Audio Video News

Factory-to-dealer sales of digital television sets exceeded 20,000 units in October, a new one-month record. October's total of 21,432 units shipped was an increase of 42% over September's 15,600, the previous one-month record. More than 88,000 units have been sold since the new format was rolled out in 1998, with 75,000 of those units sold in 1999.

The numbers are the latest from the Consumer Electronics Association, which made them public on November 11. The organization is predicting total DTV sales of 120,000 for 1999, a figure that is expected to grow to 600,000 in the year 2000. Further long-term predictions include 10 million DTV sets sold by 2003, with an additional 10 million sold in 2004 and 2005. CEA defines a DTV unit as any display capable of showing the 1080i HDTV format. The statistics are not broken down to reveal how many of the sets can display 480p or 720p video, although most of the sets shipped are presumably capable of displaying multiple formats.

The news was greeted by CEA executives as evidence that DTV is here to stay. "DTV is no longer the wave of the future," said CEA president Gary Shapiro. At the high end of the DTV market, projector maker Vidikron of America is riding the trend nicely. The company has announced that demand for its award-winning home cinema products is at the strongest level in Vidikron of America's 11-year history. Vidikron has begun to ship a number of new products, including the Kronos One HDTV-compatible CRT projector, and two new entries in its line of video processors: the DVS 3500 and DVS 2500 digital video scalers, said by the company to "deliver flawless quality that surpasses most commercial cinemas, enabling users to convert either NTSC or PAL interlaced signals into breathtaking pictures."

Vidikron reports that other products, such as the Epoch D-600 HDTV-ready LCD projector and the reference-quality Vision Series HDTV CRT projectors, are also enjoying strong demand. James Wellnitz, Vidikron of America executive v.p., says that the number of new-dealer requests has been unusually high.