Week in Review: Picture Quality Reality; Flat Panel Paranoia
Written by Video Savant
Saturday, 13 October 2007
Digital TV Transition
Picture quality is an issue near and dear to our hearts here at the ISF Forum, so it was interesting to hear complaints about HD picture quality from Scientific-Atlanta and Discovery Networks executives earlier this week. As reported by TV Predictions, the executives detailed how HD quality can be compromised at several different points in the production and delivery process, and then further compounded by poor HDTV purchase decisions or botched consumer setup of video sources and the HDTV itself.
All true and all legitimate issues. But still, I'm feeling more optimistic about picture quality trends than I have in quite a few years. The biggest reason for this is the fact that most cable and satellite services have recognized -- perhaps for the first time ever -- that consumers really do care about quality. One need only look at recent DirecTV, Comcast and Time Warner advertising campaigns to see how this message is being played up. And more and more HDTV manufacturers (mind you, not all of them) are hearing and acting on those raised consumer expectations.
In addition to purchasing the right HDTV to begin with, consumers can achieve a meaningful improvement in picture quality by having their HDTV calibrated by a trained ISF professional. In addition to being the key to achieving accurate color, calibration often results in the recovery of picture resolution and image detail that had been obscured as a result of poorly configured user or system settings.
If you really place a priority on picture quality, the best thing you can do is talk with a calibrator before you decide what you're going to buy -- and then hire that calibrator to ensure that your entire system is delivering on its full potential. Regardless of the nature or degree of the actual shortcomings in how HD programming is produced and delivered, significant improvements can be achieved at the consumer end of the delivery chain. And nothing delivers more value than professional video calibration.
OK, I'm biased, but it's true...
Elsewhere in the transition to high-quality digital television, LG Electronics' is the first manufacturer to have its digital-to-analog TV converters approved for participation in the US government coupon program that will defray the costs some consumers face as a result of the shift to digital broadcasting...
There seems to be a trend developing where various political organizations are singling out plasma and LCD flat-panel televisions as if they're co-conspirators in an imagined Global Warming Axis of Evil. As we previously noted in a September blog entry, the opposition UK Conservative Party has indicated that if it comes to power, it would ban plasma TVs as part of its environmental platform. Now, news reports have surfaced indicating the Australian government is considering a more immediate ban on energy-hungry plasma and LCD flat-panel displays.
But I don't think we should be overly concerned about flat-panel abolition -- after all, we know things will be sorted out by the time George Jetson hires on at Spacely Space Sprockets...
While it's probably too early for the ecological scare-mongering to have any impact on flat-panel sales, this could become a factor as these news stories get global play in newspapers and electronic media. But for now, flat-panel sales are riding high, as second quarter global revenues increased by 15% from 3 months earlier to more than U$23 billion.
Consumer electronics industry analyst iSuppli looks at the near-term prospects for LCD flat-panel sales and sees a market that will be challenging as tighter credit markets in the wake of the subprime lending mess put a pinch on consumer demand during the holiday season. While average selling prices have increased modestly over the past 6 months and manufacturers are hoping for a period of relative price stability, iSuppli thinks slower consumer spending could place additional pressure on LCD flat panel HDTV prices during the remainder of the year...
At least one retailer is doing its part to ready itself for the next wave of HDTV buyers. Earlier this week amazon.com unveiled its "High-Def in a Nutshell" guide to buying an HDTV and related components and programming,..
Another key piece of HDTV buying intelligence was revealed this week in the form of the latest consumer satisfaction survey from J.D. Power and Associates, as reported by Engadget. Overall, JDP found that HDTV owners were aggressively signaling "repurchase intent," indicating a high level of satisfaction with the brand and model they own. Sony Bravia gained top buyer marks in the 37- to 49-inch flat-panel category, while Pioneer plasma HDTVs claimed those honors in the 50- to 65-inch flat-panel group. Samsung DLPs earned top marks in the rear-projection category...
Last week, owners of several brands of Blu-ray players were disappointed to find they were unable to play the latest Blu-ray releases, "Rise of the Silver Surfer" and "Day After Tomorrow." Both Sony and Samsung have promptly provided firmware updates to address the problems, which have been attributed to incompatibilities related to Blu-ray's copy protection scheme.
The Technology Liberation Front points out the irony of copy protection systems that appear to be more effective in causing customer inconvenience than in actually protecting intellectual property. A reader comment to the TLF article raises an even more salient point -- what happens 4 or 5 years from now, when future incompatibilities arise with older Blu-ray and HD DVD players? Are manufacturers really going to continue to support older players if and when new issues surface? There's really no track record for this sort of thing for mass market consumer electronics goods. And that adds reason for consumer caution in buying into these new HD disc formats...
