DisplaySearch Announces Agenda For 4th Annual HDTV Conference

DisplaySearch, the worldwide leader in display market research and consulting and part of The NPD Group, today announced the agenda for its 4th annual HDTV Conference. This year's event, entitled "The Future of Television," will take place on August 15-16 and return to The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. DisplaySearch's HDTV Conference, which was broadcast on HDNet in 2005, brings together industry leaders and insights from the entire TV industry supply chain covering TV and cable networks, movie studios, content developers, satellite and cable providers, retailers, set top box manufacturers, TV brands, TV panel and imager manufacturers, display electronics suppliers, game developers, industry/financial analysts and more. This event is highly regarded due to the broad mix of attendees and speakers and value of the data and insight which is sure to benefit from The NPD Group's acquisition of DisplaySearch. In 2005: -- 100% of attendees indicated they had a positive experience with 80% indicating their overall experience was Excellent or Very Good. -- 98% found the content to be Excellent or Very Good. -- 94% liked the real-time audience polling system, creating a consensus or revealing uncertainty on a wide range of key issues facing the TV industry. -- 92% of the attendees indicated that knowledge from the event was actionable, supporting the efforts of their respective organizations. As shown at http://www.displaysearch.com/hdtvconference/agenda.html, this year's agenda will cover the following topics: -- HD Content Outlook - The View from Movie Studios, Networks and Game Developers This session will address the plans of movie studios, broadcast/cable/satellite networks and game developers to expand their HD offerings. It will examine the outlook for HD content by native format. In addition, it will discuss the impact of alternative HD delivery models and how to maximize HD broadcast quality. -- Distributing HD Content - New Models, Markets, Challenges and Opportunities This session will examine the opportunities and challenges associated with distributing HD content via conventional (OTA, cable and satellite) and alternative distribution models such as IPTV, iTunes, DivX, BitTorrent, etc. What advances are coming? How can quality be improved? -- Lessons from Retail - View from National, Regional, Online and Warehouse Club Channels Leading retailers from all channels will discuss how they are taking the confusion out of the HDTV shopping experience and why they are well positioned to benefit from the growth in HDTV sales. Other discussion topics include their outlook for 1080p TVs, high definition DVD players and flat panel vs. projection. Also under discussion are how they position LCDs vs. PDPs and whether they intend to build awareness of the analog cut-off. -- Outlook for High Definition DVD Players - What Does the Adoption Curve Look Like? Leading DVD manufacturers will discuss the outlook for the HD-DVD/Blu-ray DVD player market covering products, configurations, price points, shipment targets, penetration and market sizing. -- The Digital Home - The Future of Home Networking, Media Centers and the Set Top Box This session will discuss the future of the digital home and home networking. Is home networking a near term reality? Are media center PCs the right solution? What happens to the set top box? Which solutions will allow for remote access? Can this become plug and play? -- TV Brand Keynote - TV Market/Technology Outlook Senior executives from the leading TV manufacturers will discuss their HDTV technology, product, sales and marketing strategies. Also under discussion is how they are positioning the different TV technologies and the outlook for 1080p TVs. -- Flat Panel TVs - Will They Dominate All Categories? This session will examine whether the future of the TV is flat. Can LCD and PDP TVs dominate all categories? Can they coexist? Is one better than another or does it depend on the application? Where are LCDs and PDPs improving? How much capacity is being added? Where are costs and prices going? -- Rear Projection TV Outlook Will the arrival of LED and laser based light sources boost the outlook for MD RPTVs? While lifetimes will increase, how will performance improve and will costs fall? Is it sufficient to offset the flat panel migration to larger sizes? How fast is the 1080p transition happening in MD RPTVs? -- Display Electronics - Maximizing Performance While Cutting Costs This session will discuss the evolution of display electronics, likely configurations for mainstream and high-end applications and how display electronics suppliers are improving performance while cutting costs. -- Mobile TV - How Prevalent Will It Become? Digital broadcasting will enable mobile TV to become the next wireless "killer app", driving revenues and device sales and ushering in a wide range of products and services. Mobile TV will have at least 3 different transmission standards and a host of delivery systems and devices. The session will address the wireless technology (terrestrial and satellite), carrier strategies, adoption rates and experience of other countries to date. -- Improving the HDTV Viewing Experience - What Other Advances Are Coming? This session will examine other display and non-display developments not yet on the market which will improve the HDTV viewing experience. Confirmed presenters already include executives from Amazon, Analog Devices, Bit Router, Bjorns, Genesis Microchip, Intel, Ken Cranes, Luminus Devices, Philips, Portrait Displays and Syntax-Brillian. Sponsors already include Analog Devices, Bit Router, Genesis Microchip and Syntax-Brillian. HDTV Magazine is the first Media Sponsor with more to be announced soon. Registration is now open and is currently priced at $1395 for DisplaySearch clients and $1495 for non-clients. Register now and save $200. To register, please visit http://ww.displaysearch.com/hdtvconference/register.htm For more information about DisplaySearch's 4th Annual HDTV Conference, please visit http://www.displaysearch.com/hdtvconference or contact Arie Braun at 512-459-3126, x108 or arie@displaysearch.com About DisplaySearch DisplaySearch, an NPD Group company, has a core team of 34 employees located in North America and Asia who produce a valued suite of display-related market forecasts, technology assessments, surveys, studies and analyses. The company also organizes influential events worldwide. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, DisplaySearch has regional operations in Chicago, Hong Kong, Houston, Kyoto, San Diego, San Jose, Seoul, Shenzhen, Taipei and Tokyo, and the company is on the web at http://www.displaysearch.com. About The NPD Group Inc. Since 1967, The NPD Group has provided reliable and comprehensive consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today more than 1,400 manufacturers and retailers rely on NPD to help them better understand their customers, product categories, distribution channels and competition in order to help guide their business. Information from The NPD Group is available for the following major vertical sectors: apparel, appliances, automotive, beauty, consumer electronics, food and beverage, foodservice, footwear, home improvement, housewares, imaging, information technology, music, software, travel, toys, video games, and wireless. For more information, visit http://www.npd.com.