Audio News for May 16, 2008

High Expectations for DTV – Media research firm In-Stat/MDR has released a research paper titled “Digital TV Sets: Expect Great Things.” They cite the results of the FCC mandate to integrate digital tunes in the U.S., more terrestrial broadcasters in Europe going digital, and the price difference between HD and analog sets coming down. Asia will be the largest market for DTV sets, and the report forecasts DTV shipments for this year will reach 93 million units.  They identify two important trends in the TV set market: CRTs being replaced by flat panels in both direct view and RPTV form, and digital tuners being integrated alongside analog tuners in North America, Europe and Japan. It is felt that this favorable situation will encourage more PC manufacturers to enter the TV market. The survey found that Asia may be less likely to convert completely to digital, but DTV monitors are selling well in countries like China without digital terrestrial broadcasting. The addition of connectivity with HDMI, DVI or 1394 ports on sets in the North American and Asian markets was mentioned.

Report on Digital Satellite Set-Top Boxes – In-Stat/MDR also has a new survey of the pay direct-to-home (DTH) industry around the world. They find that maturing markets such as North America and Western Europe have decaying rates whereas the emerging markets in Eastern Europe and Asia are seeing high growth. There are relatively few pay-TV platforms in North America and Western Europe, but in some countries such as Romania there are five different DTH providers. In the mature markets the main growth will come from premium services such as HD and adding a DVR/PVR.  The IP set-top box market has almost doubled due to a large jump in subscribers to telco TV last year. The cost of set-top boxes is declining each year and by 2010 will be less than $50. Telcos are offering more services to gain subscribers, such as digital tuners, HD and DVR.

Reference Recordings’ HRx Discs – Audiophile label Reference Recordings, who pioneered the enhanced CD codec of HDCD (High Definition Compatible Digital), have launched a new series of hi-res stereo DVD-R data discs they call HRx. The discs contain hi-res audio WAV files which are exact bit-for-bit copies of the label’s master recordings.  They now record everything at 176.4 kHz/24 bits with HDCD and that is what the WAV audio files on the DVD-R will be, so if your computer playback gear is top flight, the audio files should sound exactly like the masters. Reference Recordings feels that computer music playback is the new frontier and they applaud audiophiles who are pioneering in it. Both PCs and Macs will play WAV files but they need software to manage the music playback and not all media players and sound cards handle 176.4 kHz, so they may have to be replaced. (The current maximum resolution for two-channel PCM is 192 kHz.) Only selected titles from the Reference Recordings catalog will be offered in the individually-burned HRx discs, which will retail for $45.