Improved video will be a key focus for future consumer electronics, according to a panel at the IEEE International Conference on Consumer Electronics (ICCE). The cutting edge is now processing HD video at 60 frames per second, capturing several images from the sensor and combining them into one “good” picture or frame of video.

The algorithms used to perform this processing will receive a significant performance boost as more chip makers build video-processing circuitry into their processors. Algorithms will also focus on real-time automated image processing (improved face detection and autofocusing or deblurring high-definition video captured by handheld camcorders) and improved quality of conversion from 2-D to 3-D.

Other key efforts: how to preserve and pass down digital archives in the face of format obsolescence, automated methods of generating metadata (names, locations), and better storage (quantum computing).