DisplaySearch Slates Fall HDTV Conference

By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 8/26/2008

Austin, Texas — Adding a focus on new HDTV programming and delivery directions for the growing HDTV industry, DisplaySearch’s 6^th Annual HDTV Conference will offer a slate of industry leaders to provide a over view of new advances and issues in the growing video display industry.

This year’s session, entitled the 2008 HDTV Conference: Confronting the New Reality, will feature two days of sessions starting with “State of the Art: Beyond Ubiquitous High Definition.”

The program will take place Sept. 15-17 at the Renaissance Hotel in Los Angeles.

Among the highlights of the sessions will be executives from Samsung, Sharp and Vizio — leading HDTV brands — addressing challenges facing the HDTV market, including a retail-shelf’s-eye perspective of the current TV industry climate.

In other sessions, representatives from the service operator, enabling technology and content segments of the industry will share their perspectives on ways the industry can continue building excitement around HDTV in the face of competition from the Internet and other entertainment alternatives.

“As uncertainty swirls around marketplace forces like the economic climate and the analog cutoff, this opening panel of DisplaySearch’s HDTV Conference will present a superb array of leading industry voices to help attendees navigate the present and future of high-definition entertainment,” noted Ross Rubin, industry analysis director for The NPD Group, who will moderate this “State of the Art” session. “Incredible picture quality, sleek form factors, plummeting prices and a growing selection of compelling content have driven HDTV toward becoming a staple in American homes. The key industry players at DisplaySearch’s HDTV Conference will discuss strategies for attracting the next wave of HDTV buyers by continuing to push the envelope of digital entertainment.”

Confirmed speakers for this exciting session include: Michael Rudd, THX chief of audio/video architecture; John Morriss, Vizio, partner management VP; Bob Scaglione, Sharp Electronics marketing senior VP and group manager; Bryan Burns, ESPN strategic business planning and development VP; Phil Wiser, Sezmi, co-founder, chairman and president; and NPD’s Rubin.

Bob O’Brien, Corning Display Technologies, end market intelligence director, will deliver a keynote address on “From Telecom to Display: Delivering the HDTV Revolution” during the “Connected Television: Content from Across the Living Room, the House and the World” session.

In his presentation, O’Brien will show how Corning is also enabling the HD revolution as an innovator in optical fiber and telecommunications.

As the penetration and screen size of HDTV continues to grow, the increased pull for video bandwidth will present new challenges and opportunities for content delivery. Major carriers are already working hard to expand their video offerings, but as the number of HDTVs in total and per household increases, the need for bandwidth will continue to increase.

His presentation will discuss research studying the relationship between bandwidth and picture quality and how fiber to the home is capable of delivering the full potential of HDTV, concluding with a look at what’s next in displays, and Corning’s view on the upside of HDTV demand.