(20 November 2006 9:35 pm)

MUMBAI : The international migration from analog broadcasting to digital terrestrial television (DTT) marches on with a significant impact on the television set market, reports market research firm In-Stat.

Many nations have announced an analog broadcast shutoff date, but how they implement this change varies, In-Stat says. Some countries are allocating spectrum so they can transmit analog and digital broadcasts concurrently for a number of years. Other countries are rolling out DTT regionally and shutting down analog service as the rollout is completed.

“There are now four main standards for digital television (DTV) broadcasting, with some similarities between these standards in audio and video compression, but the demodulation schemes are all different,” says Chris Kissel, In-Stat analyst. “Consumers that wish to receive free, over-the-air broadcasts must buy either a digital television with a digital tuner, or must have a set top box or converter box to receive the signal.”

Among the findings in the study are:

*DTV tuner integration is happening faster in North America and Japan than it is in Europe or other parts of Asia.

*In-Stat anticipates that flat-panel displays will overtake CRTs by 2007.

*11.6% of all respondents to an In-Stat US consumer survey plan to buy a new DTV set within the next six months.