Independent retailers are coming off an erratic holiday season marked by gains in audio over the previous year but offset by steep discounting on the video side, retailers told Consumer Electronics Daily. “TV was the most challenging category and the most hit and miss business out there,” said David Workman, executive director of PRO Group. Year-over-year numbers experienced a 20 percent decline in ASPs, he said. Citing big box competition with “more aggressive” opening price points than in previous years, combined with unit increases required to offset those ASP declines, “the math didn’t work,” he said.

The EPA is updating the Energy Star specification for displays, citing steadily increasing market share for Energy Star qualified devices since the first phase of version 5.1 of the spec took effect in October. The agency said the second phase of the specification, which was to take effect Oct. 30, will be superseded by a revision that it’s working on. The EPA said it wants to “revisit” requirements in the specification for digital picture frames, monitors and professional displays to see whether “new performance levels are appropriate."

ZigBee said Tuesday it’s developing an RF-based 3D sync standard for 3D glasses. The standard will support programmable frame rates and shutter open/close intervals, multiple user experience modes for seamless switching between 2D and 3D modes and gaming, and “frequency agility” to avoid interference with other RF-based devices, the company said. The glasses will resolve interoperability issues among 3D TVs from different manufacturers, interference issues resulting from too many IR signals in a room and the need for line of sight to maintain a 3D signal with IR glasses, Zigbee said.

As Blockbuster prepares to file a bankruptcy reorganization plan next week, sharp opposition is emerging to investor Carl Icahn and a group of hedge funds gaining control of the chain. Under the current plan that’s scheduled to be filed by Jan. 14, the company would wipe away most of its $1 billion in debt and give equity to secured bondholders. Most of Blockbuster’s $665 million in secured bonds is held by the Icahn Group. Unsecured bondholders, who owned more than $300 million worth of bonds, and shareholders would get nothing under the proposed plan.

LAS VEGAS -- On the eve of CES, which opens Thursday, broadcasters and TV makers began to lay out their plans for mobile DTV in 2011. The Open Mobile Video Coalition, which has been helping coordinate broadcasters’ technology efforts around mobile DTV admitted four manufacturer members, marking the first time it opened its doors formally to anyone other than TV broadcasters. Dell, Harris, LG Electronics and Samsung Mobile are the charter members of OMVC’s new Mobile DTV Forum, OMVC said. The move will allow broadcasters and device and equipment makers to work together more easily, said Anne Schelle, executive director of OMVC.

About 27,000 CE product models now meet Energy Star standards, CEA said Tuesday, citing the EPA. The CE industry made “tremendous progress” during the last three years in advancing green initiatives, including designing more energy efficiency products, cutting greenhouse gas emissions at facilities and building a national electronics recycling infrastructure, the group said as it released its 2010 sustainability report.

Sensio will launch two 3D technologies and a 3D content solution at CES this week, Richard LaBerge, the chief marketing officer, told Consumer Electronics Daily, as the company takes on obstacles to widespread adoption of 3D TV. Describing 2010 as “the year for confusion” in 3D, LaBerge said consumers were perplexed and frustrated by the setup required for 3D with set-top boxes and Blu-ray players, along with compatibility, cost and comfort issues of active-shutter glasses. Lack of programming was the other barrier to adoption, he said, noting that Sony subsidized ESPN’s 3D channel, which offered limited content, and Panasonic’s sponsored with Discovery a channel that has yet to roll out. LaBerge also cited TV makers’ exclusive bundling deals for blockbuster titles including Avatar 3D and Alice in Wonderland. “Consumers wanted Avatar,” he said, “but it’s a bit expensive to buy a 3D movie, when you have to buy a TV to get it."

LG Electronics said it plans to demonstrate at CES this week 3D broadcasts and reception to a prototype mobile DTV receiver with a seven-inch LCD screen that requires no 3D eyewear. The demonstrations, coordinated by LG engineers in South Korea, will include beaming 3D TV signals from at least one Las Vegas commercial station to the CES exhibit floor, said company spokesman John Taylor.

Shipment growth of 31 percent for LCD TV in 2010 was “lower than expected,” resulting in increased inventory Q3, and that led to “vigorous price erosion” Q4, said DisplaySearch. LCD TV shipments will rise from 190 million in 2010 to 215 million in 2011, according to forecasts, but erosion in average selling prices will lead to the first-ever revenue decline in the LCD TV category, the firm said. Worldwide LCD TV shipments are expected to slow this year to 13 percent, it said.

As Rovi prepares to extend the reach of TotalGuide interactive program guide (IPG) in CE products, it’s readying a cloud-based services developer program that may signal a gradual move away from embedded software, company officials told us.