'Entertainment display' may pull plug on TV

"We are witnessing the demise of television," Ken Lowe, vice president and co-founder of bargain TV maker Vizio declared Monday at the Society for Information Display conference in Seattle.

Lowe said television is being replaced by the "entertainment display" — devices that output high-definition content, connect to the Internet and are increasingly built with LED lighting that uses about the same wattage as a light bulb.

Just don't use the potentially confusing acronym "ED" for these things, he said.

Lowe had other pronouncements. Although 3-D content is getting lots of hype, there still isn't much of it, so he's expecting 3-D TV won't really take off until 2011.

In the meantime, the must-have feature on new TVs — "like 1080p was" — is now LED backlighting, which uses less power and enables thinner sets.

"2010 is the year of the LED backlight," he said.

About a fifth of Vizio's sets are LED, but the mix should be 40 percent by year-end.

Helping make the transition are two new sets Lowe showed off — throwing down two price gauntlets for the world's major TV makers represented at the show. They also illustrated the sort of "entertainment device" replacing the usual TV (ED TVs?).

One was the $360 M220NV, a 22-inch LED set with 802.11n Wi-Fi, 1080p resolution and Vizio's suite of Internet applications, including Netflix, Flickr and social networking.

Lowe said it's intended for the kitchen, bedroom or other room in the house where it will be simple to connect wirelessly and access online content.

Later this year, Vizio is releasing a 55-inch LED set with 3-D, full HD, 480Hz refresh rate and Internet apps for "over $2,000," Lowe said.

Reading the screens

Apple's iPad is "cannibalizing" sales of e-readers like the Kindle and Nook and netbooks, DisplaySearch analyst John Jacobs said this morning at the SID conference.

Jacobs predicted 10 million iPads and other slates will be sold in 2010.

The research firm expects "slates will take a healthy bite" out of the e-reader market.

But that's still just a fraction of the growing market for devices with displays in the range of 4 to 12.5 inches — including slates, e-books, netbooks, mobile Internet devices, game players and portable DVD players.

Jacobs said that market will see 40 million to 80 million units sold per quarter.

He spoke after Sony Electronics President Stan Glasgow, who talked up the potential of 3-D in TVs and other devices, including Sony cameras and computers.

Sony surveys found that 38 percent of consumers say they will buy a 3-D TV within a year, and 67 percent say their next TV will be 3-D, Glasgow said.

Content will be key to uptake, he said, noting Sony efforts such as its work with sports broadcasters (he played a 3-D clip from the Masters during the speech) and upcoming Sony 3-D movies, including "Spiderman 3D," "Men in Black III" and "Green Hornet."

Glasgow said 3-D business won't distort the movie's artistic development, saying Sony's mantra is that the "technology must serve the story."

But a 3-D preview of "Resident Evil Afterlife" — a movie coming out in September — had all sorts of 3-D tricks like martial arts throwing stars spinning toward the viewer.

Glasgow called on the display industry, gathered in Seattle, to follow three principles:

• "Don't let inferior quality own the marketplace."

• Work together and with broadcasters and cable and satellite companies to adopt a set of 3-D standards "that makes sense for consumers."

• Companies in the business must put effort into educating consumers about the benefits of 3-D.

Meanwhile, Sony expects the 3-D TV market to grow to 100 million units globally over the next three years.

Brier Dudley's blog excerpts appear Thursdays. Reach him at 206-515-5687 or bdudley@seattletimes.com.