Wednesday, April 13, 2011

The Future of TV Sets

The panel on Connected TV at this year's NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) convention thinks that in the future, all sets will be connected, and not just to the Internet. Suggesting that connectivity will go far beyond an Internet plug, one panelist suggested that TVs will link with a growing ecosystem of devices, networks, formats and standards. Intel's rep, Wilfred Martis, argued that "connected TV" is already an outmoded concept, offering the label "Smart TV" as a replacement.  And part of that "smarts" is the ability of sets to track viewers choices well enough to make useful suggestions among the plethora of networks and content sources available.
The panel largely dismissed concerns about viewers leaving Pay TV services or reducing premium services by shifting to Internet and digital broadcast sources, arguing that it's still all about content, and the traditional pay and premium services still offer the best range of new and high-quality content.  And somewhat expectedly, the panelist from Comcast suggested that a mix of free and paid content best serves diverse audiences, although also stressing that everyone "still needs to be paid," one way or another.
I have no doubt that digital TVs will continue to become smarter, adding more processing power and memory options.  The critical issue is what level of connectedness they decide to implement with the outside video content ecosystem, and to what extent can the various groups and industries come together to develop standards and practices to make the interconnections and uses seamless and transparent.
What might that look like? Check Corning's promo video, "A Day Made of Glass."

Source: "Connected TV is Bigger Than The Web," TVNewsCheck

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