DVD players, LCD screens driving DTV adoption

MANHASSET, N.Y. — High-quality LCD and plasma screens capable of showing crisp, vivid images, coupled with the popularity of DVD players, are coaxing a growing number of consumers to buy digital televisions, according to a market researcher.

Combined with government support for the move to digital, the advancements are building a DTV market poised to reach sales of $70 billion worldwide in 2008, International Data Corp. said. The projections indicate that the shift from analog to digital TV is in full swing.

"As consumers become exposed to the crisp, vivid images and overall cinematic experience of [high definition], they will begin to see a compelling reason to replace their otherwise functioning analog solutions," IDC analyst Danielle Levitas said in a statement. "This move is well underway as the selection of DTVs and [high-definition] TVs) in retail continues to swell."

HDTV content delivery, and therefore set adoption, is expected to be limited to Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, and the United States for the foreseeable future. Helping to boost the market are sales of DVD, which have reached 200 million since 1997, and are expected to increase a third larger this year, IDC said.

Other highlights from a recent IDC report on digital TV include findings that global sales for all TVs will increase to 196 million in 2008 from 170 million in 2003, or to $86 billion from $61 billion. This year, 12 percent of global TV shipments are expected to be digital, increasing to 60 percent by 2008.