particularly over longer ranges. 802.11n, in particular 5 GHz solutions using 40 MHz-wide channels, will help alleviate these constraints."
As more PC manufacturers shift to 802.11n there will be a "natural pull-through effect" to entertainment focused CE products. ABI expects to see 216 million 802.11n chipsets in consumer electronic products by 2011.

Woo Hah!

You'd be amazed how many people want High-Definition distributed throughout an existing home to 3 or more video displays where fishing cables through the walls is an uneconomical option. A good example is concrete high rise condos. Being able to do all that wirelessly is like a gift from the gods. Now I'm all a-twitter.

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What Will Happen To All the Old Televisions, You Ask?

TWICE: Thomson Gauging Retail Demand For D/A STB
More than one person has asked me what will happen to all the old, non-HDTV sets once the analog NTSC signals are shut off. Obviously if you took away television from millions of people, there would be rioting and bloodshed in the streets. Thomson’s RCA is first off the block with a set-top box that will convert HDTV to analog SDTV for the millions of televisions that are not HDTV compatible.

From the TWICE article:
“The final rules from the Department of Commerce insure that manufacturers will offer high-quality and energy-efficient digital TV adapters to meet the needs of millions of consumers. We’re very pleased that all households in America will initially qualify to receive up to two $40 coupons to defray the cost of products like our RCA DTA800, which we are now discussing with retailers for consideration in their upcoming assortments,” said Dan Collishaw, Thomson Americas A/V business chief operating officer.
The device will receive terrestrially broadcast digital TV signals and convert them to analog form for display on conventional analog TVs.

It’s sometimes forgotten in all of the hullabaloo in our industry that in addition to early-adopters and late-adopters, there is a demographic known as non-adopters. It’s good to see that our industry is finally embracing the non-adopter, looking after their needs, and more importantly, producing something to sell them!

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