Market, technologies and stakes in the digital video display terminals sector.

 

 


 

 


 

 
• Terminals: digital set-top boxes, digital integrated TV sets, DVD,
 

 
TV over PC and network computers.

 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 
• Factors for technological evolution:

 

 


 

 
- strategic components (screens, audio, software, conditional access, storage…);

 

 


 

 
- downloading;

 

 


 

 
- digital content protection.

 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 
• The players' offers and strategies (Hitachi, Matsushita, Phillips,
 

 
Sony, Thomson Multimedia…).

 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 
• Market trends and forecasts: the United States, Japan, and Europe
 

 
(11 countries).

 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 
• In 2005, 173 million homes across the world will have access to a digital
 

 
service.

 

 


 

 
A major transition is now underway: one which will radically alter the perception
 

 
of the TV set that we have maintained for several decades now. TV programmes already
 

 
come into viewers homes via several terminals, the most common of which is the
 

 
traditional analogue TV hooked up to a set-top box.

 

 


 

 
Other technical solutions do exist, however, even though no single one has yet
 

 
to forge itself a solid position:

 

 


 

 
- The first integrated digital TVs got off to a rocky start on the North American
 

 
and British markets, where they were launched in early 1999;

 

 


 

 
- Television reception via PC is now a reality, and is improving;

 

 


 

 
- DVDs, game consoles and the Net all use increasingly sought-after TV resources
 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 
• The technical systems employed reveal divergent choices from one country
 

 
to another:

 

 


 

 
- the United States: cable still in the lead, with satellite now close on its
 

 
heels;

 

 


 

 
- Japan: satellite making great strides, to the detriment of other technologies;

 

 


 

 
- Europe: widely varying national situations, characterised by satellite taking
 

 
the lead over cable and only tentative inroads being made by digital terrestrial.
 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 
• The new landscape in the consumer electronics industry, with analysis
 

 
based on the strategies being deployed by the market's top players:

 

 
Canal+, Hitachi, Liberate, Matsushita, Microsoft, Motorola/General Instrument,
 

 
Open TV, Pace Micro, Philips, Scientific Atlanta, Sharp, Sony, Thomson Multimedia

Technologies:

• Which terminals "surrounding" the TV set?

• Set-top boxes: history, basic functions, hardware and software architecture, costs

• Integrated TVs: conditions for an emerging market, functions, initial forays made in the US and the UK

• Internet TV: panorama, WebTV, AOLTV, Netgem

• DVD: global standard and major success, duplication control and copyright protection, rewritable DVDs, the end of Divx

• Game consoles: leading edge technologies, new types of terminals

• The new terminals: which functions for which use?

• The future of television on PC

• PC with integrated tuner

• Video streaming: toward rich media

• Factors for technological evolution

• strategic components: integrated circuits, conditional access, APIs, screens, audio

• APIs: the players' offerings: (OpenTV, MediaHighway, Liberate, Microsoft)

• protection of digital content

• downloading

• interfaces: USB, IEEE1394, PCMCIA

• storage terminals: failure compared to hard drive (TiVo, ReplayTV, TV AnyTime), possible competitors (DVD-RAM, D-VHS, additional memory)

• Local domestic networks: proliferation of projects: HAVi, Jini, UPP, HomePNA, Bluetooth, DECT, prominent and growing trends,

• Set-top boxes and telecommunications: ADSL connection, telephony over cable

• The standards war coming to a close

• Standardisation bodies in Europe, the US and Japan: DVB, ATVEF, ATSC, CableLabs, ARIB

• Standardisation of digital terrestrial TV and its impacts: failure of American terrestrial TV

• Standardisation of digital interactive TV: the success of DVB/MHP

Players’ offerings and strategies

• Detailed presentation of the top players:

• Key data

• History and current status

• Products

• Strategic axes

• Digital TV's strategic positioning:

• Electronics manufacturers,

• Consumer electronics manufacturers

• Software developers

• Telecoms manufacturers

• Control of content and services

Markets: trends and forecasts For each country studied:

• Detailed presentation of the TV market: cable, satellite, terrestrial

• Growth figures for 1999-2000 and forecasts for 2001-2005: cable, satellite, terrestrial television, number of homes connected, and digital's share.

• Methodology: presentation of the comprehensive model upon which forecasts are based, as well as the elements factored in

Strategic stakes

• Emergence of integrated TV: timetable, functions, platform

• Transition from a subsidised set-top box to a consumer set-top box with an external device (access control, Internet access,…)?

• The future of the hard drive and its impact

• Local vs. network storage: which combination of DVD, hard drive, high-speed access and local network