Another dimension

[khurramdar]

Another dimension
by John Parnell

HD looks set to take hold in the Middle East in 2010, but with 3D networks being announced last month in other markets, should the region try to play catch-up or consolidate its HD offerings? Digital Broadcast reports.

Last month Avatar cemented its box office success by becoming the biggest selling movie of all time overtaking Titanic’s 12-year record of US $1.242bn.

The opportunity to spread the 3D message against the big, bold, blue backdrop of Avatar has proven impossible for others to resist. The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last month was dominated by a raft of 3D stories and innovations that triggered a mass of mainstream press coverage discussing 3D TV and its seemingly imminent arrival.

Pay TV operator Sky in the UK and a consortium consisting of Sony, Discovery Communications and IMAX in the US both declared plans for 3D services this year, although other sectors of the industry are far more non-committal to the format and are quick to highlight the numerous challenges that lie in its path.

Meanwhile in the Middle East, it appears that HD services are finally finding traction with the recently re-branded Orbit Showtime Network (OSN) expanding its HD channel offering and the promise of more HD channels in the region from several other operators including Al Jazeera, Rotana and Abu Dhabi Media Company.

If HD infrastructure investment is about to see a serious spike, you could be forgiven for glancing at the 3D developments in other markets and wondering whether full-HD is still an adequate level for broadcast facilities to attain when looking to complete an upgrade.

Should the Middle East jump on the 3D bandwagon and start investing now, is the seemingly endless transition now advanced enough to allow this next phase of development and ultimately, do consumers really want 3D TV or are they simply blinded by the Avatar effect?

This month, Discovery HD launches on OSN. Discovery has been at the forefront of HD broadcasting for several years, says Caleb Weinstein, senior vice president and general manager of Emerging Markets, Discovery Networks EMEA.

“This was a huge innovation that our founder and chairman John Hendricks led with the introduction of Discovery HD Theatre in the US back in 2002,” says Weinstein. “He captured what HD is about for consumers and the Discovery brand; delivering quality programming and bringing audiences something that is new and amazing.

“There is a different HD culture at Discovery that I saw for myself when I joined last year. We don’t talk about whether our programming is in HD, we talk about whether it was shot in Gold, Silver or Bronze standard HD. We have a more advanced perspective than the rest of the industry out there,” claims Weinstein.

Discovery has moved on from its early forays into HD broadcasting offering a number of its other branded channels in HD in other markets. However, Weinstein does not believe the Middle East is quite at this stage yet.

“This is certainly the next step but it will be driven by market demand. Right now, we have to meet the needs of our distributors. Typically the main brands such as the Discovery HD showcase channel come first. These are channels that the operators can launch their HD platforms from. This is what OSN is looking to do in the Middle East and what MultiChoice South Africa did late last year,” says Weinstein, adding that the early days of HD deployment also fulfil an important role in demonstrating the capabilities of HD to consumers and offer encouragement to subscribe to the services.

“The development of the Discovery HD Showcase was driven by consumer interest. We also have to look at what the distributors are offering. For us, it is consumer first with everything that we do and what we were seeing was that consumers wanted something to demonstrate the power of HD in a new and distinct way,” claims Weinstein.

Discovery Network’s parent company may have announced its move to develop a 24/7 3D TV network in the US, but is there a substantial market for 3D broadcasting outside the United States?

“Absolutely. We’re currently evaluating the potential of 3D globally. The CES announcement created a lot of interest in 3D and we’re now in the process of gauging this interest around the world and working out how best to serve it for our distributors.

“In the same way that we innovated in the HD arena, Discovery is really looking to innovate 3D TV in the same way. We are, and have always been, a leader in HD and we feel that our programming lends itself very well to 3D so we will be able to capture the power of the 3D experience for consumers,” claims Weinstein.