High-Def Digest filed a story on an NPD report that finds Best Buy is the leading seller of Blu-ray and HD DVD discs, with Wal-Mart, Amazon.com, Circuit City and Target trailing well behind. This adds lends further marketing weight to Best Buy's recent decision to give stocking preference to Blu-ray over HD DVD discs...
One of the side effects of any new audio or video format introduction is the seemingly interminable wait for the re-release and of favorite songs or movies via the new formats. Fans of Steven Spielberg blockbusters had their hopes raised last week when an exhibitor presentation at at the CEATEC trade show in Tokyo included a slide presentation that indicated upcoming HD DVD releases of "Jaws," "E.T." and "Jurassic Park." Unfortunately, the exhibitor got it wrong, with a Spielberg spokesman declaring, "There are no plans to to release these titles on HD DVD..."
Amid all the PR-fueled reports coming from the backers of HD DVD and Blu-ray, it's nice to see one publication trying to shift the focus to cold, hard sales facts. Engadget has published the first of what it promises will be a weekly snapshot of HD DVD and Blu-ray market share of sales during the previous week. Based on Nielsen VideoScan tracking, you can view the first Engadget update here...
DirecTV continues to add HD channels on its way to delivering the minimum 70 national HD channels it's been promising customers and would-be customers before the end of October. Although Engadget reports that DirecTV added five new HD channels this past week, it lists Food Network as a new addition even though the foodie net was actually an eleventh-hour addition last week. However, there are definitely four new DirecTV HD channels that weren't available a week ago: MGM, National Geographic, CNBC and Music HD. The latest additions bring DirecTV's national HD count to 45...
With DirecTV continuing to ratchet up the pressure on its competitors, TV Predictions reported that DISH Network is claiming it still holds the HD edge over its satellite TV rival. Although DISH added only one new HD channel during the past week (TBS), it simultaneously increased its HD channel count from 39 to 48.
Is this some variation on new math? No, apparently DISH is now counting its eight pay-per-view channels as HD nationals. While it is true these PPV channels are available to all DISH HD subscribers throughout the country, that's really hust a bean-counting ploy that seems weak and desperate -- and definitely not helpful from either a viewer or potential customer standpoint...
Elsewhere, the flow of HD channel additions from competing Pay TV providers slowed to a trickle during the week, with only Comcast making news among the cable majors as it announced the addition of the USA Network...
While DirecTV and its competition have been wrestling for the HD limelight, broadcasters have been cooking up their own HD promotions. Broadcasting & Cable reports on a speech given by NBC Executive Sports producer David Neal at this week's HD World conference in New York City. Neal suggests that NBC's plans to provide more than 750 hours of HD programming from the 2008 Olympics in Beijing will have a major impact on worldwide consumer awareness and demand for HDTV, noting that this will be the first Olympics presented entirely in high definition...
CBS can't claim anything quite as glittery as the Olympic Games, but CBS did announce two major HD initiatives during the week. First, CBS News announced that it's making preparations to present the Republican and Democrat conventions in HD. And CBS indicated that the "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric" would likely be available in HD by the time the first of the political party conventions convene.
In the same B&C report, ABC's Chris Meyers indicated that his network also plans to present both party conventions in HD. No word on plans from either NBC or FOX for HD convention coverage...
What may be a little surprising to newer HD viewers is that NHK, the Japanese national broadcast network, actually produced HD coverage of both the 2000 and 2004 Democratic and Republican political conventions. What I've never really understood is why the US political conventions were of any interest to NHK viewers in the first place. But then I think about Japanese manga, and it makes a little bit more sense...
I'm not a big fan of broadcasters who simultaneously multicast an HD channel alongside one or more standard-definition channels. The reason for this is straightforward -- there isn't sufficient bandwidth available for any sort of multicasting to be done without seriously impacting HD picture quality. While I think multicast is an excellent feature of the new digital broadcast system, it should be limited to periods where HD programming is unavailable. I'd be much happier seeing four or five standard-definition feeds during non-HD broadcast times, with no subchannels shown when it comes time to watch my favorite prime-time HD programs or sporting events.
So, that explains why I was pleased to hear that "The Tube" music video network had wound down its operations and signed off for the last time. "The Tube" was carried by several Sinclair- and Tribune-owned local stations as a digital subchannel in cities around the US. In the case of my local CW channel, it made the station's HD programming unwatchable.
That said, I do think there's a need for more pop music programming on both the broadcast and pay television networks. But it really never made sense to me to start a new music TV enterprise like "The Tube" unless it embraced HDTV and 5.1 surround sound. Even with the increasing distribution Music HD has gained in recent months, the music television niche seems like a market that's seriously underserved. And it wouldn't hurt record companies to be doing a little proactive marketing for high-quality, non-MP3 music as part of its fight against file-sharing...
