Just in case you haven't been schooled enough by HD research articles of late, here comes another to toss around inside that skull of yours. Based on a forecast by Informa Telecoms & Media, around 4-percent of worldwide households (read: not just homes with HDTVs) will "actively watch HD programming" before 2009 dawns. Just to put that into perspective, only 2-percent of homes globally were tuning into HDTV at the end of 2007. According to Simon Murray, principal media analyst at the company, a "major contributing factor is that set and set-top box prices have fallen substantially in the last two years," and it should come as no surprise that HD adoption has been highest in North America. Per usual, an HD study couldn't conclude without some reference to 2012, and sure enough, Informa is expecting around 179 million worldwide abodes (16-percent, give or take) to have HD programming in less than four years.

[Image courtesy of AT&T]

Given that "only half" of US HDTV owners currently subscribe to any sort of pay-HDTV package, yet forecasts are suggesting that 100 million homes will be ponying up for said programming in just four short years, we're curious to know how long you HD junkies in the crowd have been hooked. Relatively speaking, HD content has exploded in just the past couple of years, but early adopters are apt to recall a time when just fetching a feed HD feeds was enough to make one's month year. Pretty simply -- how long have you been paying for HD content, and if you're more the OTA type, how long has your antenna been pulling in 720p / 1080i signals?

[Image courtesy of AT&T]

We'll be honest -- we US-based HDTV owners are taking advantage of our set entirely more so than those in Europe, but considering the (relative) smorgasbord of high-def options that we have here in the States, the latest data from ABI Research is quite disheartening. Reportedly, some 41-percent of American TV owners possess an HDTV, but out of those, just 56-percent subscribe to a HD programming package. Of course, we're well aware that OTA consumption is on the rise, but still, that figure is simply abysmal (though not at all shocking). The report goes on to mention that while 45-percent of respondents admitted to using pay-per-view, most did so just one time per month. Additionally, 46-percent asserted that they were "unsatisfied" with their carrier, with the primary gripes being high prices and lame customer service. Still, we're glad to see that HD recognition is on the rise here in the US, but we have a seriously long way to go before 100 million homes are signed on to high-def programming services.

[Image courtesy of AT&T]

There's no doubt that many movie lovers were waiting until the format war came to some sort of conclusion before choosing a side, and now that Blu-ray has emerged victorious, it seems as if some analysts are fairly bullish on adoption rates. According to new research from Strategy Analytics, the end of the war will "propel [BD] into 29.4 million homes worldwide by the end of 2008." Also of note, it reckons that Sony's PS3 will "drive the Blu-ray market until 2009, after which standalone players will become the dominant segment." Of course, a study couldn't come out without some mention of 2012, so you can reportedly look forward to seeing 132 million BD-equipped homes in just four years. Now, the only question is when will BD players overtake DVD?

At the end of 2007, just 13 million households worldwide were subscribed to an IPTV service. Reportedly, that number will inflate to 65 million in the year -- wait for it -- 2012. According to new data from IMS Research, IPTV consumption is expected to grow 52-percent annually from now until 2012, which should also drive shipments of IPTV set-top-boxes from 4.7 million in '06 to 21 million in '12. Interestingly enough, the research also notes that hybrid IP STBs, which "combine internet protocol features with traditional TV delivery," will also shoot up substantially, making Intel and its latest partners look awfully smart.

Nary a week after finding that a forthcoming University of Houston residence hall was being erected with U-verse built-in, along comes word that 62 luxury condominiums in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana will be constructed with FiOS pre-installed. Dubbed The Harrison, the aforementioned units are a vital part of the downtown revitalization efforts, and each one promises dedicated underground parking, near-10-foot ceilings and access to an indoor / outdoor roof deck overlooking the nearby ballpark. Units start at around $150,000, and while over 100-percent have already been claimed, folks are still encouraged to place deposits in case anything falls through.

Alright, so it was mildly humorous at first -- now it's just downright freaky. For the fourth time in just a few months, a report is emerging that forecasts numbers for 2012. Not 2011, not 2013, just 2012. Nevertheless, the latest research doled out by Pike & Fischer asserts that "up to 103 million households will be paying their multichannel video provider for some form of HD service or rental equipment" by 2012. As it stands, around 47 million US homes will be coughing up for HD programming by the end of 2008, which should be a 17 million domicile increase from 2007 if everything goes as predicted. Needless to say, we've no doubts that HD consumption has nowhere to go but up, but even we are taken aback by the $2.6 billion in annual revenue that content providers are expected to garner in just four short years.

Considering that NSR thinks that we'll have access to 900 HD channels via satellite by 2012, we're not exactly sure why we'll even need to download high-def media in four years. All jesting aside, a recent report put forth by Parks Associates suggests that around 33 million US households will have 10Mbps+ broadband by 2012, essentially enabling an equal amount of homes to easily stream high-definition video. At the end of 2007, just 5.7 million -- or nine-percent of broadband-enabled domiciles -- had such speeds. Granted, just because speeds creep up doesn't mean that consumers will soon be ditching their packaged media and resorting to streams, but with cable companies gearing up for DOCSIS 3.0 rollouts, we'd say these figures aren't too far fetched.

