News Stories

TV Market Dip: LCD Price Slash Pushing Out Plasma, OLED Coming Next Year (2 stories)

[Smart House]

The TV market is looking sluggish as we approach the end-of-year holiday season with economic pressure in Europe and the US taking its toll on TV demand.

Asia Pacific is slated for the highest growth rates in the TV market as global forecasts dip below earlier expectations according to research by DisplaySearch in its Quarterly Advanced Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report. Most of this growth is tipped toward India though as developed markets hit a snag in consumer demand.

 

Consumers are making more cautious decisions when nabbing a new screen and are “highly value-seeking,” according to the report, and manufacturers are meeting this behaviour by dropping the premium on advanced features like 3D and IPTV integration.  …

Read the full story here: http://smarthouse.com.au/TVs_And_Large_Display/Industry/N3C3V6X5

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And there is a related story here: http://www.channelnews.com.au/Display/Plasma/H6C2B8V5

Panasonic Stockpiles 3D TVs Into Shrinking Plasma Market

 

Panasonic has released two new Viera plasma screens boasting 3D displays and IPTV services in-built into its UT30 Series in 50- and 42-inch sizes, but new research shows the market’s set to slump this year.
The two new models jump onto Panasonic’s latest plasma line-up of 16 screens announced back in April, but DisplaySearch researchers have tipped a reduction in demand for new TVs globally. While LCD TVs are forecast to account for 206 million sales worldwide this year, plasma screens sit at 17 million.


Catching up with digital: 3D drives the rollout south of the border

[Philip Lelyveld comment: this article contains many useful statistics.  It is updated/corrected from a previous article.]

[Film Journal]

At the end of first half of 2011, there were more than 40,000 digital screens all over the world. Important markets like the USA and the countries of Western Europe had already digitized around half of their total screens. In Latin America, the proportion was lower: an average of 21%. Unlike the rest of the world (with the exception of Eastern Europe), virtually all DCI digital projectors south of Río Bravo are 3D-ready; that’s why almost all the films featured on this kind of screen are three-dimensional Hollywood entertainment.

In July 2011, Latin America (20 countries and six autonomous Caribbean islands) had almost 2,300 DCI digital screens (more than 174% above the total one year ago, and more than 386% above the total two years ago), distributed among 1,200 complexes (where more than half have two or more projectors). The average density at these complexes is two digital screens.  …

Mexico is the leading country in the Latin American digital rollout: 52.5% of regional DCI projectors are installed in the Aztec country, the fifth-largest national cinema exhibition market in the world. Brazil has 17.5% of Latin America’s d-screens, while Colombia has displaced Argentina at fourth place, with 150 and 130 DCI projectors, respectively.  …

Read the full article here: http://www.filmjournal.com/filmjournal/content_display/news-and-features/features/cinemas/e3i61f2bfa2d77f2f132878a3c266236ad3

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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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