November 2, 2009

As High-Definition TV Goes Mainstream, In-Stat Looks Forward to Ultra-High Definition TV

While the market for High-Definition TV (HDTV) has hit the mainstream, the industry has already started speculating about the commercialization of Ultra-High Definition (UHD).  Market research firm, In-Stat http://www.in-stat.com, believes there will be a lengthy time period before the UHD market reaches a critical mass of 5% household penetration.  However, as the initial market debuts over the next five to ten years, there will be ample opportunities for technology companies, manufacturers, service providers and media companies to experiment with business models and strategies to make UHD a strong business in the long term.

UHD formats provide between four and sixteen times the resolution of Blu-ray or 1080p high definition as well as 22.2 multichannel three-dimensional sound. This is a vast improvement over the currently available end user viewing experience in the home.

As originally proposed, UHD comes in two levels of resolution: 7680 x 4320 pixels (i.e., 8K resolution), and 3840 x 2160 (i.e., 4K resolution).

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

• The rising popularity of high resolution digital cinema will expose consumers to high resolution content.  Then, early UHDTVs will be made available to provide a digital cinema high resolution viewing experience in the home.   Ultimately, broadcasters will start offering UHD content to an addressable market of UHDTVs, between 2017 and 2022.
  
• In-Stat expects the total installed base of UHDTVs Europe to approach 5% household penetration until 2021, and increase to over 28.2% penetration by 2025.
  
• In Asia-Pacific, Japan will be among the early adopter countries.

This Market Alert is drawn from the In-Stat research, The Market Opportunity for Ultra-High Definition Video (#IN0904468MBS), which covers the availability of ultra-high definition TV units and the availability of ultra-high definition services around the world. It includes:

• Market and industry drivers for UHD service subscribers and viewers.
• Analysis of how the development of different technologies and business models is impacting the market for UHD services.
• An in-depth look at potential UHD service providers.
• Analysis of the emerging Digital Cinema and 3D Technologies.
• Assessment of the UHD Value Chain, including UHD content creation, cinema distribution, broadcast and in-home technologies.
• Long-term (fifteen-year) forecasts for worldwide UHDTV households by geographic region.

To purchase it online, please visit: http://www.instat.com/catalog/mmcatalogue.asp?id=288

The price is $3,495 (US).

This research is part of In-Stat’s Multimedia Broadband Services service. Broadband and video are everywhere, but who will win, and with which service offerings, is a multi-billion dollar global question. In-Stat’s MBS research provides a worldwide, comprehensive perspective on the delivery of consumer broadband voice, video, and data services to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each delivery pipe. Providing invaluable data on enablers and blockers, MBS examines existing and potential subscribers, business models, industry agendas, and key cross-market combatants.

Related In-Stat research:

Global Interactive Program Guides and Content Discovery

CDNs and Data Centers to Usurp Video-on-Demand

Worldwide Real-Time Broadcast MPEG Encoder Market

The Worldwide Cable TV Market: Video and High-Speed Data Subscribers

About In-Stat

In-Stat’s market intelligence combines technical, market and end-user research and database models to analyze the Mobile Internet and Digital Entertainment ecosystems. Our insights are derived from a deep understanding of technology impacts, nearly 30 years of history in research and consulting, and direct relationships with leading players in each of our core markets. In-Stat provides its research through reports, annual subscriptions, consulting and advisory services to inform critical decisions. Technology and semiconductor vendors, infrastructure and device manufacturers, service providers and media companies worldwide rely on partnerships with In-Stat’s tenured, experienced staff and on our in-depth market intelligence to support critical business, product and technology decisions.

In-Stat is a strategic segment of the $9 billion Reed Elsevier global information network, with access to an expansive worldwide electronic network, extensive technology databases and well-informed personnel. As a member of Reed Business Information, In-Stat is a division of the largest business-to-business publisher in the U.S.