Connected TVs Making Steady Gains, 3DTVs Less So (3D-HDTV)

homemediamagazine.com ^ | 29 Jun, 2011 | Erik Gruenwedel and Chris Tribbey

[Las Vegas Dave]

Report says consumer adoption of 3DTV will slow this year.

The shroud of indifference in which retailers find themselves as they try to incite consumer interest in 3DTV isn’t expected to lift much this year, while consumer interest in connected TVs continues to thrive, according to a new report.

Sales of 3DTVs are projected to actually decline in 2011 as issues surrounding a universal standard, eyewear, dearth of content and price resolve themselves, according SNL Kagan.

Principal 3DTV drivers include live sports and ongoing (though waning) interest in theatrical 3D movies.

3DTV households should top 1.8 million by the end of the year, or 2% of the overall market. The net gain of 1.4 million households is based on an estimated retail sellthrough rate of 75% (up from 35% in 2010) as retail prices drop about 6% to $1,623 per unit. (The retail sellthrough rate compares the amount of inventory a retailer receives from a manufacturer or supplier against what actually is sold to the consumer.)

Kagan said 3DTV household penetration would rise from 5% at the end of 2012 to 21% by 2015 as the SRP falls 21% to $1,195 from $1,511.

“However, this does not include 3D accessories such as Blu-ray Disc players and additional 3D glasses, which cost about $100 depending on the manufacturer,” wrote senior analyst Robin Flynn.

Meanwhile, consumer interest in 3D theatrical movies continues to cool, as underscored by the June 24 opening weekend results for Disney/Pixar’s Cars 2, which generated just 40% of its box office in 3D (including 5% from Imax). By comparison, DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon generated 57% of opening box office in 3D with no Imax contribution.

Previous major 3D theatrical release Green Lantern fared only slightly better, generating 45% of its opening box office revenue in non-Imax 3D.

“We continue to wonder how long before the 3D fatigue issues that are occurring domestically start to spill over into international markets,” wrote BTIG Research analyst Richard Greenfield in a June 27 post.

On the other hand, connected TVs and Blu-ray Disc players appear to be gaining traction — due in part to wider inclusion of wireless connectivity, Web browsing and Google TV, according to Kagan.

The Charlottesville, Va.-based research firm estimates connectable TV homes (excluding connected Blu-ray players and over-the-top devices) will grow to 14% of total U.S. TV households this year. This represents an increase of 8.4 million new Web-enabled TV households estimated this year from 7.5 million, or 6% of total U.S. TV households, at the end of 2010.

“We estimate the percentage of total TV households with at least one connected TV set or Blu-ray player will grow from 23% to 51%, as the majority of new HD and 3DTV sets and Blu-ray players will have some sort of online connectivity,” Flynn wrote.

[Las Vegas Dave]

Pinging the HDTV list.. HDTV pings.

Interested in the HDTV ping list?
Please Freepmail me (freepmail works best) if you would like your name added to the HDTV ping list, ( approximately 375 freepers are currently on the HDTV ping list ).
The pinged subjects can be HDTV technology, satellite, cable, and OTA HD reception (Over The Air with roof top or indoor antennas), Broadcast specials, Sports, Blu-ray/HDDVD, and any and all subjects relating to HDTV.
Note: if you search Freerepublic using the keyword "“HDTV”, you will find most of the past HDTV postings.

[fullchroma]

What is HDTV? What is Connected TV?

[Minus_The_Bear]

This is why Glenn Beck left FOX... within a year he can reach or double his 2million viewers.



Internet connected TV is the going to disrupt cable quite a bit in the future. It already has with Netflix.

[fullchroma]

Are the new internet-connected TV’s hybrids? I mean can you watch regular TV AND internet TV on them? Or do you need two TV’s, one for each medium?

(We’re tech stupid in my household, need a new TV and don’t know what to get. The options make my head spin.)

[Minus_The_Bear]

Most TVs now are wifi enabled or have an ethernet port... depending on the TV that allows them to access the internet to do various things like watch Netflix, MLB, or lots of other things.

