Cheap LCD HDTV

Great HDTV for less then $1,000.00

My top recommendation is a Panasonic plasma model. Plasma provides better picture quality than LCD with natural contrast, realistic color and the ability to handle motion without the band-aid of 120-hertz processing or other hit-or-miss enhancement techniques. Panasonic's industry-leading technology prevents burn-in and its 720p sets are rated to last 60,000 hours until half-brightness, or 25 years at 6.5 hours of use per day. Its 1,080p plasma sets are rated to last an amazing 100,000 hours, or 42 years. Given the top reliability ratings from Consumer Reports, this is a TV you can buy, enjoy and not worry about.

The 42-inch 720p TH-42PX80U provides Panasonic plasma quality for street prices of only $799 to $899. If you would like a bigger screen with some real impact, the 50-inch TH-50PX80U is widely available for $999. It provides tremendous impact in small rooms and satisfies in bigger rooms. Both are unbeatable values given the picture quality, reliability, advanced technology and the Panasonic name.

Rounding out my plasma suggestions is Panasonic's TH-42PZ80U, a 42-inch 1,080p set. This model has a picture that is clearly better than its 720p counterpart. The difference is more than resolution given its solid, deep, incredibly sharp image and its beautiful, wide-ranging color palette and excellent shadow detail. Blu-ray and HDTV broadcasts are simply stunning, and standard-definition TV looks pretty good, too, which isn't the case with many HDTVs. 

LCD HDTVs See Sales Drop

Since 2000, LCD HDTV manufacturers have enjoyed year over year sales growth. According to research firm DisplaySearch, that’s going to change in 2009. The state of the economy and the drop in retail prices will result in a drop in shipments and as much as a 16% drop in revenues from 2008, to $64 billion. Nearly 120 million LCD HDTVs will be shipped, down nearly 12 million from the firm’s previous forecast, with lowered growth in North America, Japan and Western Europe. Thiry-two inch HDTVs will see the largest drop off, as demand for those sizes drops.

Most Non-HDTV Owners Planning HDTV Purchase Within One Year

PriceGrabber.com® survey results reveal decreasing prices are not the reason for HDTV popularity

PriceGrabber.com®, a part of Experian, explores HDTV purchasing trends and fall TV trends in its latest Consumer Behavior Report. Results are based on a survey of 1,915 online consumers conducted from Sept. 8-22, 2008. The report also includes comparisons with results from a similar survey of 2,186 online consumers conducted in August 2006.

LCD drives HDTV market
The popularity of HDTVs has grown significantly over the past two years. Fifty-seven percent of consumers own an HDTV, compared with only 30 percent in August 2006. Today, LCD TV is the preferred HDTV, with 57 percent owning one. Nearly 75 percent of online shoppers who do not currently own an HDTV indicate they plan to purchase an HDTV within the next 12 months.

HDTV picture quality versus price
The average price for LCD and plasma HDTVs has dropped 13 percent, and the average price for projection (DLP, LCoS) HDTVs has fallen 27 percent over the last two years. However, 50 percent of HDTV owners indicate that their primary motivation for purchasing an HDTV was not significant price drops, but rather the improved picture and audio quality derived from switching from standard definition to HD programming.

Television -- Consumers can't seem to live without it
Fifty-six percent of survey respondents admit to watching more than six hours of TV per week, and 30 percent of these respondents confess they tune in for more than 10 hours per week. Sixty-four percent watch all their programs on a traditional television, while only 3 percent stream television programs on their personal computer. As the Federal Communications Commission-mandated Digital Television transition nears, 73 percent of online shoppers are prepared, while 14 percent will purchase a new HDTV that reads digital signals.

What is everyone watching?
Whether it is hours of TV drama trailers or hours of political ads, there is no clear winner of which genre will draw a larger television audience this fall season. Survey results indicate a tie (26 percent) between the number of consumers who will watch TV dramas this fall and those who will watch the presidential election. The fall TV show that 41 percent of consumers are looking forward to watching this season is Grey's Anatomy, followed by Dancing with the Stars with 39 percent.

Now's the time to switch to HDTV (and even try an LCD)

Everyone has a talent. Mine is the ability to find an excuse for almost any high-tech purchase that strikes my fancy. I'm so good, I could tutor the less fortunate.

That's you — if you haven't made the switch to HDTV. I'm here to help.

Like many of my excuses, this one plays a little loose with the facts. It goes like this:

"Dear, we are going to need a new TV since the FCC is switching all stations over to digital. I guess we should bite the bullet and get one now before the switch."

If you're lucky, your spouse won't know that if you get your programming over cable and satellite, you will have at least a three-year grace period before the FCC switch means anything. Meantime, you'll get an old-fashioned analog signal even after the switch, and whatever TVs you have will work just fine.

But if used with a steady voice and good eye contact, I estimate that my excuse will work in at least 60 percent of households. And you'll have a shopping trip in your future.

That brings you to the next step — finding the right HDTV. And here there's good news: While you waited for an excuse, prices dropped dramatically and quality jumped. HDTVs are appliances now. You'll do fine with any brand-name HDTV — whether plasma set, LCD, DLP or even one of the rear projection sets rapidly fading in popularity.