Back on the cable television front, Comcast has begun to roll out its long-awaited TiVo-powered DVR service to initial customers in some New England markets. This could turn out to be a classic win-win, as Comcast's own DVR service never received a lot of positive feedback from customers and TiVo is in serious need of new revenue sources, particularly in light of plateauing revenues from its off/on relationship with DirecTV. Working with the nation's largest pay television company (24 million subscribers) presents significant upside for TiVo and its shareholders...
The DSL Reports web site carried a short item earlier this week detailing a DSL Forum report on the worldwide trend for IPTV, such as AT&T's U-verse. The data shows that IPTV is still a relative newborn, with only 8 million IPTV worldwide subscribers and only just over 1 million in North America. However, the report shows that total IPTV subscribers more than doubled in the 12 months ended in June. So, the future for IPTV holds considerable promise.
The Video Savant absolutely does not condone violence as a way of settling scores with pay TV providers who may sometimes deliver less than what they promise. But still, we couldn't help but be amused by the story of a hammer-packing granny who finally managed the undivided attention of employees and managers at her local Comcast office. But don't try this at home with your provider...
The fallout from last week's RIAA file-sharing victory in a Minnesota federal court continued to generate more than its share of follow-up news and analysis. But the key new development in the story is the fact that defendant Jammie Thomas will appeal the verdict. The main focus of the appeal is likely to center on the relatively new legal concept that just the act of making files available for download, whether by intent or otherwise, is the same as illegal distribution of copyrighted materials...
Suing customers and potential customers seems to be the recording industry's primary method for battling against file-sharing. However, there appear to be a growing number of established music acts who are trying to figure out how to use music downloads as a way of generating more revenue from other activities, such as concerts and memorabilia. Last week, Radiohead announced a gutsy initiative that allows customers to name the price they want to pay to download the band's new album.
Now, business-savvy pop music icon Madonna seems to be inching in a similar direction, as she opted to sign a new $100 million deal -- but not with a traditional record label. Instead, Madonna has signed on with a concert and merchandise promoter who will also be responsible for releasing new music recordings. While there's no indication that this means Madonna will be offering free (or name-your-price) downloads, it does add serious weight to the notion that there's plenty of value in the music business beyond just selling recordings...
Elsewhere, the chief of Yahoo! Music has delivered (and made available online) a recent presentation to music industry executives in which he threw down the "no more DRM" gauntlet. In a nutshell, Ian Rodgers told the gathered music industry bigwigs that he and his company will have nothing to do with record companies than insist on putting copyright control over customer convenience. If a company insists on DRM, Rodgers says Yahoo will respectfully accept that decision and look elsewhere for online partners...
Finally, if you're at a loss for something more interesting to read this weekend and you'd like a better understanding of Digital Rights Management systems, read the Technology Liberation Front item that points to Cory Doctorow's detailed explanation of why all DRM systems are ultimately doomed to fail...
Following on from the picture quality tack that kicked off this installment of the Week in Review, another ode to picture quality. This one comes from a non-traditional source -- Bungie Studios, the maker of the hit Xbox first-person shooter epic Halo. In the immediate aftermath of Bungie's release of Halo 3, there was online speculation that the game's developers had cut corners on picture resolution to around 640p, instead of the expected 720p HD resolution.
Well, it turns out not only was the speculation on the money, but the verification for it comes direct from Bungie. The game developer explains that it was necessary to reduce picture resolution in order to ensure good dynamic range and smooth motion.
The Bungie development team should be commended for this decision, because it recognizes that in the hierarchy of picture quality ingredients, pixel counts trail well behind contrast ratio, color and grayscale accuracy and the need to limit motion-related artifacts. This is another indication of the growing sophistication of both games studio developers and their appreciation of what's really required for a truly immersive and seamless visual experience. Well done...
There's more detail trickling through on Sony's plans to reduce the price of its PlayStation 3 game console. The price cuts have now been confirmed for markets in Europe, Australia and Asia. And while nothing official has appeared about a rumored U$399 configuration, a lower-priced US model appears to be a foregone conclusion. However, not everyone in PS3-ville is happy, as the new lower-priced PS3s will scrap backward compatibility with PS2 games, and there's also speculation that there will be no near-term option for buying a PS3 console with storage capacity greater than 40GB...
PlayStation 3 is a critical element in the future fortunes of the once-mighty Sony Corporation, and a CNET article suggests that desperation is beginning to take hold at Sony as the PS3 rollout has gone poorly, with no sign of imminent turnaround. This is doubly tricky for Sony, as the fortunes of Blu-Ray and PS3 are joined together somewhere very near the hip...
Video Savant 
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