If you don't have an internet enabled TV you can you use a ROKU to stream internet content to your TV (if your TV has an HDMI port).

[Las Vegas Dave]

Of possible interest to the HDTV PING LIST

Inception Gets Flip Wilson, Jerry Lewis TV Comedies.

Inception Media Group June 28 said it signed a global home entertainment distribution deal with SFM Entertainment, an independent aggregator of catalog television programming.

As part of the multiyear agreement, Santa Monica, Calif.-based Inception secures rights to early episodes of “The Flip Wilson Show,” the weekly NBC variety show (1970-74) featuring Emmy and Golden Globe-winning comedian Flip Wilson and a parade of notable guest stars.

The break-out series — co-written by George Carlin, among others — propelled Wilson to pop culture fame through such catchphrases as “The devil made me do it” and “What you see is what you get,” and made Wilson (and his alter ego Geraldine) arguably the most influential comedian in the early ’70s.

Other SFM programming in the pact includes restored editions of “The Colgate Comedy Hour,” starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis; “The Jazz Singer” (live 1959 NBC broadcast starring Jerry Lewis); the complete “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp” classic TV series, starring Hugh O’Brian; and the complete classic television series “The Real McCoys,” starring Richard Crenna and Walter Brennan.

The first set of new re-releases on disc and digital will be available this fall.

“Our agreement with Inception Media Group furthers our ability to bring some of the best classic TV programming to consumers around the world,” said Stanley Moger, president and CEO of SFM Entertainment.

Inception is co-owned and run by David Borshell, former president of Image Entertainme

[rlmorel]

I just got my first television in about eight years (if I discount that little 18” LED television my wife has...)

I got one of the Samsung 8000 series, 55”. It sure looks nice, and I watched a 3D movie and was surprised at how good it was. I completely didn’t expect that.

Thanks to everyone on this list who gave me advice...much of it turned out to be very good and educational.

[fullchroma]

Thanks. That helps. And thanks for the ROKU link.

So a new TV would connect to my laptop via wifi or the ethernet port and function like a big computer screen? The laptop becomes the control? Otherwise, the new TV is just a TV?

Are DVD players a thing of the past?

Costco? Walmart? Or where? Or just any ol’ where? Any brands better than others?

(I remember standing around at a party with some old high school friends and when the music stopped we couldn’t figure out how to make it start again. Not one of us. Finally someone’s 12 year-old kid wandered by and changed the CD. That’s when it started.)

[rlmorel]

I agree...I am well educated and work in IT, but when the rubber meets the road, it is hard to make a decision!

I have been trying for several years to buy a new television, but I run into two problems:

1.) My wife gives me the go-ahead to research and buy, I spend months doing research, get ready to pull the trigger, and she tells me to hold off for some reason. This I can respect, because if not for her acumen with our finances, I wouldn’t be in a position to buy. But it makes me feel like a yo-yo!

2.) By the time I finish researching, the content of the field has changed, and I feel obligated to begin the process again to look a the new stuff.

3.) Repeat Item #1!

I don’t watch television, per se. I cannot sit through any of the rubbish, American Idol, I Can Dance, Modern Family and so on. And I won’t watch television based news.

But I AM a dedicated cinemaphile! So this has been great watching movies! After I installed the television (only temporarily, to get it in the right place I need the help of an electrician) I tried putting a few disks in to see how they look, and ended up watching the entire movie “Trading Places”...I only meant to look at a minute or two in order to evaluate the quality, and got stuck...:)

We don’t have cable, but we do have Internet, and the television has built in wireless. It was one of the easiest consumer electronics thing to set up I have ever used. It was brilliant.

I also got a little Apple TV thing, because my wife wanted to be able to easily show slideshows and stuff like that directly from our computer. Because we have a mac, that made sense. It was pretty inexpensive, and wireless too.

