A new level of digital convenience and sophistication has come home.

TV today is on the go – throughout your home, while you travel, even in your pocket. Users can record a program in one room and watch it another. Sports fans can catch a live baseball game on a smartphone. Jet-setters can watch their favorite TV show on the plane. How is this happening?

Broadcom is enabling zippy broadband speeds and wireless connectivity, which are paving the way for a new world of entertainment. These technologies are coming together to create a new reality, feeding a change of habit and expectations for modern-day TV viewers.

This phenomenon is transforming the very nature of home entertainment, making the primary TV just one of several screens to view content, and the home just one place to watch it. Where home entertainment was once firmly defined by the family television, today a “wherever, whenever” mentality drives audience expectations well beyond the living room.

Thank You, Internet

Internet-connected devices and the many technologies enabling them have fueled explosive growth in video views. This amounts to a monumental shift in how people consume TV and Internet content, driven by technologies and standards created and nurtured by industry giants like Broadcom. The ability to share broadcast and Web content securely via multiple screens is a direct result of this ongoing innovation.

In-home TVs and PCs or laptops remain the most popular devices for watching video content. But consumer habits are subtly shifting, according to a recent survey from research consulting firm Frank N. Magid Associates. More than half (56 percent) of people with online access say they watch video on a mobile phone at least once a month, the survey showed. Some 28 percent say they watch video on a mobile phone daily.

Analytics firm Ooyala, in its quarterly Global Video Index report, cites that viewers watched 32 percent more video on tablets and 41 percent more on mobile devices in the first quarter of this year, compared with the previous quarter.

Standards Drive Dramatic Evolution

By fostering new standards and alliances, industry leaders have created a home entertainment environment where nearly anything is possible. Devices and technologies certified by groups such as DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance), MoCA (Multimedia over Coax Alliance) and Homeplug Alliance are providing the building blocks for this new realm of non-stop access to entertainment. By further incorporating significant leaps in standards such as Wi-Fi Direct, 5G WiFi and Near Field Communication, home networking functionality, convenience and sophistication are at all-time high.

TV Anywhere

The proliferation of DVRs, gaming systems, laptop computers, tablets and smartphones has opened an entirely new field of options – not only in the numbers of devices but also in portability of content. This in turn has created the user-generated viewing experience with unprecedented control of program choice and scheduling, devices and more.

Viewer-Directed Entertainment

In today’s home, he who holds the remote control isn’t necessarily in control. No longer are remote controls “remote” – they are a smartphone, tablet, PC – take your pick! Mobile apps now allow users to pick their programs, create viewing schedules on their DVRs via a tablet or phone and control the viewing experience for everyone inside the home.

How’s this for a future TV scenario? While the kids are watching a DVR-recorded episode of “SpongeBob” on the living room big screen, Dad may be relaxing and watching ESPN live on his iPad, and Mom may be catching up on “The Bachelor” on her smartphone via Hulu.

Content Everywhere

Cable and broadcast operators are capitalizing on standardized technology as well, offering a range of competitive entertainment options that benefit viewers. For example, new set-top box technology enables operators to present the latest Web-based applications while still protecting high-value content as it is streamed to TVs or portable devices, like smartphones and tablets.

New, breakthrough technologies such as Full-Band Capture facilitate the delivery of more and more video and IP streams to deliver a multitude of TV channels and high-speed broadband. And, FBC does this faster, more easily, and at a lower cost. This makes current and future set-top boxes better able to multitask – recording shows and transcoding them, while allowing individuals to watch what they choose in any part of the home. Transcoding technology compresses high-definition content so that it can be viewed on smaller screens like tablets and smartphones. Furthermore, “placeshifting” technology, transcoding gives consumers the ability to enjoy their favorite live, recorded and on-demand television programming at the airport, in the gym or on the subway on any device they choose.

Television Redefined

With key industry standard support and breakthrough technology designed by Broadcom and other leaders, broadcast and Internet content is unleashed to any screen. Today’s viewer controls what, when, where and how they watch – giving TV a whole new name. This is television of the future, right now.

Related:

• Broadcom’s Full-Band Capture: Digital Tuning That Enables Much More Bandwidth With Much Less Energy
• Innovation powers HDTV and Pay-TV to reach larger audiences
• Broadcom Fuels the Affordable Smartphone Revolution
• 5G WiFi: Pioneering the New Generation of Wireless Connectivity