NEWS Europe Leads World
NEWS Europe Leads World in IPTV Solutions While in many other parts of the world, IPTV is still just a concept, it is firmly established and growing at a rapid rate here in Europe today. We asked Microsoft TV Field Marketing Manager Hilke Panzner to give us a clearer overview of the market. IPTV is definitely a big hype right now in the market, and a lot of people are talking about it. We see it in quite a few markets, for example in Germany, Deutsche Telekom has launched T-Home last year, which is based on Microsoft Media room (the IPTV solution from Microsoft). We see a great take off in other countries and we deployed Microsoft Media Room in France, Spain, Denmark, England, Italy and so on. So it is a huge hype, not only in Europe but also in the United States and Asia. On the other hand it is not well known in some countries and people are hesitant, they don't know how it is going to work. How are you going around that? Is it a big communication job? Yes, from our side we try to educate people and to make them aware of what IPTV is and what Microsoft Media Room is. Obviously our customers also make campaigns to enhance the awareness around what the product is and also what you get with it. People often ask "what is IPTV?". Obviously it is TV over the IP network, but not only, you also have a video on demand section, a personal video recorder in the set top box, an electronic program guide, the ability to swap very fast between two channels ("instant channel change"), the possibility to broadcast HD… So you get a lot of things with IPTV through Microsoft Media Room, and much more than what you get today with cable television or satellite solutions. One of the things that people worry about is the quality of what comes out at the end. Do you think that this is still a sticking point for people? The quality depends on a lot of things, which makes it a very complex solution. Obviously our software is a part of it, but then you also have the network, the encoders, the bandwidth to the end consumer and so on. There could be a lot of reasons why the quality is not that good, but where we have the product in the market we see a very good quality, and we convince the consumer to buy because of the picture quality. HD is definitely one reason why people switch to IPTV. Microsoft is not at IFA with a booth, but you are there nevertheless. Tell me about where people can see you. Microsoft Media Room is the technology that Deutsche Telekom has chosen to offer the product T-Home, so you are able to see this at the Deutsche Telekom stand. In addition, Microsoft decided to open a showroom in the city centre of Berlin, and we invite everyone to come to that showroom. It is open between August 30 th and September 22 nd , and we show our whole digital lifestyle story so you can experience all of Microsoft's end consumer products and also Microsoft Media Room. Is That Real? 3D Leaps Out of Digital Cinemas and Into Your Living Room! We have been hearing about 3D TV here at IFA, but how is it going to get to market? We dropped by the Texas Instruments DLP Stand and asked Channel Specialist Bob Wudeck from Texas Instruments DLP how will this fantastic product be getting to market... The first implementations you will see are the TV's that will be shipping in the United States. You will see Samsung and Mitsubishi bringing out TV's that have 3D capacity so it's a simple firmware and software change inside the TV that will convert the standard 2D definition to a 3D TV. So once the content is available, then you simply pick up a pair of glasses, put them on, run your 3D content and you have a true 3D experience. To entice people to buy a 3D TV or a 3D capable TV, they are going to have to see the 3D, and actually demonstrating in the shops is going to be a little bit difficult. We are working with the national retailers in the US to figure out the logistics that are required such as glasses and content to make it a compelling experience. They are pretty excited about the possibilities of drawing new customers into their stores to be able to see a fantastic new technology that currently is only seen in traditional DLP cinema screens. Here at IFA the public and the trade visitors are seeing the technology. What has the reaction been so far? People are overwhelmed and shocked to see how good the 3D experience really. We have heard a number of comments from people who have seen 3D in a digital cinema. This is a miniature version of the same thing, it's very realistic and I think what is most compelling is that it's a natural experience, it's not artificially forced on them. After looking at the screen for a few seconds their eyes settle in, it becomes more natural to what they expect to see in the real world and they almost to get the been looking a 3D image Europe is going to be one of the next markets for the launch after the US. How soon will we see this in the stores here? We will be working with partners to analyze the market requirements and the needs for the European market since there are such different needs in each country. So that's something that we will work very closely with the customers to line up and identify a strategy. Hall 26a Stand 218 6 IFA International • Tuesday, 4 th September 2007
