2005 HDTV Report, Part 1: CES Highlights

[Rodolfo]

CES showed that 2005 will be the year when 1080p display started to compete. Perhaps, content and distribution will equally be motivated to reach that level of quality, such as Hi Def DVD for late 2005 / early 2006. More efficient compression algorithms like MPEG-4 AVC are making possible not only High Definition DVD, but also the expansion of HD satellite services and more HD channels, as it was recently announced by DIRECTV, Dish Network, and Voom.

Should quality be an objective (rather than multicasting DTV SD channels), the more efficient MPEG-4 compression has the potential to facilitate the distribution of 1080p content (at 60 frames x second) using a similar bandwidth allocated for today's 1080i (30 frames per second interlaced as 60 fields).

Although the ATSC standard does not include that level of quality, the potential could be applied for other services than over-the-air. New 1080p sets, if designed to accept a 1080p signal, would be in a good position to display at that potential. Read more in the highlights and later on the report.

In 2005, panel prices will come down at a faster rate relative to other types of displays, and panels will be more common at larger sizes, such as 70+ and 80-inches plasmas, and even a oversized 102" model expected within two years. LCD panels are joining the 40" plus domain of the plasmas, with 40 to 65 inches from many manufacturers. CES unveiled a good number of these oversized panels. HD-DVRs are becoming to appear integrated within some TVs and plasmas, small portables, in addition to HD-STBs for cable, over the air, and satellite.

The report includes a large number of new products and technologies; the following pages are just a highlight of CES 2005:

[url=http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/articles/2005/09/highlights_of_c.php]Read the Full Article[/url]