Surprise and Delight

March 27th, 2008

by Paul Gray, Director, European TV Research

Having lived with a new LCD TV and Blu-ray player for a couple of months now, my experiences gave me some puzzlement on TV setmaking. The messages from the TV industry have been about resolution:  firstly HD, then later on the subtler one of megapixels:  1080p.  It’s strange, but my 42” 1080p TV has a standard definition user interface, although mapped exactly onto the panel’s resolution.  Lettering is similar to a PC circa 1988, in dark grey on a pale grey background.  The Blu-ray player, by contrast, has glorious HD characters: the font has nice serifs, and its white on black design enhances the feeling of sharpness.  I knew I was in a high-def world before I had even loaded a disc.A trip to a retailer over the weekend confirmed that many—indeed most—of the leading brands still have SD user interfaces, and I just do not understand why.  In a world where most content is still in SD (I live in Europe) it misses a unique chance to offer a glimpse of HD—quite apart from doing nothing to offer a seamless HD experience to anyone who has paid for HD.

All in all this attention to detail is marring my satisfaction with the TV.  It’s like buying a Mercedes and then discovering that the doors shut with a noisy clang.

A similar neglected area is the remote control.  This has remained essentially unchanged since the first infra-red models 30 years ago.  It appears to be designed by engineers—buttons are laid out in a grid format, with tiny writing.  I did a button count in my home:

TV:      33 keys

Blu-ray:  46 keys

Casio algebra calculator:  47 keys

We all know devices of similar complexity that achieve seamless design of the control and the user interface as a single system.  The reward to the consumer is that they are a joy to use—simple, intuitive and uncluttered.  These products rightly attract a premium, and that premium is gladly paid by consumers who recognize its value.

With a maturing market, such seemingly small details will become a significant factor in success or failure.  It demands a change in approach that balances styling and emotional appeal with the ‘numbers marketing’ and technical approach of the past.

  1. One Response to “Surprise and Delight”

  2. By Ning on Mar 27, 2008 | Reply

    The industrial design of remote control is neglected for such a long time. Even the success of iPod/Apple doesn’t remind designers of that in TV industry. Thanks for pointing it out, Paul. A great message to Industrilization and Engieering Work.

Post a Comment