Why HANA, why now?

The High-Definition Audio-Video Network Alliance, is the first cross-industry collaboration to address the end-to-end needs of connected, high definition, home entertainment products and services. What makes HANA unique is its list of founding members, which includes leading companies from the four industries most impacted by the HD revolution " Content Providers, Consumer Electronics, Service Providers and Information Technology " and their focus on the consumer experience.

HANA's goal is to create standards-based solutions to facilitate commercial deployment of connected products and services that will enhance the consumer HD entertainment experience. To achieve this, HANA will work with its member companies and organizations such as the Consumer Electronics Association, the 1394 Trade Association, CableLabs, the Motion Picture Association of America and others to ensure that its solutions meet the needs of all stakeholders, including consumers. Those needs include ensuring HANA products will stream high definition A/V content and related services, simply and reliably throughout the home without compromising the rights of content owners or those of the consumer.

Background

• Approximately 85% of U.S. households receive their TV programming services from cable or satellite broadcasters
• DTV sales are projected to grow from 17 million units in 2004 to 77 million units in 2008
• Entertainment is rapidly moving toward on-demand (cable, satellite, IPTV) and time-shift viewing (personal video recorders), and away from fixed-schedule broadcasts
• IEEE 1394 is the only digital interface that has an FCC mandate to be included in Digital Cable Set Top Boxes
• Consumers are confronted with an increasingly confusing set of connections, remote controls and set-up options as new digital products and services are introduced
• Increasingly, content is being delivered to the home over broadband connections that today terminate at the PC; however, most consumers do not want to watch movies and TV programs or listen to music on their PCs

So what does this have to do with home networking? And more importantly, what is HANA doing to create and deploy home networks while simplifying the consumer experience? To answer these questions requires an understanding of the business models of the four industries that HANA represents.

Consumer Electronics:
Profits generally come from higher-end products including HDTV and sources of HD content.

Service Providers:
Profits come from billable services. Hardware (STBs, satellite receivers, modems) is simply a means to an end, providing access to those services their customers have agreed to pay for.

Content Owners:
The value of content is related to its availability. Increased availability means increased profits, as long as strong copy protections and DRM mechanisms are in place.