News GfK Finds Strong Audio Market Mobile capabilities and design boost sales GfK, one of the world’s largest research companies, presented new findings on the audio market during its Sound On The Move – New Chances In Audio conference at IFA. One of the findings is that consumers are increasingly looking for new ways to experience audio. Sound bars are becoming popular as televisions become increasingly thinner, with sales in 2013 at three times the volume of the previous year. Connected audio is also in demand from consumers, who are increasingly looking for new ways to connect their phones or tablets to sound systems. Unit sales in this area increased by 48% in the first half of this year. Innovation in audio products is proving diverse as, unlike televisions, audio hardware has few design limitations. And, while television set prices are constantly falling, audio hardware prices are remaining steady. The sales share of portable speakers with Bluetooth capabilities increased to one in three in 2013, and portable speakers, like headphones, are becoming popular as fashion accessories; in 2013 headphone sales in Europe are 2.5 times greater than in 2012. Through its retail panel, GfK regularly collects data on TV and video equipment, portable audio products, camcorders, hi-fi and home cinema systems as well as incar electronics in more than 90 countries worldwide. For the Western European market, this evaluation is based on information from Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands for the first half of 2013. Hall Grosser Stern Vip room 2 Innovation in audio products is proving diverse as, unlike televisions, audio hardware has few design limitations. 4K UHD TV Demonstrations at IFA Delegates can witness world-first demo in the TecWatch zone Peter Siebert Executive Director, DVB DVB, the industry-led consortium of over 200 broadcasters, manufacturers, network operators, software developers and regulators, is partnering with Eutelsat and Kabel Deutschland to bring three demonstrations of 4K UHDTV, delivered via DVB-S2 and DVB-C2 broadcast standards. The demos are taking place on the joint DVB/ANGA booth in IFA’s TecWatch zone. ANGA is the Cologne-based Exhibition and Congress for Broadband, Cable and Satellite. In the first of three demonstrations, a 4K HEVC encoded signal is being transmitted from Eutelsat's uplink station in Paris using DVB-S2. The signal is then demodulated and fed directly into Village Island's HEVC contribution decoder. The rate of the source material is 50 frames-per-second, providing good video quality even for fast-action movement. In the first-ever showing of DVB-C2 delivering 4K video, a C2 transmission system consisting of a C2 modulator and a C2 demodulator will carry the 4K content. In addition to the 4K content being delivered via the Eutelsat 10A satellite link, there is also a local play-out with content provided by Sky Deutschland. After decoding with a Broadcom receiver the content is presented on a LG 4K display. In the third demonstration 4K content encoded with H.264 and transmitted via DVB-S2 by Eutelsat from Paris is fed directly into a Samsung display with integrated S2 receiver. “DVB will continue to work with its members and partners to ensure that the goal of bringing the striking clarity of UHDTV to the home is realised,” said Peter Siebert, Executive Director, DVB. Hall 11.1 www.ifa-international.org IFAInternational • Monday 9 th September 2013 7