With HD services still in the early stages of development in the Middle East, some may argue that broadcasters should be thinking about 3D now. But with the technology relying heavily on an established, underlying HD infrastructure (for consumers and broadcasters alike) it may not be wise or indeed possible to make the move from SD to 3D without all the stages in between.

“I think HD is the natural step in the evolution,” says Weinstein. “It is hard to buy a TV today that is not HD enabled and we’re not at the same level of penetration for 3D. This means there is still a lot of value to be had for HD platforms. So, although we are in the first stages of 3D TV and it is very exciting, HD is here now, its very powerful and consumers are demanding it. We are meeting that demand now and we hope to do the same for 3D. Although it is important to note we are still at an early stage.”

The case for 3D is undeniably strong but this cannot overrule the realities on the ground in the Middle East.

“The Middle East should concentrate on HD. I don’t see any possibility of 3D coming to the region inside the next three years,” says Manaf Ahammed, director of operations at Taj TV.

“People have already invested in LCD TVs. At the moment to get a full HD-enabled screen you have to pay at least US $1000 and what do the public get for that? There aren’t enough HD channels here and Blu-ray discs are very expensive, so there are very few options facilitating HD content,” he adds.

With talk of HD infrastructure and production stretching back for several years (The Dubai World Cup horse racing event was filmed in HD way back in 2004), why has it taken until 2010 for a meaningful number of HD channels to aggregate? Ahammed suggests it is purely an issue of economics.

“I feel the broadcasters have been calculating the revenue they will get from HD and how quickly they are going to get a return on their investment. They need to figure out how much they can recoup from offering an HD channel and what adjustments it may need for the subscription fee,” says Ahammed. “If the public are not interested in paying extra for an HD signal, the broadcasters will wait. Once that figure comes to a significant level, and the operators see some serious revenue to be had, then the transition will happen very quickly.”

Ahammed believes that this switch is likely to be limited to pay TV platforms, with cable based services able to offer superior quality. FTA operators are also unlikely to recoup the cost of HD broadcasting from ad sources alone.

“There is also the issue of receivers. Pay TV companies can provide their customers with HD enabled set top boxes (STB). A FTA channel can only broadcast to the HD subscribers plus those FTA viewers who have purchased HD STBs themselves,” says Ahammed.

“Where the general public is concerned, setting aside those who are more tech-savvy, HD simply means a better picture, that’s all. They don’t think about the need for bandwidth, they are not aware of the need for a different STB. The costs add up, the HD screen itself, the new STB, the monthly subscription fee… Consumers and broadcasters are of the same mindset with HD, until they see some value in it they won’t make the leap.”

Ahammed also paints a realistic picture of 3D’s short-term prospects in the Middle East.

“The problem is that 3D is still in the process of evolution. It is not convenient to watch a 3D TV at the moment because of the glasses. Philips produced a 3D display that did not require glasses but it was dependant on you sitting at a specific position from the screen. The technology is not perfected yet. It would be wiser to wait until a finished, convenient version of 3D TV is developed before we pursue it and in the meantime we can go ahead and work on developing HD.”

The problems with 3D TV are threefold; cost, content and technology.

According to Ahammed, the cost of the Philips screen was a staggering $14,000 â€" price that is almost totally prohibitive.

There is also one crucial difference between HD and 3D content.

“There is a legacy issue with 3D material. For example, you can take an old movie and convert it to HD, but 3D conversion is not as successful. Although 3D effects can be created from 2D content, to get real 3D it has to be filmed that way. Converted content is far inferior.”

For this reason, 3D movies and entertainment channels will be unable to rely on existing content.

Given this harsh reality, Ahammed suggests live events will be key for 3D.

“When you add it all up there are issues with cost, content and technology. ESPN will show the World Cup in 3D and I have no doubts it will be amazing,” says Ahammed. “But it doesn’t mean everything has to be 3D from now on. Cinemas have enjoyed a lot of success with 3D films but people are still flocking to see movies in 2D.”