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<strong>Veritas</strong> <strong>et</strong> <strong>Visus</strong> <strong>Display</strong> <strong>Standard</strong> February 2009<br />
demodulator segments will likely lead the ecosystems consolidation in terms of both M&A and insolvencies across<br />
’09 and ’10. Y<strong>et</strong> these same sub-categories that are poised for over-supply are also fostering some of the greatest<br />
architectural innovations within today’s HDTV architecture: the ability to unlock a global, universal system<br />
semiconductor solution.<br />
Today there are only a handful of semiconductor suppliers that have created or assembled all of the necessary<br />
intellectual property (IP) blocks to provide tomorrow’s “true” single die ASIC. The tension that exists b<strong>et</strong>ween<br />
analog and digital, image quality<br />
variation, single carrier and<br />
multi carrier, and process<br />
geom<strong>et</strong>ries is too great to make<br />
this economically feasible today.<br />
Y<strong>et</strong>, as innovative, specialized<br />
suppliers develop IP that<br />
captures the attention of large,<br />
system OEMs, the larger<br />
semiconductor companies will<br />
acquire and integrate the IP<br />
directly into their existing<br />
portfolios. As an example, based<br />
on the FPGA demonstrations and<br />
roadmaps being shared at the<br />
leading display OEMs, it is<br />
believed that a combined silicon<br />
tuner solution (e.g. tuner +<br />
demodulator) will provide<br />
Figure 2: HDTV sub-component value vs. company sub-component focus<br />
acceptable multi-carrier, multi-region capabilities before 2010 year-end. This could enable the offering to be<br />
combined within one of the leading MPEG or image processor IP portfolios by way of a multi-chip-module (MCM)<br />
in 2010 followed by a single-die scheme on or before 2011.<br />
Regardless of the exact timing, the economic climate is forcing numerous semiconductor companies to take bold<br />
risks in terms of both architectural innovation and IP licensing. Many companies both small and large are working<br />
tirelessly to invent, and if successful, their inventions will fuel the inevitable consolidation and long-term<br />
architectural maturity of HDTV. In the interim, HDTV display manufacturers have a large number of silicon<br />
suppliers ranging from experienced through novice to consider for inclusion on their test benches when finalizing<br />
their 2009 designs.<br />
1<br />
“Chipmakers on the Edge,” by Bruce Einhorn<br />
2<br />
“The New Economics of Semiconductor Manufacturing,” by Clayton M. Christensen, Steven King, Matt Verlinden,<br />
and Woodward Yang<br />
3<br />
<strong>Display</strong> Insights: The average HDTV semiconductor BOM was calculated using the weighted average of the four leading subarchitectures<br />
and 90+ semiconductor companies defined and tracked by <strong>Display</strong> Insights. This technique takes into account<br />
the volume difference b<strong>et</strong>ween the respective sub-architectures as well as the BOM differences among 1080i/1080p and<br />
MPEG2/MPEG4 designs.<br />
4<br />
<strong>Display</strong>Search: Monthly Global TV E-Tail Pricing & Specification Database. Note: The price decrease was lower than<br />
expected, as <strong>Display</strong>Search recently included India in its global research, which has higher TV prices due to the region’s high<br />
consumption tax. January 26, 2009 press release data combined with <strong>Display</strong> Insights internal forecast.<br />
5<br />
<strong>Display</strong> Insights: Semiconductor content per LCD TV s<strong>et</strong> includes the summation of manufacturer pricing across the following<br />
components: integrated tuner, demodulator, MPEG processor, image processor, interconnects and system memory. In many<br />
cases these functions were integrated into a shared SOC versus multiple discre<strong>et</strong> ICs. For more information, please see<br />
<strong>Display</strong> Insights’ new report: Innovation, Partnership and Death: The New Economics of HDTV Semiconductors.<br />
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