Sound future for home theatres
A study commissioned by digital technology company DTS highlights the sound/value relationship in the home entertainment market.
The results of its 3rd annual, study conducted in conjunction with Nielsen Entertainment Research, revealed continuing growth in the home theatre and surround sound marketplaces. In an online survey of 2,000 adult ages 18 to 65 across the USA, Nielsen Entertainment determined that home theatre systems featuring surround sound will continue to experience solid growth and drive a majority of home audio industry sales. Supporting the conclusions of the Nielsen research study, separately published reports by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) estimate that by the end of 2006 approximately 38 per cent of households (42 million) will own a home theatre – up from 21 per cent (22 million) in January 2000.
A significant number of consumers are familiar with the surround sound concept when purchasing audio equipment. According to the CEA Audio Purchasing Study, 73 per cent of home audio owners considered the surround sound listening mode as the most important audio product specification when evaluating a product.
Notable news from the latest study includes remarkably strong awareness about the high definition next generation optical disc formats among DVD consumers. According to the latest study, close to three-fourths (73 per cent) of these DVD consumers are either aware of HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc respectively. Close to 30 million home theatre households now possess a system with five or more speakers for true surround sound, and among those that plan to upgrade their equipment to high definition, 74 per cent consider surround sound important when deciding what high definition equipment to purchase.
Another key indicator of home theatre growth is the growth of high definition displays. By the end of 2005 there were 21.6 million households with HDTV sets in the USA (19 per cent of total households) according to figures from the JupiterResearch. By the end of 2010, the number of HD-receiving households will reach close to 75 million, or 63 per cent of total households in the USA.
The Nielsen Entertainment study revealed that more than half (54 per cent) of DVD owners and 79 per cent of surround sound owners consider high quality sound as the most important special feature on a DVD. In fact, recent studies have indicated that consumers who own home theatre system believe that sound quality is as important as video quality.
Source: AV international newsletter
Technorati Tags: home entertainment, HD DVD, Blu-ray, home theatre
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