AfterDawn: News

Homes with HDTV to treble by 2011

According to a report, the number of homes with HDTV services is set to treble by 2011. The clearer, more vivid picture offered by true high definition TV has made it a "must have" in many territories. The transition is being called a landmark move for the industry, and is often compared to the transition from black and white TV to color TV.

Informa Telecoms and Media predicts that the number of homes taking HDTV services will jump to 151 million by 2011, up from 48 million at the end of 2006. 58% of all "HD homes" are found in the United States, followed by 20% in Japan, with the UK, Germany and China also high on the list.



"The falling price of high-definition sets has really caught the public's imagination, and consumer uptake is impressive," Adam Thomas, the report's author said. He did admit though that right now, some customers are unhappy with the lack of content offered by their services.

Source:
Reuters

Written by: James Delahunty @ 9 Feb 2007 10:34

• Previous article

• Warner rejects Apple's DRM proposal

• Next article

• Gears of War tops the D.I.C.E. 07

• 22 comments

• squidge37

  I'm assuming the title is supposed to be "triple" rather than "treble"

  9.2.2007 10:59 #1

• plutorash

  Does this mean it's going to have a crisp, clear, high sound?

  9.2.2007 12:41 #2

• thecraigc

  it means more people will have HD by 2011... cant you read?

  9.2.2007 12:51 #3

• OzMick

  Definitions of treble on the Web:
  
  * soprano: having or denoting a high range; "soprano voice"; "soprano sax"; "the boy still had a fine treble voice"; "the treble clef"
  * three times as great or many; "a claim for treble (or triple) damages"; "a threefold increase"
  
  Google, people!

  9.2.2007 13:23 #4

• No1nfo

  Originally posted by squidge37:I'm assuming the title is supposed to be "triple" rather than "treble"treble means to triple too

  9.2.2007 13:23 #5

• chino2875

  ...thats just funny. but yeah, here in Alaska we have like 4 HDTV channels and we watch them even when there isn't anything on them, just because it looks sweet.

  9.2.2007 17:19 #6

• ronnybuck

  I will keep my JVC 32 inch for a while. I have looked at HDTV's at all the stores and they lie about what it costs to get the picture they have. 84% of households have to have the capability to receive the digital signal before they can stop the analog. With the costs and still the lack of coverage it will be 2020 maybe before the vhf channels and analog UHF are shut down. The promised ASTC tuner boxes will never happen as long as the manufacturers are paying off our congressional reps. They were supposed to be available over 5 years ago so those with older TV's could get set up for it. Crooks one and all.

  9.2.2007 17:44 #7

• Pop_Smith

  Thats cool to hear. I have about 20 channels (over-the-air) here and they look awesome to say the least. Some of the channels I enjoy watching simply due to the quality and I mute them because I don't give a darn about whats really going on.
  
  Peace

  9.2.2007 20:37 #8

• YOBUZZB

  Originally posted by ronnybuck:Crooks one and all.I'm with you!

  9.2.2007 22:05 #9

• davidrose

  I was one who couldn’t wait for hi def here in the states, so I went the second year they were out and have been enjoying it ever since we too keep it on HDTV even if there is nothing on because it does look so sweet. Not to mention our new HD DVD and netflix combo it is all too exciting.

  10.2.2007 01:50 #10

• ronnybuck

  Those who live in large cities have no problem receiving the new Digital signals. It's those out in the outer fringes that have the problems. The key here is the survival of these local stations and the local commercials especially in the evenings. Folks who can afford to buy the HD stuff and most likey live in areas where they can get the signals don't pay much attention to these commercials. It's the least fortunate still with their older analog TV's who are most likely influenced by these adds. These stations make the bulk of their money off these viewers and the amount of viewers they have, sets the rates they charge. Stations with high ratings can get rich by charging larger rates for commercials especially at dinner time. A lot of these viewers still use antennas mostly for vhf stations, have no access to cable and cannot afford Dishes. This is how TV started and we did not have to pay for it, just buy the receiver and pay the electric bill. I have cable but still look at the local stations better than 70% of the time. New technology has really improved cable to the point of rivaling Dish systems. With the cable there are no contracts extra boxes as with Dish Networks and you have to pay extra for the local channels. My cable bill actually went down $2 where Dishes are going up after the introductory deceiving offers to get you. But I feel the next couple of years we will maybe see the final direction this is all going.

  10.2.2007 06:04 #11

• daveswilh

  But if it takes that long just to get treble, how long do we have to wait for the bass....

  10.2.2007 10:04 #12

• cart0181

  lol, Daveswilh, good one.
  The journalist probably thought they were clever using treble in that sense, but it just sounds stupid doesn't it?

