Serious issues on TV market

Samsung Electronics reduced TV production capacity globally by 10 million units in the first half of 2015 and is expected to decrease by another 10 million units in the second half of the year for a total of 42 million units, down from 62.99 million in 2014.

LG Electronics' TV production capacity meanwhile dropped 5.6% on year in the first half of 2015 to 17.49 million, with only 12.09 million TVs actually produced to represent a 19% on-year decline.

Korea vendors' shipment share rose to 61% from 54%, with shipment volume growing 80% sequentially. Samsung Display enjoyed the highest sequential growth at 105% with 3.3 million shipment volume, enlarging its gap with LG Display and becoming the world's number one panel vendor for 4K LCD TVs. The majority of Samsung's shipped panels were 55- and 48-inch, together accounting for 70% of its total shipments, followed by 40-inch panels at 20%.

I wasn't condemning anyone for buying new stuff. I just see a lot of signs that people tend to be pretty satisfied with their existing gear and the new features don't drive new purchases as they used to. Just looking at your figures, it appears that even though Samsung is gaining market share, its actual production is decreasing. If these are true then others like LG must really be scaling back.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., announced today that its 2015 SUHD and UHD TVs will be the first on the market capable of supporting the new HDMI 2.0a specification. Samsung will issue a firmware update that will enable its 2015 SUHD and UHD TVs to display a broader library of High Dynamic Range (HDR) content now from external devices. HDR delivers a much higher level of contrast between light and dark to produce an image that is more realistic and closer to what the content creator imagined. The firmware update is available now at no additional cost to owners of 2015 Samsung SUHD and UHD TV’s.

Continue of scam. On LCD it can means only making backlight extreme and adding some "good looking" filters killing near blacks.

Samsung Display has reportedly succeeded in developing a new type of RGBW Ultra HD (4K) TV panel technology it refers to as Green 2 that will go into mass production in 2016, according to a report from Korea-based Digital Daily.

The technology will be used in new high-end TVs sized 55- and 65-inch set to be released in 2016, the report said. Samsung however will continue to use its Green 1 technology on smaller-size 4K TVs such as 40- and 48-inch units since costs are cheaper due to a simplified production process that leaves out photoresist for whites used in the RGBW structure.

Consequence of non existing HDR :-) Will also affect usage of them as monitors.

Anyone besides me find it unusual that the video on how to make a video has no video?

Vimeo is getting ready to go 4K: The IAC-owned video platform started to roll out adaptive bitrate streaming across its service Thursday, which will allow it to stream videos with a resolution of up to 4K video to its viewers. “We launched 4K upload support for PRO members last year, and now, as we start to see more widespread adoption of 4K-enabled screens in the market, we’re excited to roll out adaptive streaming across Vimeo,” said Vimeo CEO Andrew Pile.

TV reviewers -- folks like me who try to help you decide what's actually worth buying -- look at HDR as a potentially more important improvement than 3D or 4K. Its benefits can be more visible than 4K and more broadly appealing than 3D.

And guys like me think that promoting HDR on 99% of current TVs is close to criminal behavior (contrary to 3D and 4K).

ULTRA HD PREMIUM

Enjoying a premium, full-featured Ultra High Definition in-home experience has been simplified for consumers as the UHD Alliance (UHDA), the inter-industry group charged with fostering the Ultra HD ecosystem and promoting the benefits of Ultra HD entertainment technology, today unveiled a consumer-facing logo to identify devices, content and services capable of delivering a premium experience to an exploding Ultra HD market that is expected to grow eightfold by 2019. The UHDA also announced the start of licensing of its ULTRA HD PREMIUM logo.

Developed through the collaborative efforts of leading film studios, consumer electronics manufacturers, content distributors and technology companies, the Ultra HD Premium specifications reflect collective expertise from across the Ultra HD ecosystem, as well as significant input gleaned from experiential consumer testing.

The UHDA’s ULTRA HD PREMIUM logo is reserved for products and services that comply with performance metrics for resolution, high dynamic range (HDR), peak luminance, black levels and wide color gamut among others. The specifications also make recommendations for immersive audio and other features. These advances in resolution, contrast, brightness, color and audio will enable certified displays and content to replicate the richness of life’s sights and sounds and allow in-home viewers to more fully and accurately experience the content creator’s vision.

“The diverse group of UHDA companies agreed that to realize the full potential of Ultra HD the specs need to go beyond resolution and address enhancements like HDR, expanded color and ultimately even immersive audio. Consumer testing confirmed this,” said UHD Alliance President Hanno Basse. “The criteria established by this broad cross section of the Ultra HD ecosystem enables the delivery of a revolutionary in-home experience, and the ULTRA HD PREMIUM logo gives consumers a single, identifying mark to seek out so they can purchase with confidence.”

To ensure products bearing the ULTRA HD PREMIUM logo are certified and conform to the organization’s specifications, the UHDA has designated multiple, independent centers around the globe to handle testing. Companies throughout the ecosystem will work directly with these centers to have their products tested and certified.

The UHDA’s new ULTRA HD PREMIUM specifications cover multiple display technologies and reference established industry standards and recommended practices from the Consumer Technology Association, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, the International Telecommunications Union and others.

“Ever-rising consumer adoption of Ultra HD TV sets will fuel strong growth for the entire Ultra HD ecosystem over the next few years,” noted Paul Erickson, senior analyst at IHS Technology. “Annual worldwide shipments of Ultra HD TVs are expected to grow nearly 719% over the next several years according to IHS’ forecasts, from nearly 12 million in 2014 to nearly 96 million in 2019, with over 300 million in use by the end of 2019. For the many mainstream consumers looking to make sense of the various terminologies, acronyms and feature descriptions at retail, standardization efforts such as the UHDA’s “ULTRA HD PREMIUM” can reduce consumer confusion and help ensure consistency of both buyer expectations and the delivery of the end experience - benefiting not only consumers, but also the industry as a whole.”

Founded in January, 2015, the UHDA, has grown to more than 35 companies in two membership categories - Board and Contributor. In 2016, the UHDA will add a third member category, Adopter, for those who wish to license the Ultra HD Premium specifications. Collectively, the UHDA member companies will continue to lead the charge into this new era of home entertainment through advances in resolution, brightness, contrast, dynamic range, color and audio.

Intel and Warner Bros. are still very much embroiled in a war on companies stripping copyright protection from 4K and Blu-ray videos. Hardware seller Ace Deal has agreed to pay the two industry giants $5.2 million to settle a lawsuit over alleged violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Supposedly, Ace Deal knowingly aided in piracy by selling devices that remove HDCP anti-copying measures

It is time for another 100 companies to sell such stuff.