Rich Fiscus
5 Oct 2007 5:55
Hoping to resolve consumer education issues, the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) created what they're calliing the Digital Council.
With all the new technology that's been introduced in the last few years has come an equal amount of consumer confusion. Different digital television resolutions, some hi-def and some not, combined with the issue of DVD vs HD DVD vs Blu-ray vs other competing technologies have all left the majority of consumers scratching their heads, and as a result has helped hold back next-gen disc formats.
The Digital Council will focus on Internet based video distribution and on demand home video manufacturing, such as the DVD burning kiosks being promoted by such companies as Sonic Solutions and Polar Frog. council co-chairman Mark Vrieling also indicated that a major focus of their internet related efforts will be designing contracts that protect content owners, while still allowing distributors to make a profit.
“First off, we want to standardize definitions so that everyone understands what we are talking about,” said co-chairman Mitch Mallon, VP of digital sales at Egami Media. Clearly this is an issue, as most people, even those whose primary responsibility it is to sell consumer electronics, don't seem to even know many of the terms required to have an intelligent discussion about new technology, let alone understand the technology required for internet based video distribution.
Source: Video Business