Scott Birnbaum, vice president of the LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) Business at Samsung Semiconductor, Inc., discusses the state of television displays and some of the near and longer-term developments that will make them more useful and ubiquitous. Birnbaum suggests that almost 1/3 of the homes in U.S. are expected to have 3D in their homes by 2014. Some of the first commercial 3DTV applications could be digital signage, where the advertisement jumps out of the screen. He also talks about the “Magic Window” or the use of visible light communications to provide an interactive path between the content on the display and other devices in the home. Lastly, he paints of an interesting picture of augmented reality using transparent LCD screens.
Note: This was video was filmed at the Parks Connections 2010 Conference in Santa Clara, CA.
So what’s new on Vudu… since our 2008 review.
Well… it’s one more step closer to better television over the Web. Vudu now has Network and Studio TV episodes for purchase and download, plus it now has Vudu Labs which consists of YouTube videos, On Demand TV, Flickr, Picasa, and a couple of on-line games.
Finding and watching YouTube Videos is pretty straight forward with browsing, search (Viodi for example), plus the interface has featured video’s, most viewed, top rated, and your viewing history… like past views of your favorite recipe perhaps.
I’m not sure about watching short form YouTube video’s on television… it’s slightly too much interaction for me to relax and be a couch potato, but the TV episodes are great for catching up and I’m anxious to see more of it – as I’m sure there will be… over time.
As before, the search features are excellent, and of course, it helps to have a fast Internet connection. See my Vudu review for 2008.
Voice narration isn’t necessary to make the point of this two minute video as it notes the progression of IP in telecom and the progression of Video and TV over the Net. IP displaced ATM in an industry that would have said "no way" ten years ago. And now, Video and Television over the Net have progressed to a point where few are questioning or doubting, but many are jumping on the band wagon to provide products and service.
IPTV took a bit of a hit in December 2008 when SES announced it was backing out. Yet, at that same time, Vudu announced the addition of Web to TV episodes to it’s service. LG announced a box for Netflix movies delivered over the Net to the television, and then announced a TV that didn’t need a box. Roku and VuNow also have a box for video to the TV while XBox, Playstation, and Wi already do Internet video on the TV, and then Ninetendo announced an Internet channel that struck fear in the Japanese TV industry.
Even before these Internet to TV boxes came along, there was writing on the wall with the aggregation of network, studio, and film content. ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Comedy Central, Disney, and many others have been streaming programs over the net for quite some time. It was a logical progression for companies like Hulu, Boxee, and even TV Guide to aggregate.
The missing link for television video on the net, and the aggregation of that content, for watching on the TV, was a box. Today there are many with many more likely to show up in 2009. My conclusion in the video above is that operators need to learn more about these activities by watching, uploading video content and experimenting, learning to create video playlists, and embedding customized players on a website. The tools for learning are free – YouTube, BlipTV, Revver, Metacafe, Facebook, and the many others – so it seems very logical that using these, and observing will help realize how to partner in these ventures.
ViodiTV has been posting video’s for the past 6 years and learned many things by expermenting. We’ve learned what’s good and bad about various services, about generating ad revenue through new avenues, about creating playlists for linear on demand viewing, and customizing players to embed on a website. We’ve learned why CDN’s are important for video, and about many start-ups and stealths at various conference that focus on video over the net.
To use an abstract analogy I’d conclude with the phrase… In 2008 "Wii" got "Fit" on TV; In 2009 TV is getting Fit for Us. I also want to point out that the music in this video is Creative Commons License 
downloaded from ccMixter.org. "Pulsing Piano Bit for Goodby December" by Kaer Trouz.
Ben Mendelson, President of the Interactive Television Alliance, provides highlights from their press breakfast at NAB 2008. He speaks of some of the direct video to consumer plays, as well the OCAP efforts of cable television operators.
