[LeeAntin]

According to the CEA there were sales of 234,000 Digital TV's for the first quarter of 2001. This represents a 158% increase over the same time period of 2000. Add this to the total for ALL OF 2000 and that total stands at 684,000. A force to be reckoned with. The higher the sales numbers, the tougher the copy protection plans become to implement...with regard to the actual display...as far as obsolence.


Lee

 

[wanthdtv]

Sure seems nice. But the display units are not, what decodes the digital signals. Even if a million HD display units were sold by years end. This will not make one differance in the attitudes of the networks and affiliates, unless the number of actual DTV STB sales increase in proportion to HD dispaly units. So far, the majority of these sets are being used for displaying DVD's.


Many people who are buying these HD display units, are opting to hold off

buying a digital STB. Either by sound decisions or misinformation from the retailers. In addition, many people simply don't have a clue as to what stations to receive the digital signal. Because the affililates have done such a poor job advertising on their analog sister stations that they are in fact, broadcasting some HD content.


Just check in this forum and you wil see people still asking if a certain

show will be shown in HD. So far the only place find out about HD programs is on the WEB. Even here, there is no garantee that you will find the information to always be up to date.

Sometimes you just stumble on to an HD program when flipping through the channels. It can be sometimes like shooting craps.

 

[tongyang]

Here's a link to the article.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/2001...altv_dc_1.html

 

[wirehead_rick]

In my opinion, this is definitely good news. Yes they are only displays, but when the STB's hit the right price point and the program providers start adding the amount of available HD content, the story for STB's will be different.


It is only a matter of time until DTV takes off. I'm convinced of it. People want their HDTV.


Rick

 

[Geof]

Yes this is good news. Perhaps the CE folks should consider discounting their STB's for buyers who bought their displays. This could quicken the sales of STB's and partially ease the debate of whether DTV tuners should be included in all sets above a certain size...The discount might also encourage more sales of displays....


------------------

Geof

 

[LeeAntin]

Here is the problem with the STB marketplace:


1. As of 4/23/01 there are 190 Digital TV stations that reach 64% of the viewing public. These are OTA. An antenna is required be it indoor or outdoor depending on the recption issues. Not everyone who buys a DTV display has the ability to receive the signal, or put up an antenna.


2. Not all people are willing to put up a dish on their property either because of the monthly expense or urban living.


3. As has been stated, the new STB's are all over $700. If the STB was $199 then I believe people would buy it just to have it.


4. Buyers of DTV displays are not being encouraged to buy HDTV STB's due to false info as far as lack of programming, poor retail displays with no HDTV at all or other misinformation. Then there are the cases where there is no HDTV in the buyers market. So far it appears that 10% of HDTV DTV's do have a STB but that number is low. Especially as we roll up on 3 years after the introduction of HDTV.


5. The two issues that ALWAYS go hand in hand with each other are PROGRAMMING and EQUIPMENT COST. We have to increase the first and at the same time, decrease the second.


HDTV was never supposed to be the "overnight success" that some think it was to be. Three years ago everyone in the industry said 5 to 10 years for the implementation to be a success. Just like the CD, the VCR and Color TV.


Lee

 

[jerndl]

Unfortunately since most Americans get their TV from the cable company, the only way to get HDTV to the masses is through their local cable provider. Even if the HD STBs were free, the vast majority would still stay with cable. This is similar to DirecTV and DISH. They offer free equipment to allow people to get more (and maybe better picture quality) programming at less cost, yet most people are sticking with their cable company.


It's a shame that for the most part cable companies are not providing HDTV (local or preminum channels). I would get rid of my DTC100 and UHF antenna and go exclusivly with my cable company (Comcast) if they would offer high quality digital cable, local HDTV stations and HBO-HD. I would also get a cable modem (if available) and they could provide the whole package, probably at least $100/month.


I doubt that the above will happen anytime soon and that is why HDTV will still be a small niche for some time to come.


Jay

 

[JoeFloyd]

Not to muddy the water too much, but it seem likely that computer based DTV reception could easily push the CEA number up by a few thousand. It's also worth noting that some current large screen computer monitors support HDTV signals and refresh rates. If these are added to the list of DTV capable displays the total sales figures would also extend higher.


While I'm on the subject of convergence technologies I think that it's really interesting that the recent sale of the WinTV-D card at J&R for $50 was a HUGE price break in terms of getting a device into the hands of the consumer that will actually receive HDTV. J&R sold out of their stock in only a few hours at that price, so it's clear that price is very sensitive component of the overall rate of adoption for DTV. To me it was just amazing that you could by a true HDTV receiver for $50. Add in a really cheap PC for another $300 and you have something that gets the job done for a surprisingly little amount of $$$.


Note that this card only outputs 480i, so it's not a true HDTV receiver in the full sense, but it does receive, RECORD, and decode all current HDTV formats. With the proper software it is possible to playback the recorded HDTV file stream in full resolution to using a very fast CPU and a Radeon based video card. Of course, it starts to get expensive when you need that kind of hardware to get true HDTV, but still less than buying a full HDTV and STB combination.


My overall point is that DTV sales figures will be harder to estimate than traditional analog tv sales. The convergence of TV and PC has been taking place for at least the past 10 years. DTV will see the complete integration of PC and TV. I would suggest that the CEA sales figures will have to be adjusted at some point to account for this symbiotic relationship.




[This message has been edited by JoeFloyd (edited 04-23-2001).]

 

[Swampfox]

Content, conte, content. Why by a receiver when there is nothing to receive.

I think it is really good news that so many DTV monitors were sold, it means people are looking to DTV/HDTV as the future.


SM

 

[dagman]

Quote:

Originally posted by jerndl: It's a shame that for the most part cable companies are not providing HDTV (local or preminum channels). I would get rid of my DTC100 and UHF antenna and go exclusivly with my cable company (Comcast) if they would offer high quality digital cable, local HDTV stations and HBO-HD. I would also get a cable modem (if available) and they could provide the whole package, probably at least $100/month.

Count me in on that too. Well . . . I do pay $40/month for the cable modem, but I would sign up for cable TV if they had HBO HDTV and the local digital channels.