I just bought our home theater receiver last night (got everything via Amazon, including wires, etc) a Yamaha Yamaha RX-A800 that seemed to have most everything I wanted. I still have to choose a speaker system and a pair of good quality bluetooth headphones (so my brother and I can watch movies without waking up my wife...:)

Then, I have an electrician coming in to wire things, I am going to mount it above our fireplace, and all of the components will be hidden in a closet with a sliding wooden door, so there will be no wires or components visible.

I bought a Harmony 900 remote that can drive everything without being in line of sight (because THAT REALLY annoys me, having to move your hand around, pointing and clicking until the thing is read)

I convinced my wife to give me a big budget to do it all in...since we won’t be buying for another 15 years or so!

[LibLieSlayer]

HDTV=High Definition TV...

Connected TV... connects through your Internet service to the Internet for news and entertainment... much of it not on cable or satellite.

LLS

[RayChuang88]

Connected TV's are great until you run up against the monthly download caps imposed by most Internet Service Providers. Also, unless you have a really fast broadband connection (at least eight megabits/second), watching videos from NetFlix, Amazon Video On-Demand and VuDu can be an unpleasant experience with a lot of stuttering and not-so-great quality video.

[G Larry]

When the concept of 3DTV first showed up, I posted here that there would be insufficient demand to sustain it.

[jimnm]

I recently purchased a 3D TV with vizio internet apps. While I am keeping cable for now, with vudu, hulu, netflix streaming, amazon instant, blockbuster, etc the connected bit is interesting and I have rented a couple 3D movies so far. Right now, only vudu has 3D rentals but I am sure that will change. Cable in my area has a decent amount of 3D content as well.

[Sans-Culotte]

Good to see a resumption of Hugh O'Brian's Wyatt Earp series.

[libstripper]

After I installed the television (only temporarily, to get it in the right place I need the help of an electrician) I tried putting a few disks in to see how they look, and ended up watching the entire movie “Trading Places”...I only meant to look at a minute or two in order to evaluate the quality, and got stuck...:)

LOL.

This reminds me of a hilarious story from my childhood back in the 1950's. When I was about 12 (I'm 68 now) we got our first B&W TV. My mother (God bless her) was a very proper person who regarded the horror and war movies I loved to watch as pure, disgraceful mind rot and was happy to say so, loudly and often.

Then her downfall came.<[p>

One Saturday night, at about 10:30, the news ended and a grade Z movie, "The Mesa of Lost Women," about a mad scientist who'd taken over a mesa in southwest and was cross breeding women and tarantulas, came on. Mom made the fatal mistake that she'd never be allowed to forget for the remaining 40 year of her life--she watched the first minute and got hooked. She sat there transfixed, watching the rest of it with the same rapt attention you'd see in an 8 year old boy watching "Home Alone" for the first time. All the while Dad and I were laughing uproariously at the whole spectacle of this very proper woman hooked on a horror movie of the very kind she'd regularly denounced as mind rot.

[rlmorel]

LOL...that poor woman! I can see that perfectly...:)

I have actually SEEN that movie!

[libstripper]

The whole thing was so screamingly funny I can remember every detail as though it were yesterday. Best of all, “Mesa of Lost Women” was and is horrible mind rot.

[tarheelswamprat]

I second your recommendation of the Roku box. I’d add that you don’t necessarily require a TV with an HDMI input to use one. Roku makes three models, and the basic models work fine with TV’s that have regular A/V inputs. You just won’t get a true high-definition picture.

Another interesting thing about my Roku is its snappy command response speed. I also have a Vizio wi-fi TV and my Roku runs rings around it as far as executing commands from the remote. It also works with my Logitech Harmony 600 remote.

[tarheelswamprat]

I bought a Harmony 900 remote that can drive everything without being in line of sight (because THAT REALLY annoys me, having to move your hand around, pointing and clicking until the thing is read)

You might want to do a little research on the a/v discussion forums on your Harmony 900. I looked into getting one since I also have a Dish Network Vip722k dual-channel satellite receiver and the Harmony would not operate it. (the second channel is RF, not infrared)

Turns out there are certain proprietary limitations to the Harmony 900's capabilities that aren't quite clear from Logitech's general product description. It may work fine for you, however, just check it out.