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Options for Wired Infrastructure Multiply Creating New Opportunities

It used to be that organizations would set up multiple wired infrastructure networks to handle phone, data, video, audio, control, security, KVM, etc. Now, multiple options are emerging that can allow one or two networks to do all the stuff of multiple networks in the past. That is creating lots of new opportunities for hardware, … Read more

Beyond HD Discusses Transport Challenges

Ron Martin of Panasonic, Paul Hide of TechUK, Tom Christphory of SES and Simon Fell from the EBU took part in a panel titled ‘Beyond HD: Can we deliver it, and how?’ The panel was chaired by Barbara Lang, executive director of SMPTE. Lang asked what the definition of UltraHD is – although if the … Read more

As Screens Grow, HD Will Suffer, Says Noland

Katie Noland

Katie Noland is an R&D technologist at the BBC. She spoke about a survey undertaken last year, investigating average viewing distances in the UK. A small but growing number of people are sitting in a position where they will see a difference between HD and UltraHD. This isn’t because people have started sitting closer – … Read more

Panasonic: Resolution Alone is Not Enough

Panasonic Hollywood Labs (PHL) was originally a joint venture between Universal Studios and Panasonic, before Panasonic took sole ownership. The organisation moved to a new building in February, which director Ron Martin helped to open. Martin has been in the entertainment industry for more than 30 years, working with many big names. He told an … Read more

What is the UltraHD Recipe? DTG Testing Shows Problems

Simon Gauntlett was the next speaker – he is the CTO of the DTG. “There was lots of talk about ‘beyond HD’ and future-proofing this morning”, he said, “[but] we must be careful when talking about this”. Gauntlett echoed comments from Asda’s Andrew Uden, saying that the number of UltraHD logos in the market today … Read more

UK Moves Towards On-Demand

The second session of the day closed with two speakers and a panel discussion, although the information that came from them was minor. First was Carl Hibbert, associate director at Futuresource. His data shows that, as of the end of 2014, 31% of UK homes have smart TVs, and 68% of consumers in these homes … Read more

Freeview Simplifies the Connected Experience

Freeview is the UK’s free DTT platform. For several years Ilse Howing – MD of connected TV at Digital UK, which looks after Freeview – has wanted to talk about a connected proposition for the platform. At the 2015 event, she was finally able to. Freeview Play is a connected – but still free – … Read more

UltraHD Needs Demystifying in Retail, Says Uden

Andrew Uden is the senior technical manager at UK supermarket chain, Asda, which is owned by Walmart. He spoke about developments in the TV industry, starting with an informal poll to see how many people owned an UltraHD TV – about eight out of the 150 – 200 audience members – and a connected smart … Read more

Mobile Video Keeps Climbing

Rory Murphy works for Equinix (a data centre and interconnection platform), while Matt Stagg is a network manager at mobile operator EE. They discussed the DTG’s working group, the Mobile Video Alliance, which the two companies established in 2013 (Display Monitor Vol 21 No 21). The MVA provides a forum for mobile video ecosystem players … Read more

Standardisation is the Real Challenge

Ofcom is the UK’s communications regulator, and Steve Under is the body’s CTO. He took the opportunity to talk about standards, questioning which is more important: standardisation or differentiation. Standards are very important, as they can bring interoperability and economies of scale. Innovation, however, is driven by competition, so standardisation must leave room for this. … Read more

Can We Agree on UltraHD? Asks DTG Summit

2015 marks the 20th anniversary of the UK’s Digital Television Group. The annual Summit, held in King’s Place, London, evaluates the progress made in the digital TV industry over the past year, as well as examining the challenges in the years ahead. The focus this year was on the ‘better pixels’ enhancements that are due … Read more

Update on the DFF – Catch Up at SID

At the beginning of the year, the Deutsches Flachdisplay Forum (DFF), changed its structure and we got an update this week on those changes from Prof. Dr Karlheinz Blankenbach from the University of Pforzheim, an expert in display metrology and characterisation. Prof Blankenbach is also the chairman of the Electronic Displays conference that takes place … Read more