[Via US News]

While HD expansion is continuing somewhat in locales not named America, Europe is having a tough time grabbing hold of high-definition programming. Nary a month after Sat.1 HD and ProSieben HD were shut down in Germany until 2010 due to lack of interest, a new report has surfaced with quite a few startling facts. First off, just 5-percent of Europe's HDTV owners were found to actually watch some sort of HD programming. The article goes on to assert that Europe's TV providers should "concentrate their resources initially on building pay television rather than advertising-based business models in order to reach the critical mass of HD content and receivers necessary to make HDTV a self-sustaining business." Still, there seems to be hope for the market yet, as these same analysts also suggested that nearly 20-percent of all European homes would be watching HD channels by 2012 -- better get a move on, though.

We already learned that some 28-percent of US households were rocking at least one HDTV back in March, but now the Consumer Electronics Association has come forward with new figures showing that over half of American abodes are home to a digital television. According to revamped CEA projections, around 32 million DTV units will ship out next year, with 79-percent of those being HD sets. 'Course, the downside of this is that a good chunk of America still isn't prepared for the DTV cutover in 2009, but thanks to all the advertising that will likely be taking place over the next year and change, we'd say they've got plenty of time to get on board.

Earlier this year, we saw reports that hinted at "flat" DVD sales for the remainder of 2007, so it follows logic to hear that standalone DVD players are seeing a similar fate. Reportedly, around 80-percent of US consumers have a DVD player somewhere in their domicile, which reinforces the fact that the market is pretty well saturated. Furthermore, sales of the aforementioned units have "declined 15-percent for the 12 months ending September 2007," and that's coming off of a 24-percent slide the year before. As for DVD recorders, things aren't look too much brighter; sales of these gizmos were also down 15-percent during the year ending September 2007, which is quite a change from the 50-percent uptick it saw during the same window last year. Still, none of this should come as a surprise to anyone remotely paying attention, as the age of HD films has officially arrived -- even though we've yet to choose a single format to lead us down glory road. Nevertheless, we still foresee quite a few people picking up incredibly inexpensive DVD players as gifts this holiday season, but we highly doubt you'll need to throw down on anyone in aisle five this year to get your hands on one.

[Image courtesy of NY Times]

Just days after the HD DVD camp trumpeted the fact that 90,000 standalone players were sold in a single weekend after price cuts enabled the units to suddenly fit into quite a few budgets, the same team is now boasting that nearly 500,000 players have been moved to date. Granted, we're taking these numbers with a throw of salt, but according to Home Media Magazine, the recent price slashing has created around 100,000 new HD DVD owners, which, combined with the 320,000 or so units already in homes adds up to around 420,000. Apparently, backers of the format are surmising that the half million mark could be broken by the time Black Friday has made its mark. 'Course, these numbers mean little in the grand scheme of things, but you can bet it'll get people talking.

Go on, you New Yorker you, give yourself a much deserved pat on the back. According to recent findings from The Nielsen Company, NY residents are "leading the nation in adopting high-definition television." Reportedly, some 17.5-percent of households in NYC are pulling in HD content of some kind. Notably, Los Angeles has the highest amount of HD-equipped homes, but only 17.1-percent of 'em are actually putting their equipment to good use and receiving an HD station. Taking home the bronze is Washington, D.C., with 16.8-percent of its domiciles enjoying HD programming. Nationwide, 13.7-percent of dwellings are HD-capable, but only 11.3-percent (that's 12.7 million homes) are actually receiving HD signals in some form or another. Seems like we've got quite a ways to go to hit that 50 million mark by next year.

It seems that this question gets posed by one mainstream media outlet or another every year or so, and what better time to ask again than following estimates that 50 million American homes will be HDTV-equipped by the end of next year? It's no secret that carriers are pushing HD more frequently in their advertising, and now that select basic cable channels are finally making the move to HD, we wonder if the currently satisfied viewers will get curious and follow along? Numerous analysts have suggested that consumers won't make the jump en masse to demand HD programming until a noticeable amount of non-network content becomes available in HD, and while CNN, Food Network, TBS, and A&E (for instance) are all going (or have gone) HD, there's still hundreds of channels out there that have yet to purchase the first piece of HD recording equipment. Is HDTV ready for mainstream? Our gut says not quite, but we're a lot closer today than we've been.

[Image courtesy of PSBSpeakers]

Honestly, don't look so surprised. Just under two years ago, some 15-percent of American homes had at least one HDTV somewhere on the premises, and not long after, estimators were suggesting that a whopping 82-percent of domiciles would be HDTV-equipped by the end of this decade. Earlier this year, a more recent report found that over one-quarter of those residing in the US of A owned an HD-capable set -- though we'll never live down the embarrassment from the hordes of owners who've yet to figure out how to operate them. Nevertheless, an updated study has found that "more than 30 million US households now have at least one HDTV," and judging by recent sales figures, has estimated that 52 million homes will house an HDTV by the end of 2008. Now, how's about a few more HD channels for the growing sect, eh?