HDTV: A Shopper's Survival Guide

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HDTV: A Shopper's Survival Guide

The words high-definition TV are enough to give many consumers the sweats. We'll help you relax and buy smarter

Flat or fat? EDTV or HDTV? LCD or plasma? Anyone who's on the hunt for a new TV set these days knows getting a dream screen can be more confusing than the plotline of Days of Our Lives. It's no wonder: The TV market is undergoing its biggest change in 50 years, when the first color set was introduced.

Manufacturers such as Hitachi, Sharp, Mitsubishi, Sony (SNE ), Panasonic (MC ), and Toshiba are leading a charge to develop flat-panel sets, which range from plasma and liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) to rear-projection sets and even to advanced versions of the incumbent cathode ray tube (CRT). At the same time, new digital standards are leading to the rise of high-definition programming, which eventually will replace those fuzzy analog broadcasts that now rule.

By yearend, 13% of U.S. households will have digital TVs, according to the Consumer Electronics Assn. But that number is expected to jump to at least 65% by 2008 as prices fall sharply and government regulations on broadcasting digital programming take effect.

SIZE AND PRICE. Clearly, the buzz is building. You can't watch a new movie nowadays without seeing glitzy flat-panel TVs beaming images ostentatiously in the background. And friends and neighbors increasingly are making it hard to keep up with the Joneses.

But even the experts seem confused about how things will shake out. Research analysts at market researcher iSuppli argue that consumers most likely will go with big brand names on their purchases. However, a December survey of 1,200 potential shoppers conducted by research firm IDC found brand tied for last with a TV's "aspect ratio" -- whether its image is widescreen or letterbox style -- as an important reason in buying.

Not surprisingly, the top factors influencing American shoppers are screen size and price. "The HD market is moving from early adopters who covet having a TV mounted on a wall to the early majority that places a greater priority on the largest picture at the lowest price," says Samsung Vice-President Jim Sanduski.

LOST HAIR. Projection sets are most likely to fit that bill. Many that are 45 inches and above now cost less than $3,000, offering great home theater experiences. Unfortunately for shoppers, the rear-projection category is the most confusing. Potential customers are pulling out their hair trying to determine how technologies such as digital light processing (DLP), liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS), LCD, and CRT differ.

Don't get hung up on the differences. All these technologies look good, particularly in darkened rooms with plenty of space to sit back and relax. One caveat, however, is that manufacturers believe rear-projection CRTs are likely to go away over time as the other technologies improve enough to cut a set's depth and allow it to be mounted on a wall.

TV makers appear most optimistic about LCD technology in all types of sets. Part of that may be economics. Huge new LCD-panel factories will come online next year and drive prices lower as manufacturers compete for sales. LCD sets also cost less to manufacture, since the technology has been around longer as an extension of LCDs for personal computers, offering the potential for higher margins.

EARLY FAVORITES. But lest you think mere greed motivates them, manufacturers also note that LCDs generally have a longer lifespan than rival technologies, are less power-hungry, and have fewer flaws. New sets like Sharp's 45-inch LC-45GX6U and Samsung's 46-inch LT-468W offer the highest resolutions capable for digital TVs -- 1,920 pixels by 1,080 pixels, well above the 852 by 480 of many so-called enhanced definition, or "HD-ready," sets on the market today.

Still, plasmas are the early favorite with shoppers. In many cases, a plasma picture is brighter than an LCD, and fast-moving video displayed on plasma sets doesn't suffer from the jagged images that appear as LCDs try to show fast-moving pictures. Some no-frills sets that offer the lower-resolution enhanced definition now retail for less than $2,000, or about half the cost of a comparable LCD.

But plasma sets give many buyers the jitters because they lose brightness over time. Doesn't last as long as a picture-tube set. The first generation of Plasma's TV had a typical life of 3 or 4 years and only a few are still in service. They're heavier than they look -- they can weigh about 200 pounds. Can your wall handle it?
They drink a lot of power, if you use a plasma many hours at day you will detect a increase in the electricity bill, They also don't work in altitudes above 7,000 feet because their internal gases can't tolerate the height, and they're prone to burn-in, where static images can appear as permanent ghosts if they're left on the screen too long. Although they still look great, most plasmas do not have enough pixels to display a true high-definition picture. For legit HDTV, a plasma set needs 1920x1080 resolution. The bargain-basement 42-inch has 852x480 resolution. What's more, unlike some LCDs, no plasma currently on the market today is capable of broadcasting all the approved high-definition formats.

Bottom line: Not the best choice from price-performance perspective, but hard to resist !!!

For more go to www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2004/tc20041123_5536_tc184.htm

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