Epson says more people will be printing for Smart TV’s

Epson says printing from Smart televisions will be popular.

Printing content will no longer be limited to just Word documents, Excel spreadsheets or other personal computer-based applications.

In the near future, people will enjoy printing public content from broadcasting media right away from their home digital television sets.

“Whether it’s printing PC-based, document-scanning and photo content, people will soon have more fun printing out public content. They can capture their favourite superstar directly from the film or television show they’re watching,” said Takao Mimura, chief executive of the Inkjet Printer and Photo Products Operations Division at Seiko Epson Corp.

He said home printing was shifting from PC printing and copying to photo printing. The next step, he added, was to move to what he called digital television printing.

Epson has been working with Japanese-based television manufacturer Panasonic to test the television-printing concept. The idea is expected to become a reality in the next three years.

Under this concept, said Mimura, printers would be integrated with the television rack, connected directly to the television, allowing people to enjoy printing using their remote control.

“You’ll see a new evolution in which printers will be integrated into daily life,” he said.

Broadcasting content from television is just one part of Epson’s television-printing vision. Mimura said that once a television set was connected to the Internet, people could print out various Internet content over it.

In the near future, all kinds of content will be available for printing at the press of a button on the remote control. You can sack your newspaper boy, because you will be able to print newspaper or magazine content from your television screen.

However, to make the concept a reality, digital television will be crucial, because it allows different types of broadcast content from different channels, including television stations and the Internet, to be delivered to users for printing. Broadband, meanwhile, will also offer increased printing opportunities.

Seiichi Hirano, director and chief executive of the Imaging and Information Products Operations Division, said there would be more business opportunities to emerge from the television-printing concept. Printing services are just one potential new business in the digital television-printing era.

“Once printing can be done through television, it will open up new business opportunities,” said Hirano.

Movie providers, for example, could offer a new superstar photo printing service, allowing users to print pictures through their television set for a fee.

Advertising agencies could use digital television-printing channels to develop new interactive marketing programmes by offering a discount coupon to print while the advertising is on air. This could help companies push their marketing programmes to reach target groups, save the cost of coupon printing and, importantly, check and monitor audience responses while increasing sales volume.

Epson is working with television manufacturers to develop a connectivity protocol between digital television sets and printers.

Mimura said with all of Epson’s printing-technology developments, the company hoped to create a new home-printing culture offering not only quality and durable print-outs, but also convenience and more fun with printing.