If I was buying today, I'd get an LCD. Plasma was once the obvious choice for picture quality — and it still has a slight edge — but LCD sets have come into their own in the last few years. Plasma still produces a deeper black, the Holy Grail for those who worry about such things. But the latest LCD sets produce magnificent pictures, use less electricity, run cooler and may well last longer.

Next, settle on size. A 42-inch set was once the standard for HDTV, but 50-inch or larger sets are the trend now. However, for sets that will end up in a den or bedroom, a 42-inch set is still a good choice. Make your decision based on how far away from the set you'll be. In my own home, the HDTV is in a small den, and I sit about 10 feet from the set. Bigger would not be better; in fact, it could be worse in a small room. Many folks get along just fine with 32- or 37-inchers.

Keep in mind, also, that sets in stores are in an enormous room, often next to even bigger sets. Placed in a home, a big set can overwhelm a room. Me? I'm fine with that. But it can create, uh, discussions with misguided people who care about trivial stuff like decorating and furniture scale. My wife fits into that category.

Also keep in mind that the big screen often isn't all that's being added. Let's look at the list:

- A home theater sound system with an amplifier, five speakers and a nice subwoofer will turn that TV into a home theater system. (Such a sound system is even part of the technical definition of HDTV, although it is not necessary. Most flat panel TVs have perfectly adequate speakers built in.)

- A Blue-ray DVD player made for high-definition discs is the way to go if you're buying a new one. But if you have a high-quality older player, you can safely postpone that purchase. Even older DVDs produce a really nice picture on an HDTV.

- Adding a high-quality voltage surge protector makes good sense, given your investment.

- A DVR — digital video recorder — is a terrific addition. My DVR is my favorite part of our system. Unlike a VCR, you can pause live TV — a wonderful thing when it's third-and-long and the telephone rings. Tivo is the famous name here, but I paid a few bucks extra on my cable bill to get one that's built into my cable box.

You can see that we've added enough equipment to turn a living room or den into something that can look like the control deck of the Starship Enterprise.

Maybe that's fitting. The viewing experience is worlds beyond what you're seeing now on that old analog set. All you need to make the move is some money set aside and a good excuse.

Panasonic 150-inch Plasma HDTV Coming in 2010, Next Stop OLED

While the rest of the world goes cuckoo for LCD, Panasonic remains committed to plasma technology with a new plasma plant (their fifth) scheduled to begin operation in Japan in May, 2009. The plant will have the ability to mass-produce the massive pieces of "mother glass" required to manufacturer the 150-inch plasma flat panel we first saw in prototype form at CES and again this week at CEATEC in Japan.  But Panasonic said they expect to begin production of the biggest ever flat panel TV later next year or early in 2010. 

The new mother glass, which will measure in at nearly 150 inches wide and 83 inches tall, can provide the panel material for sixteen 42-inch flat panels or one whopping 150-inch set. But even 150 inches isn't large enough to meet Panasonic's long-term goals.

In their future technology demos at CEATEC Japan this week, Panasonic showed off their Life Wall concept television - a TV that takes up literally an entire wall of a house. Inset within the main screen can be multiple individual screens (for family members to enjoy different shows), each of which can follow around the individual as he or she moves about the room, getting smaller or larger as the individual approaches or moves away from the screen. These advanced technologies were simulated at CEATEC through the use of synchronized rear projectors but Panasonic's vision is to have a Life Wall made up of one continuous flat panel TV. And this is something that's not really feasible with plasma or LCD, though it may be possible with OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode).

So far, only Sony has released an OLED TV to the public, though theirs hardly qualifies as a mass market product - it's an 11-inch TV that sells for $2000. But in a private meeting with Panasonic executives at CEATEC, we learned that Panasonic is indeed at work experimenting with and researching the viability of OLED for large screen applications, although they do not expect this to lead to a commercial product until at least 2013. Until then, plasma, LCD and projection technologies will have to do.

How to Buy a Flat-Screen HDTV

Before you drop hundreds or thousands of dollars on the wrong flat-panel HDTV, read our comprehensive breakdown of everything you need to know. Our advice might just help you save some money.

The Big Picture
The supersizing of the American TV continues--but as screens grow ever bigger, tube sizes are going on crash diets. The once-popular 32-inch CRT-based set is a major hog, weighing well over a hundred pounds and requiring a couple of feet of space behind it. Today, thin is in, and flat-panel displays are your best bet for the best picture.

So which kind of flat-panel HDTV should you buy: a plasma model or an LCD set? Both technologies have made it possible to build very shallow, relatively lightweight TV screens with large picture areas. Both carry higher prices than their bulkier brethren, although the gap has shrunk over recent years. In the end, however, you must weigh the differences between plasma and LCD TVs, and determine which works better for your viewing conditions.

