Will consumers buy DTV today? No, but they will buy........................
usatoday.com
01/09/98- Updated 11:45 AM ET
Will consumers accept digital TV?
LAS VEGAS - There's no question that manufacturers and retailers are excited about digital television. And they think consumers also will be enchanted by its sharper pictures, better sound and the promise of new forms of programming that haven't even been invented.
But despite the clear superiority of the new technology, at least one big question remained at the Consumer Electronics Show, where the first digital sets debuted Thursday.
How quickly will large numbers of consumers be willing to pay hefty premiums to watch digital broadcasts?
''Not yet - not at these prices,'' said Phil Kaplan, a buyer for Wolf Camera and Video in Atlanta. ''Not when you read articles talking about prices of $10,000.''
Kaplan was among the scores of people who crowded into the RCA booth on the show floor to watch demonstrations of digital television, the hottest product at this year's CES. Most major manufacturers displayed sets - or prototypes of sets - they hope to begin selling this fall when digital broadcasting will start in the largest U.S. television markets.
But he and other attendees, impressed by the greater realism digital television provides, agreed that DTV probably would be like other high-tech consumer products - snapped up first by a few videophiles and gradually finding its way into homes as prices decline.
''I think it's clearly the big thing for the future,'' said Maria Kyriakos, who sells televisions at Montgomery Ward's in Las Vegas. ''Eventually, most people will have this.''
The companies that plan to make and sell digital TV's know that U.S. consumers aren't about to rush out en masse and replace their current sets. But they can count on most eventually doing so; the Federal Communications Commission is requiring broadcasters to switch to digital transmissions by the year 2006.
Consumers will have to buy new DTVs or set-top boxes allowing them to see digital programming on their current sets.
By then, prices are expected to fall significantly, but anyone intent on owning the latest and coolest in video as soon as it hits the market can count on sticker shock.
The RCA 61-inch, rear-projection digital set being demonstrated at the show is expected to retail for about $7,000, according to Thomson Consumer Electronics, which owns the RCA brand. Most other companies, however, aren't saying how much they expect their sets will cost.
Non-projection sets should be less costly. Still, DTV sets are expected to cost at least $2,000 more than current televisions, said Bruce Allan, general manager of the broadcast division of Harris Corp., a leading maker of digital TV transmission equipment.
He estimated that the premium would drop to $500-$700 in about five years and to $300 within 10 years. Meanwhile, many consumers are expected to buy converter boxes - expected to cost several hundred dollars - that in addition to displaying digital programming on older sets, would offer some improvement in picture and sound.
While many manufacturers are ready to produce DTV sets as soon as broadcasters start transmitting digital signals, the companies that would sell them are gauging the public's response.
''Retailers at this point seem to be interested in putting these pictures out in front of the public and getting their reaction to them,'' said Jeff Gove, general manager of consumer electronics for Panasonic.
But while the better picture and sound are DTV's obvious attractions, it has another advantage that could prove to be the big selling point to consumers. Digital television can offer a greater volume and variety of programming over the airwaves than is currently possible.
Current TV programs are broadcast by varying wavelengths of energy. Digital broadcasts, however, send pictures in the computer language of ones and zeros. That allows broadcasters to squeeze more video and data into existing channel space.
That in turn gives them - and viewers - options, ranging from additional standard programming to music, stock quotes or other specialized services, to Internet access. And the set itself could be interactive, said Richard Doherty, director of Invisioneering Group, a market research firm.
Montgomery Ward's Kyriakos agreed that such special features would help make DTV popular with consumers.
''They can have Internet on their TV. They can do a lot more than just sit and watch,'' she said.
By The Associated Press |
