For an informed view on connected entertainment in the UK & Ireland, visit Cue Entertainment
Two big
shows take place in September each year and they usually provide an accurate
indication of what will drive the home entertainment industry over the next
year. The first is IFA in Berlin, the equivalent of the consumer electronics
show (CES) in the US, and the second is IBC in Amsterdam, the European
counterpart to NAB, which covers almost the entire entertainment supply chain
from cameras and sound systems in the studio to content delivery to the home.
Connected
television was the headline maker at both events this year, the vanguard of a
market that has already outpaced 3D in both volume and financial terms. In its
wake comes a stream of “companion devices” — smartphones and tablets that
incorporate the technology to synchronise with the main TV and even “throw”
video from one screen to another.
Content
delivered to the main screen in the home is licensed, regulated and frequently
advertising-supported. Airtime is a relatively scarce resource, particularly
within the first screening of a feature film, an important sporting event or
other premium content and it is priced accordingly.
The advent
of the companion screen presents content owners and rights holders with a
disruptive challenge, since it is now possible to detect and synchronise with
the content on the main screen without payment or authorisation. The spectre of
inappropriate advertising or dubious extras appearing on the companion screens
should worry rights owners and programme makers alike. When thousands of pounds
have changed hands for the rights to a particular slot, an advertiser expects
the full attention of the viewing audience. Yet the unregulated companion
screens could display a competing brand message or divert the viewer to a
discounter rather than the advertised store, with the advantage of immediate
online purchase.
It is not
only broadcast content that runs the risk of the companion screens piggybacking
on copyrighted content. The technology to detect and synchronise with DVD and
Blu-ray discs or even music tracks played on the radio was on display at IBC.
There is little to prevent a simple app in an iPad from synchronising to the
content, whenever and wherever it is heard.
If the
smart device detects the “The Sound of Music”, for example, it could
automatically display advertising from the Austrian tourist board, with a
discount voucher on offer if the user clicks before the end of the song.
Salzburg is a beautiful city and many visitors go there after seeing the
musical but it is unlikely that Fox would be happy to give a free ride for a
commercial message. This is, of course, an entirely imaginary example, yet it
is hard to imagine how such synchronisation could be prevented.
There is
no physical connection between the source of the soundtrack and the device,
which simply listens to the world around it and responds to what it hears by
calling information from a database. The user may idly consider a trip to see
the von Trapp family home on hearing the song; the app provides timely
fulfilment to that wish and without legislation or control, such synchronised
links could lead the user to far less idyllic locations than Salzburg.
Parks
Associates forecasts tablet sales of more than 125 million by 2015 and consumer
electronics manufacturers already provide the links required to use them as
remote controls, this time with a range of many miles, rather than a few feet
across the living room. Users are able to programme the home network from afar,
selecting what and when to record and whether they want to view it on their
handheld or on the main screen in the house.
Inevitably,
there were bigger, brighter and better screens on display in Berlin and
Amsterdam, with many offering S3D as standard alongside impressive HDTV
performance. The demonstrations of the so-called “glasses free”
auto-stereoscopic 3D screens were the biggest disappointment, however, simply
serving to confirm that fact that satisfactory results are still many years
away.
The return
of the 4,320-line Super Hi-Vision system from NHK in Japan proved a hard act to
follow, especially when viewed on the Sharp 85-inch LCD screen. The effect was
rather like standing beside an open window, with no flicker or visible line
structure. This stunning image offered the illusion of depth with no need for
glasses. The BBC has already announced that some events at the London Olympics
will be recorded in this format.
Lesser
mortals will have to wait until at least 2015 before they can watch Super
Hi-Vision in the home, by which time IHS iSuppli predicts the shipment of 780
million connected devices per year. The forecast for 2011 is no less remarkable
at around 250 million and almost a quarter of that total is tablet devices.
The
connected TV requires just two inputs: one to receive broadcast programmes via
the aerial or satellite dish on the roof and the second, probably wireless, to
connect to the home network. Plug in, switch on and every other connected
device in and around the home becomes part of what we must learn to call the
domestic “ecosystem”. Smartphones, laptops, tablets, games consoles and maybe
even refrigerators can join the party, invisibly linking and syncing content
with each other and to the cloud beyond.
The
ecosystem is so user-friendly that there is no escape from its all-embracing
tentacles. All you need is more storage space to take your content with you —
and since telecoms operators threaten to charge per bit for mobile broadband,
that is probably the best thing you can do. However, there are snags.
When your
Blackberry tells you that you there is no more space on your media card, it is
probably because it has synchronised seamlessly with every audio track that you
ever added to iTunes. For PC owners, Windows Media Player joins in, desperate
to transfer video files to any receptive handheld device in the area. If your
mobile phone rings while on charge in another room, the connected TV will tell
you about it. No beer in the fridge? In the connected world, a case of your
favourite brew is probably already on its way, or at least has been added to
the shopping list on your Android smartphone or Apple iPad.
With the
arrival of UltraViolet later this year, up to 12 devices can coexist within an
ecosystem. However, if the screen on the fridge in your kitchen gets a liking
for culinary porn and downloads it from your digital locker in the Cloud, even
a dozen connections may not be enough — take another look at that iSuppli
forecast and its implications are clear.
Of course,
the kitchen is not on the front line in the coming fight for eyeballs, the
battleground will be around the connected living room TV. However the
synchronisation rights question is resolved, there can be little doubt that the
group gathered around the main screen in the home will keep taking their
tablets.
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