How does the TV suddenly become a "performance monster" under the modular concept?

Since the exposure of Google's modular mobile phone Project Ara, the concept of modular and personalized assembly of smart products has shocked the global technology community.

So, which will be the next technological product to be inspired by the concept of modularity and achieve leapfrog development?

Smart home modularization has become a general trend

Once upon a time, the PC was the most successful modular technology product in the world. The CPU, memory, hard drive, graphics card, monitor and other configurations could be assembled according to user needs, and the interface standards were unified, allowing single modules to be upgraded or replaced.

At present, in addition to mobile devices, smart homes have also begun to explore the concept of modules.

Sony recently launched a smart module called MESH, which is a series of mixable buttons, light bulbs and sensors that can make new inventions as simple as matching iPads and Bluetooth headphones, allowing users to build smart homes as they wish.

In China, the most widely used modular product in the field of smart home is TV. The combination of flat-panel TV and TV box commonly seen on the market is a form of hardware modularization. Users do not need to replace the expensive TV set, but only need to purchase the corresponding TV box product according to their own needs for TV performance.

In recent years, the effect of "Moore's Law" in the TV industry has become increasingly obvious. The replacement cycle of TVs has been shortened from 4 to 5 years to 1 to 6 months. However, for users, the replacement cost of TVs is relatively high, and it is impossible to replace the entire TV at any time, and software upgrades cannot meet users' demand for new functions. Traditional smart TVs have built-in and closed core hardware, which greatly increases the cost of users' experience with new technologies.

What changes will modularity bring to television?

in the country, it is not impossible to achieve modularization of televisions, and some TV manufacturers have already begun to actively explore it.

In terms of specific forms, it can be divided into two types. One is like Damai TV, which completely separates the "host" and the display. When users upgrade, they can directly replace the host box, and the TV will completely become a display screen.

The person in charge of Damai Technology said that in the future, the smart TV industry will no longer be a single industry, but an ecological industrial chain composed of more industries. In order to adapt to its smart split functions, Damai Technology has also developed a series of supporting products such as data centers, super broadband, boxes and routers, and is committed to creating a more intelligent and convenient smart home comprehensive experience.

The other type is similar to the Changhong CHIQ second-generation TV, which retains the basic functions of the TV and has another part of the upgradeable modules externally. Whether to purchase the external module is decided by the user.

The product manager of CHiQ TV introduced that this upgradeable module is RK3288, and its performance is equivalent to the performance of the chips used in mainstream smartphones in 2015. The previous CHiQ first-generation TV can be upgraded to the second-generation product through this module. Moreover, this upgrade module can not only be plugged into Changhong CHiQ TV, but also be used independently in other TVs through the HDMI interface.

There are two reasons for this choice. First, TVs are durable consumer goods, which are bulky and difficult to replace. Second, users' demand for video and gaming functions on smart TVs is growing. Every once in a while, the CPU of a TV cannot run most new TV games.

Especially in the gaming field, a key factor is the player's experience of the graphics. TV is definitely the best partner for gaming, especially when there are more than one player and the game graphics become complicated, the advantage of the TV screen will be highlighted again. However, at present, the situation of TV for exquisite games is still "a small horse pulling a big cart".

Duan Youqiao, an industry expert and senior vice president of iQiyi, believes that "modular TV is a matter of the entire industry chain. Chip definition, TV design, production, marketing, and operation must be integrated together to produce modular and upgradeable TVs that are popular with users, welcomed by manufacturers, and accepted by the market. Currently, TV manufacturers are facing a protracted Internet movement. Whether it is active innovation or passive revolution, it has created a very good market atmosphere for modular TV. Therefore, I think the time is almost ripe, and modular TV will bring subversive opportunities to these manufacturers who are the first to try it."

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.