Session Description: Kicking off the first day, this session will outline the status of DTV and HDTV policies worldwide with particular attention paid to North America, Europe, Japan and China.

Session Description: Bryan Burns of ESPN will keynote this day.  Mr. Burns will discuss ESPN HD’s strong commitment to high definition programming and the issues and benefits of its pioneering efforts in HD. This session which will address the issues each network/studio has dealt with during the transition and commitment to HD, including piracy and intellectual property issues, commercial advertising changes and the business case for moving into HD. Panelists will also discuss their companies’ plans in HD programming, the current audience reception, and how each company’s role will impact the overall HD and television industry landscape.  

Session Description: This session will address the unique challenges inherent in filming and production in HD. Panelists, all leaders in their field, will discuss the changes occurring in the overall workflow of film production, how the advances in digital camera technology have affected cinematography, how the Hollywood entertainment industry views the rapid move to HD, and what the unique benefits are to moving towards HD and digital film production.

Session Description: This session will reveal lessons from retailers regarding the sale of HDTVs. It will also address current and future trends in selling HDTV including the impact of the direct channel and the entry of IT suppliers.

Session Description:  This session will cover different delivery methods for high definition and the issues and benefits of each.

Session Description: Keynoting Day 2 will be Mark Cuban, Co-Founder & Chairman of HDNet, who will stress to the television industry the importance of focusing on delivering the best possible picture quality without increasing compression.

Session Description: TV brands will discuss how HDTV is impacting their sales and marketing strategies, how they are positioning different TV technologies to benefit from the HD transition, and which technologies are poised for success.

Session Description: The transition from CRT-based RPTVs to microdisplay-based RPTV is in full swing, but is there room for all three new technologies? The speakers will give their views on this technology competition and positioning vs. alternative big-screen displays.

Session Description:  Can plasma TVs meet the challenge from LCDs and RPTVs? How far will prices fall and what is the outlook? Key plasma players will discuss their strategies to meet the challenge from RPTVs and LCD TVs and DisplaySearch will present its latest PDP market outlook.

Session Description: With LCD suppliers investing over $20 billion in new capacity in 2004 and 2005 and most of it targeting the TV market, will they repeat their success in desktop monitors and become the dominant TV technology? How far do prices need to fall and what type of decline can be expected in the next few years? What are the strengths and weaknesses of LCDs for TVs? Speakers include the dominant LCD TV brand (Sharp), the two largest LCD suppliers, and DisplaySearch.

Session Description:  Front projectors for consumer HDTV viewing have not received the kind of attention that alternatives have, yet they can offer the best screen size/cost ratio. If manufacturers and retailers can figure out how to package, market, sell and service these systems, multiple millions of systems could be sold soon. This session will explore plans to make this a reality.

Session Description: The rapid adoption of microdisplay-based RPTVs has put strains on the supply chain for all projection products. Will these problems limit growth or are plans in place to deal with this problem? Panelists will details various aspects of the status of this key part of the support structure for the big-screen display market.

Session Description: As other TV technologies begin to compete for space in the TV market, what happens to the dominant technology – the CRTs? Can it maintain its position as HDTV becomes widespread and flat panel prices fall? Will emerging markets drive it to continued growth, or will it decline? This session will address these and other questions.

Session Description: This session will present front of screen performance comparisons of different TV technologies revealing benefits and weaknesses of each type.

Session Description: As DTV and HDTV gains acceptance, display electronics manufacturers have a huge market opportunity, given the amount of digital processing found in these TVs. How many players can enjoy these benefits? Will it be commoditized as in LCD monitors? Will there be a single chip solution and when? What additional features are likely to be integrated?

Session Description: This session will explore the impact HDTV will have on recordable media such as DVDs and DVRs and the impact these devices will have on the HDTV transition. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each and which high definition DVD standard will win? Will it drive the HDTV market to 1080p? What will be the impact of 1080p on DVRs and will there be a significant premium?

Session Description: As digital content delivery and playback devices proliferate within the home, the desire for ubiquitous content availability will drive a variety of solutions for full home distribution ranging from wired and wireless networks to the media servers and content protection systems designed. In this session we will explore the various systems targeted to meet this market and explore the opportunities and challenges that the entrants will face.