  10.2.2007 15:04 #13

• jb2453

  Originally posted by daveswilh:But if it takes that long just to get treble, how long do we have to wait for the bass....
  good one thats what i was thinking too... i had to read the posts before i realized that wasnt a typo. these sophisticated words like treble are confusing me and all the other ignoramuses here. at first i honestly thought treble was a sound reference

  10.2.2007 17:56 #14

• borhan9

  Hopefully by then i can get one to :)

  11.2.2007 23:51 #15

• Jimathome

  hi, I don't know what is on offer in the USA as here in Europe we are slightly out of range of VHF or UHF transmissions and as yet nobody has stretched a cable this far(LOL), but seriously here in Holland where I live at the end of December last the Dutch government ended all analog TV transmissions and in the UK they will do the same this year, we already have digital TV here on cable for quite some time, satellite has never really been that popular but the first true Hi-Def transmissions will not be available untill later this year, in the UK the Sky sat network already operates Hi- Def transmissions, untill about a year ago very few people bought flat panel LCD or Plasma screens because they were outrageously expensive and secondly because they didn't actually work that well (eg: sitting at an angle whilst viewing) I must say that has all changed recently due to the maturity of flat panel technology during the past year and sales are on the way up like never before, by the end of this year the prediction is the cost of 80 cm screen will half and i think hi-Def will really take off a lot faster than most have indicated, Cheers, Jim in Amsterdam

  12.2.2007 06:33 #16

• Mr-Movies

  I was baffled by the use of Treble and thought maybe this was a new service provider but what a miss-use of the word since treble doesn't mean full range or bandwidth. You got to love these journalists.
  
  As far as I know 2010 is still the cut off for SD, in the US, and I don't believe it has anything to due with 84% of anything. Also when TV started out it was EXPENSIVE and HARDLY anyone had it, this was also true when they went to color, colour for the UK, broadcast. I would have to go to a friend’s house to see the Wizard of OZ in color because we couldn't afford a color TV. There are no guarantees folks if you don't plan ahead you'll be left in the dust or buying a HD converter for your SDTV so you can watch TV. We have known this was coming for over a decade now and in the next 3 years we will see cheaper and better TV’s out there.

  12.2.2007 07:45 #17

• solarf

  lol, good title.

  12.2.2007 10:41 #18

• ronnybuck

  The push about going to Digital TV Transmissions is the military wanting the VHF Channel Frequencies. The orginal plans was to make all TV sets to receive a digital signal and using a weaker signal than the VHF had. But our fearless leaders said that being Digital it would overcome this and give a clearer picture. True there is no snow just little squares and the screen blanking out and finally recovering looking more like the game Tetris. One congressman said all we would have to have was a coat hanger stuck out the window. What they are saying now if you have a $200 VHF/UHF antenna it will not work for the new digital transmissions. FCC is planning to auction off the VHF frequencies for billions of which part is supposed to help pay for converter boxes for those with analog TV's. We have had a many years to prepare but it seems the FCC is still lagging in doing what it was supposed to do nearly 20 years ago. Where does HD fit in this? It never was not in the original plans. It has become a money maker for the Industries making all this stuff. They have paid off congress to forget the original plans. By the way if all this stuff was made in this country we would not be writing about it now.

  12.2.2007 13:56 #19

• goodswipe

  yea..im here in austin tx and we only have about 5 hd channels offered by our cable company...want a few more like, HBO HD CINEMAX HD SHOWTIME HD etc. then you gotta pay more...these sobs need to make more of the channels available since the industry is turning towards HD tv's.....my two cents...peace im out

  12.2.2007 14:11 #20

• ronnybuck

  Most of the local stations are transmitting the Digital/HD signals here in Virginia. In the burbs here of the most popular stations that are viewable analog wise only about half are receivable on the digital. So far it is very disappointing to those who sank thousands in the new stuff. Last year 47% of the digital TV's sold were returned because they simply were terrible. Most stores selling this stuff now are trying to train their sales people to better explain what is needed to receieve new signals to prevent most of the returns. Most say a Dish unit is about the only way and they are limited for HD stuff and what they do have is costly. Comcast a local cable company that bought Adelphia out and is slowly going HD but is more expensive than a Dish. The cable (Jet Broadband) where I live just finally got the analog right and don't plan any HD for at least a couple of years. We get all we need from it and the picture is surprisingly good. One cable comes in to the house and splits to multiple sets without all the extra boxes and more remotes to loose. I think analog will be around for some time unless the FCC gets it's act together and refuse payoffs from the makers or I should say importers of this stuff.

  12.2.2007 15:01 #21

• Xenores

  Cool.

  13.2.2007 12:08 #22