3D, connected TV, LED backlighting and design covered at upcoming DisplaySearch TV ecosystem conference

SANTA CLARA, USA: DisplaySearch has announced the preliminary agenda for its upcoming TV Ecosystems Conference: Managing the Innovation Cycle, taking place on Wednesday, August 18, 2010 in San Jose, California.

"Product transitions happen every year in the TV business, but new technologies are being introduced and rushed to broad market acceptance at an increasing pace. This is done so that manufacturers and retailers can offset low- to no-margin commodity sales with more richly featured mid- to high-end products,” noted Paul Gagnon, Director of North America TV Market Research at DisplaySearch.

Gagnon added: “Despite this, there is some concern about whether consumers are ready to step up after several recession-plagued years. This year’s TV Ecosystem Conference will provide a forum for attendees to learn firsthand the plans and strategies in the TV supply chain for 2010 and beyond.”

Conference Sessions:
Setting the Stage: TV Market Overview and Innovation
As the TV industry moves into 2010 and leaves recession-plagued 2009 behind, innovation and optimism abound. What is the outlook for the TV market in 2010 and what can the industry expect in terms of product innovation and consumer response? The opening session of the day will bring views from various members of the supply chain on the state of the TV business and what they expect from the rapidly changing TV innovation cycle going forward.

3D TVs
3D TVs are hot. But are expectations overblown? The 3D TV session will analyze the various strategies for bringing 3D TV to market, successfully and profitably. Not only does the hardware have to work well out of the gate for an enjoyable consumer experience, but the surrounding 3D ecosystem has to mature at a similar rate, including content, sources, distribution and accessories.

LED Backlights and TV Design
The trend towards LED backlights in LCD TVs was design initiated movement towards making thin flat panel TVs even thinner, and improving the eco-friendliness at the same time, along with a bit of a boost in performance. Now the trend has become a full blown surge away from CCFL technology to slim, elegant LED backlights and manufacturers have bet big that consumers will rush to adopt, even at high premiums.

But the supply chain for LED backlights has had trouble keeping pace, and there are signals that consumers are still a little uneasy about spending for big premiums just yet. We’ll go over ways manufacturers and supply chain partners are approaching the LED backlight market and look for other innovations in TV design that could be the next big trend.

The Connected TV
Connected TVs are an intriguing TV innovation, one that could revolutionize the way consumers acquire and view content from an increasing variety of sources. Initially, Internet connected TVs were meant to display simple web-derived information, but have evolved into very capable alternative content delivery platforms for everything from basic short-form content like YouTube to feature length 1080p movies from Netflix.

The recent announcement that Hulu Plus would be available on Internet-connected TVs means some consumers could cut the cable or satellite set top box cord altogether.

But, will it work and how will pay TV service providers react? What about the recent acquisition of connected TV providers by retailers? How will the business model look?

We’ll try to look at all the possibilities and potential hurdles facing the connected TV movement.