News Stories

HDTV Ownership Is High, Viewing Rates Low (no mention of 3DTV, but related)

11.8.2010

High-definition televisions are now in the majority — but HD viewing is still far behind.

Nielsen Company says 56% of TV homes have HDTV — which can boast one of quickest adopted consumer technologies ever. But viewers haven’t bought into all HDTV services.

Only 13% of total day viewing on cable and 19% of viewing on broadcast television is in HD viewing, which requires and HD television and HD tuner tuned to an HD channel. Nielsen says more than 80% of TV viewing is still done in standard definition.

Nielsen says 44% of homes either do not have either an HD set or HD services. Most HD homes also have at least one (SD) Standard Definition TV set. About 20% of viewing on HD sets is on SD services.

Not surprisingly, the highest percentage of viewing on cable networks is with sports programming — representing around 21% of TV homes. Younger viewers are generally the biggest HD viewers. People 18-34 represent 28% of HD sports viewers and 23% of entertainment viewers.

TV news networks — also in HD — garnered big numbers — 20% of 35-64 viewers and somewhat mysteriously, 22% of kids 2-11.

Looking at race and ethnicity, Nielsen says about two-thirds of Asian TV homes are set up to watch HD TV, compared to about half of African-American homes.

by Wayne Friedman

source: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=139091

Netgear Wants to Wirelessly Connect New Televisions

11.8.2010

Netgear will offer a “3DHD Wireless Home Theater Networking Kit” /

Netgear, the maker of a number of wireless products, has a plan to beat its competitors, which include Belkin and Cisco, and double its revenue in the coming year. It involves the television.

Among a slew of new products the company announced on Friday, Netgear had a new category of wireless router that enables customers to connect televisions to the Web wirelessly using high bandwidth technologies.

Patrick Lo, Netgear’s chairman and chief executive officer, said in an interview that his company had moved beyond just connecting computers to the Internet, but hopes to push the boundaries of the next generation of televisions coming into homes today.

“A lot of the new Internet-connected televisions have an Ethernet port in the back,” Mr. Lo said. “We want to offer products that can help customers stream very high bandwidth content wirelessly, without having to plug in cumbersome wires and drag them throughout their homes.”

Among the new products the company announced on Friday, Netgear will offer a “3DHD Wireless Home Theater Networking Kit” that can stream 1080p high-definition video throughout the home, even over long distances, using hubs that can boost the signal.

The new wireless products can be plugged directly into existing Ethernet jacks in modern Internet-ready televisions and then stream video or other Web content wirelessly.

“Three-D high-definition video is extremely cumbersome to move across a wireless network. We’ve reinvented our wireless technologies to easily stream this content without seeing any jitter or bumpy video,”  Mr. Lo said.

Most new 3-D televisions do not come with Wi-Fi hardware built-in due to slower wireless speeds and possible third-party wireless connectivity issues.

Mr. Lo said  that most customers who planned to buy a new television would most likely buy  a device  with some sort of Ethernet connection. By offering wireless products in this category he hopes to double his $1 billion a year in revenue.

By NICK BILTON

source:  http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/05/netgear-hopes-to-wireless-connect-new-televisions/?src=me

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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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