Abstract
This is the third Screen Digest report to focus on the roll-out of
high-definition across the audiovisual industries, and focuses on the set-top
box business and the market for HD video decoding chips. With the number of
HD-ready households in the 17 top western European markets projected to reach
82m by 2010, Screen Digest forecasts a significant market for HD set-top boxes
for satellite, cable, IPTV and terrestrial pay-TV platforms.
While early HD launches, particularly in the US, used MPEG-2 video
compression, almost all new HD launches are now using the more efficient
MPEG-4 Advanced Video Codec (AVC) encoding. This has created a significant new
market for MPEG-4 decoding chipsets and MPEG-4 set-top boxes.
The report profiles all of the major players in the industry, including
set-top box makers, AVC chipset suppliers and silicon intellectual property
providers. It values the European market for AVC silicon and set-top boxes
with forecasts to 2010, based on Screen Digest' s HDTV models. The report also
maps all current deployments of HD set-top boxes by TV operator/platform,
set-top box provider, set-top box models and chipsets used.
Key findings:
- HD ready households in the top 17 European markets reaching 82m by 2010
- Of these, 17m will be ' HD watching' -- i.e. requiring an HDTV set-top box
to receive hi-def content
- HD pay TV platforms had been launched in 11 European countries by the end
of 2006, with many more expected in 2007
- While early HDTV launches in the US have used mostly MPEG-2 video
compression, the vast majority of HD services in the rest of the world are
using more efficient MPEG-4 encoding, specifically the Advanced Video Codec
(AVC)
- After a slow start, AVC-decoding chipsets became readily available in the
second half of 2006 from manufacturers including Broadcom, Conexant, Sigma
Designs, STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments
- AVC HD set-top boxes have been deployed by a number of manufacturers
including ADB, Amstrad, EchoStar, Humax, LG, Netgem, Pace, Philips, Sagem,
Scientific Atlanta and Thomson
- AVC chipsets are also needed in the much larger market for HD DVD players,
Blu-ray Disc players and hi-def games consoles
- The AVC-chipset market is fast-developing: while many early chipset
designs used an existing MPEG-2 chip with an AVC decoder added, single-chip
designs are now emerging, with dual-decoding channels.
- Improved designs and manufacturing experience is increasing yields and
reducing costs
- Support for home networking and secure transfer of HD content to portable
devices is already being supported by chipset and set-top box makers, though
has not been deployed by pay TV operators
- Screen Digest forecasts a European market for 8m AVC set-top boxes by
2010, worth nearly € 700m
- The European market for AVC chipsets, including those used in disc players
and games consoles, is projected to be worth € 344m in 2010
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