To Samsung, "vidification" means a theater experience everywhere
Samsung seems very optimistic for a CE company in these economic times, but the way we heard VP Scott Birnbaum tell it, it couldn't be in a better place to help customers "vidify" with loads of theater-experience when & where you want it hardware. Emphasizing a focus on LCDs, that means matching expected customer desires with a push to 16:9 on devices from TVs to laptops. We're not ones for slick buzzwords, but the results speak from themselves, from speedy Netflix streaming Blu-ray players, to the latest round of HDTVs with widgets (great), edge lit LED lighting (good) and 240Hz (we're not convinced yet) technology, and the outer edge of products like the Omnia HD HDMI packing celly. If Samsung's not giving the people what they want, it's certainly trying, peep the full PR after the break and see how close to the mark it is.
Consumers "Vidifying" Personal Digital Worlds for a Movie Theatre Experience
San Jose, CA – April 15, 2009: Samsung Electronics LCD Division Vice President Scott Birnbaum said movie-like video is taking the front seat for consumer personal viewing preferences, in a "vidification" of digital electronics.
Birnbaum said that the movie theater experience is traveling everywhere at lightning speed for the electronic industry, in the form of a 16:9 aspect ratio, full high definition resolution, high contrast ratios and a 120 Hz refresh rate or better. When it comes to Samsung TVs, more than 90 percent are being produced with a 16:9 aspect ratio and more than 50% with full HD resolution, as estimated by DisplaySearch, a leading display technology market research firm. A rapidly growing number also have a refresh rate of 120 or 240 Hz.
"We're in a new age where vidification, the theatre viewing experience, is what consumers want to recreate , everywhere they go – from their living rooms to their coat pockets," said Birnbaum. "Movie-like viewing displays have become the biggest trend in consumer digital buying habits of this decade. This hardware advancement is fueling today's consumer love affair with anything video from YouTube video clips to Hulu TV shows to streaming films via NetFlix over mediums like the Xbox 360 or advanced Blu-ray players," he added.
The quest for TVs to accommodate the dimensions of high definition viewing has become a viewing shift from big-screen TVs to big-screen smart phones. LCD TVs are embracing "vidification" in dramatic fashion with more than 75 percent of all 40+ inch TVs to be shipped in 2009 forecast to be 16:9 aspect ratio and full HD resolution, according to DisplaySearch.
The 1920x1080p (Full) HD resolution is fast becoming the de facto standard for screen resolution across all market segments. In addition, most dynamic contrast ratios are now over 5000:1 and a 120 Hz or better refresh rate is essentially eliminating motion blur for premium TVs.
"Adoption of 16:9 aspect ratio, full HD displays has been accelerating in the overall TV market, with nearly one-quarter of all sets sold worldwide expected to be in these formats by the end of the year" said Paul Semenza, senior vice president of DisplaySearch. .
The aspect ratio has now become the focus across all markets. Notebook screens and desktop monitors are evolving from 16:10 to 16:9 at a torrid pace. Moving to 16:9 has eliminated the appearance of black bars across the top and bottom or the sides of virtually any digital medium with a screen. This visual upgrade, coupled with next-generation notebooks with built-in Blu-ray players, is giving consumers a compelling reason to buy a new notebook.
DisplaySearch forecasts that the percentage of desktop monitors with a 16:9 aspect ratio is set to grow from 7 percent in 2008 to 54 percent in 2010. For notebooks, the transition to 16:9 screen sizes is occurring at an even faster pace, moving from 2 percent of the market in the first half of 2008 to a projected 65 percent in 2010, Display Search also reported.
Similarly, the exploding smart phone market will show a compounded annual growth rate of 34 percent for video-ready displays between 2008 and 2011, according DisplaySearch.
