News Stories

Mobile TV On The Way

“It is right in front of us,” Paul Childers, Rubber Duck Media Lab, said of Mobile TV during a panel at the HPA Tech Retreat.

According to industry journalist Debra Kaufman, who moderated, predictions suggest that 63 million smartphones will be in use in the U.S. by 2013, and mobile TV subscriptions are expected to reach an estimated 23 million in 2010.

ATSC’s Jerry Whitaker presented an overview of ATSC Mobile DTV, a broadcast spectrum that affords delivery of realtime and non-realtime TV content and data to mobile and handheld devices.

Tools include channel listings, an electronic service guide and subscriber interaction (security, billing enabled services), a rich media environment and viewer data collection.

ATSC is now studying a scalable full-channel option. The goals include increasing user options, backward and forward compatibility, and no impact on legacy services.

As an example of bandwidth allocation, he suggested that of the 19.4 Mbps used by broadcasters, HD might use 13-15 Mbps, an additional SD multicast might use 2-4 Mbps, PSIP might use 0.3 Mbps and two to three mobile service might use 4-6 Mbps.

ATSC is launching a Mobile DTV consumer showcase in Washington to help accelerate the commercialization of the services.

Naturally, the topic shifted to 3D.

“Mobile 3D will become increasingly important, especially because the mobile turnover is faster than TVs,” said Ethan Schur, chief marketing officer at TDVision.

He reported that there are already different types of autostereo options for mobile devices. He commented: “Personally, I don’t think autostereo (for TVs) will be ready in 20 years. For a mobile devices, I think it can be viable.”

He urged the extension of the ATSC Mobile DTV standard to include 3D.

Parting Thoughts: General Observations

As we leave Las Vegas and tie a bow around CES 2010, here are some general observations from the ETC reporting team:

CES_hallwayThe show had a super-dynamic feel. Last year, people were depressed and the event felt a bit empty.  This year – despite speculation that the confab would suffer from lack of big announcements and the effects of a limping economy – the high level of energy surprised us.  The show was slammed and there was a LOT of optimism in the air… and it was infectious.

As predicted, 3D was everywhere. It was perhaps even a bit more everywhere than people imagined.  Last year’s backroom demos were this year’s front-of-booth highlights.  DirecTV live 3D feeds and actual 3D Blu-ray discs playing on actual Full-HD 3D displays were in almost every major CE booth.  There was also a lot of live 2D-3D conversion around – maybe disruptive or perhaps just a nice parlor trick for 3DTV buyers to show their friends.

Over-the-top Internet-connected devices were everywhere, too. Last year, we saw ethernet jacks in a few TVs from the CE companies and widgets, etc. on some Blu-ray players.  This year, it’s gone mainstream.  The majority of the sets from the major manufacturers have ethernet, EVERYTHING is connected, Skype is now available in HD for HDTVs and PCs, and even Vizio has a strong play with its huge line-up of affordable, easy-to-use, wireless networked TVs.

All of that said, there was no “Pet Rock” at the show – the single must-have gadget. The Best in Show award from CNET’s Best of CES awards went to Panasonic for its VT25 series of 3D-capable HDTVs…and NetShelter’s Last Gadget Standing top winner was the Boxee Box from D-Link that helps you share Internet content with your HDTV.  But as Google and Apple had hoped for, everyone was talking about the Google Nexus One smartphone and the rumored-to-be-coming-later-this-month Apple Tablet, both of which were not at the show.

entourage-edge-dualbook-concept-revealed-0Tablet PCs, netbooks and e-readers with a wide variety of screen sizes and functionality took on a surprise presence at the show. We were particularly impressed with the enTourage eDGe, the first dualbook e-reader.  This cool device flips open to two screens: the first is an LCD screen with the functionality of a tablet notebook and the second is an e-paper screen for reading, highlighting and annotating documents.  We’ve just scratched the surface of possibilities with these affordable and increasingly popular devices (just think about the Kindle…).

Before we sign off, we’ve included a part 2 to our parting thoughts, a brief list of things to watch for in 2010.  Be sure to check it out.

And it seems only fitting that we include one final video.  Carolyn Giardina, one of our roving show floor reporters, wraps up her video coverage of CES by providing a brief overview of this year’s trends – from 3D everywhere to over-the-top tablet PCs to emerging technologies such as 4G networks.

[wpvideo wtsS6NqB]

Thanks for reading the blog for this year’s CES 2010.  A special thank-you to ETC’s sponsors who make our work possible.  We’re Leaving Las Vegas…

KC Blake, Sarah Blake, Carlos Crooks, George Gerba, Carolyn Giardina, Bryan Gonzalez, Frank Irving, Leander Kung, Phil Lelyveld, Edie Meadows, Paula Parisi, Mark Schroeder, Rob Scott, William Sheng, David Wertheimer, Joyce Yi

And our sponsor-contributors/tipsters:

Wendy Aylsworth, Bryan Ellenburg, Bob Kisor, Bob Lambert, Theron Trowbridge

Read the team’s thoughts on trends to watch in 2010

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Specification for Naming VFX Image Sequences Released

ETC’s VFX Working Group has published a specification for best practices naming image sequences such as plates and comps. File naming is an essential tool for organizing the multitude of frames that are inputs and outputs from the VFX process. Prior to the publication of this specification, each organization had its own naming scheme, requiring custom processes for each partner, which often resulted in confusion and miscommunication.

The new ETC@USC specification focuses primarily on sequences of individual images. The initial use case was VFX plates, typically delivered as OpenEXR or DPX files. However, the team soon realized that the same naming conventions can apply to virtually any image sequence. Consequently, the specification was written to handle a wide array of assets and use cases.

To ensure all requirements are represented, the working group included over 2 dozen participants representing studios, VFX houses, tool creators, creatives and others.  The ETC@USC also worked closely with MovieLabs to ensure that the specification could be integrated as part of their 2030 Vision.

A key design criteria for this specification is compatibility with existing practices.  Chair of the VFX working group, Horst Sarubin of Universal Pictures, said: “Our studio is committed to being at the forefront of designing best industry practices to modernize and simplify workflows, and we believe this white paper succeeded in building a new foundation for tools to transfer files in the most efficient manner.”

This specification is compatible with other initiatives such as the Visual Effects Society (VES) Transfer Specifications. “We wanted to make it as seamless as possible for everyone to adopt this specification,” said working group co-chair and ETC@USC’s Erik Weaver. “To ensure all perspectives were represented we created a team of industry experts familiar with the handling of these materials and collaborated with a number of industry groups.”

“Collaboration between MovieLabs and important industry groups like the ETC is critical to implementing the 2030 Vision,” said Craig Seidel, SVP of MovieLabs. “This specification is a key step in defining the foundations for better software-defined workflows. We look forward to continued partnership with the ETC on implementing other critical elements of the 2030 Vision.”

The specification is available online for anyone to use.

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