MARKET & TECHNOLOGY TRENDS HD DVD & Blu-ray Disc Competition Benefits VIDEO Toshiba’s Assistant General Manager for Consumer Products Europe, Olivier von Wynendaele, also heads up the EU Promotion Group for the HD DVD format. As a co-developer of HD DVD along with NEC, Toshiba are at the forefront of new HD DVD products including two new players launched here at IFA and a line of HD DVD ready laptop computers called QOSMIO. IFA International asked Olivier von Wynendaele how important HD DVD is for the Toshiba brand…. Toshiba is very much committed to ‘Leading Innovation’ in the digital world. We have created several pioneering technologies and HD DVD is a key technology for Toshiba. We want this technology to become the successor of DVD. How are you going about launching the HD DVD format? Our first target is to make consumers aware of High Definition in general. A lot of people are buying flat panel TVs but many consumers don’t know they need HD sources or that it is an HD ready television. They buy a flat panel to have a better and larger picture to watch DVDs on, but when they see these pictures on a 42-inch screen they can see the standard’s limitations. There is confusion, so our first goal is to demonstrate what HD is. Then we can talk about the position between different formats. What are you doing to increase consumer awareness of HD DVD? First of all we are here at IFA! We have an extensive PR programme to talk to the press so that they can inform the public about High Definition and its consumer benefits. We are doing some advertising but it is not our priority because we are not at a mass-market level yet. However step-by-step advertising will increase. We are working especially hard with retailers to have HD DVD players in their stores and to have the product properly demonstrated. There are now many titles on the market with a HD capacity. The message to consumers must be that choosing HD is not a mistake because all HD DVD players are at the top of what DVD can do. They can play back DVDs with a good up-scaling capacity and, of course, they are able to play real HD product. How fast do you think it will take before HD players reach a critical mass with the public? Price matters... and at 300 Euros potentially 30% of consumers are interested in making an investment in an HD source. It may take a bit longer as people need to have HD TVs at home first and we are not yet at 100% penetration. The Chinese manufacturer Alco through their Ventura brand are producing the cheapest HD DVD player priced at 300 euros or less, which is at least half the price of the cheapest Blu-ray Disc (BD) player. So we are coming close to the level for mass market adoption. What is the feedback from retailers here at IFA on HD DVD? Until last year the format was not readily available so there was not a big push by retailers for HD DVD or BD. They were busy selling HD TV sets and MP3 players. This year HD broadcasts have become more widely available and with new players available, they agree to push the HD message in their stores, including of course HD DVD, and so we will see a big push in the shops this Christmas, at least in the main European countries. In the format battle between HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc, how important is the range of content available? There are now 400 HD DVD titles available from more than 50 providers including exclusive content from major studios such as Paramount, Dreamworks Animation and Universal with Warner Brothers supplying both HD DVD and BD. The lower cost of development for HD DVD is important in that it is more affordable and flexible for authoring and replication. For this reason most European producers are going with HD DVD or both, but very few are exclusive to BD. Has the availability of Combo-Drives made a difference? Right now 90% of consumers do not know the existence of HD DVD or BD. For the other 10% the combo-drive may be a solution, but it is still 1000 Euros or more. We welcome the combo drive to the market because companies like LG and Samsung who were exclusive backers of the BD format now release combo players. How important is it to make HD DVD Drives available on laptops? We have a line of laptops called QOSMIO with two models including integrated HD DVD drives. By the end of 2008, probably 100% of our lines will have HD DVD drives. The growth of HD DVD will be faster in PC market than the consumer market. 60% of HD drives today go into the PC market and the first notebook with a HD DVD drive will be on the market in a few months time. How important has Microsoft’s commitment to the HD DVD format been? The most important contribution has been the technology that Microsoft developed for HD DVD, like VC1 encoding. This HD codec is very high performing. Then there is HDI, the interactivity language of HD DVD. It works very well with advanced interactive menus, picture in picture, and management of the persistent memory. It is one of our key advantages over BD who are using BD Java, which is not market ready yet. Then there is the external drive that can be connected to the X Box to play back HD DVD movies, but we believe it will be standalone players that drive the market as with DVD. Do you think that one HD disc format will prevail? I believe there could be two standards but that if one format should win of course it will be ours! We believe that we have the best, most affordable and complete technology. It is not true that people are not buying because of the dual formats. Should the outcome be that both formats co-exist, it would be normal. Most markets do not have one standard technology; it just seems to be a big issue for the press. The issue for the consumers is price and it is the consumers who are benefiting from the competition. The price of players are dropping quickly and there are more titles faster. Hall 2.1 Stand 216 & 217 Hall 21a Stand 101 IFA International • Tuesday, 4 th September 2007 7