The first thing you should know, whether you look at plasma or LCD, is that almost all the sets on the market now are wide-screen models. Translation: Such sets have a 16:9 ratio of screen width to screen height (also referred to as the aspect ratio), which is the standard for HDTV and very close to the ratio used for most modern movies. As a result, the displays are more rectangular than the traditional, almost-square 4:3 sets of the past.

You can find the latest prices on both plasma and LCD TVs in PC World's Shop and Compare center.

Plasma
Essentially all current plasma displays offer HDTV resolution. Screen sizes begin at 42 inches diagonal and typically range up to about 70 inches (occasionally moving up to the downright ridiculous 150-inch sets that companies trot out for trade shows). Prices start at around $1000 and can reach about $15,000.

You get what you pay for in plasma, which means you can't expect to see the same picture quality from a $999 42-inch display that you would from a same-size model selling for $2000, a more typical price. The budget model will usually have lower contrast and poorer reproduction of black and of dark grays, yielding a picture with less punch and detail. A bigger problem with a bargain set is that it may do a worse job of upconverting regular standard-definition (SD) TV programs and DVDs to its native resolution. The resulting picture could look softer, coarser, or noisier than if it had better processing.

The most expensive plasmas in a given screen size are typically 1080p models, which offer 1920 by 1080 resolution. Whether this provides a visible improvement in picture quality over lower but more typical plasma resolutions, such as 1366 by 768 or 1024 by 768, depends on screen size and viewing distance. The smaller the screen, the closer you must be to it to see the benefit of a higher display resolution. For example, with a 50-inch screen you would have to sit within about 10 feet to perceive the difference between 1080p and 1366 by 768.

Like CRTs, plasmas use phosphors to generate light, which means they can be subject to "burn-in"--or, at least, the older plasma sets are susceptible. Burn-in occurs when a static image stays on the screen for a long time; for example, it could be the score box for a ballgame on ESPN, the health meter in a video game, or an annoying network logo that squats in the corner of your screen.

Fortunately, you can minimize the risk by keeping contrast and brightness settings reasonable (virtually all TV sets come out of the box with their contrast, brightness, color, and sharpness controls turned up too high) and by using stretch modes to fill the screen when you're watching 4:3 programming. And for the most part, today's TVs use pixel-shifting strategies that continually move the image on the screen in imperceptibly tiny increments to help prevent burn-in. Such technology should help--that is, unless you plan to watch NCAA March Madness nonstop. Then you have bigger issues.

One last thing to bear in mind with plasma sets is the audio. Most sets now come with speakers either built in or attached to the sides or bottom of the panel, but some remain strictly video displays with neither speakers nor any integrated TV tuner. In such cases you will need to factor those additional costs into your home-theater budget.

You can find the latest prices on plasma TVs in PC World's Shop and Compare center.

LCD
LCD screens range from desktop-friendly 15-inch models up to 70-inch wide-screen wonders complete with speakers and TV tuners. At screen sizes smaller than 42 inches, HDTV LCDs still come at a premium price, but the category is falling into a much more reasonable range. A 32-inch high-definition LCD, for instance, could cost anywhere from about $600 to $2000 depending on its manufacturer and features. (A 32-inch wide-screen display has about the same screen height as a 27-inch TV with a conventional 4:3 aspect ratio.) Once you start craving something larger than 50 inches, though, LCD shopping becomes a little more cost-prohibitive.

LCDs are continuing to play catch-up with plasma models in visual performance. LCD sets often come under criticism for having lower contrast ratios than their plasma counterparts do, as they have a tougher time reproducing deep black and dark grays. That's saying nothing of slower screen response times (aka the refresh rate), which causes on-screen blurring with fast-moving action scenes; sports and video-game fiends are the people most likely to find that problematic.

However, new advances in LCD technology are attempting to resolve the refresh-rate issue. We're seeing more models that refresh the display 120 times per second instead of the standard 60. Sets accomplish this by interpolating between frames to create new frames with pixels illuminated at levels midway between those of the preceding and succeeding real frames--in other words, by faking it. If you're buying a new LCD HDTV, make sure that it has this 120-Hz feature.

LCDs are often one to several inches thicker than plasmas and have a somewhat narrower effective viewing angle. (Plasmas, like CRTs, are easily viewable from well off to the side and do not exhibit any change in brightness as you stand up or sit down.) On the other hand, LCDs are completely immune to burn-in, are easier to view in brightly lit rooms, and more often include all the standard features of a conventional TV. LCDs also run cooler than plasmas, minimizing the need for potentially noisy cooling fans.

Another bonus of LCDs is that they give you the freedom to set them up wherever you please. LCDs work equally well in the dark or in bright-light situations. Or maybe you want to have your TV serve double duty as a huge monitor. LCD panels are light--way lighter than plasmas of the same size--and won't require a team of Clydesdales to haul between rooms.

Hi Def in Low Dollars

The best time to buy an HDTV is always six months from now, when prices drift lower and technology gets better. At some point, it's time to jump in. After summer sales lagged, manufacturers are now tempting consumers in this back-to-football season with deals like $999 (list price) for a Westinghouse 42-inch LCD with 1080p resolution.

The big names - Samsung, Panasonic, Sony and Sharp - haven't yet jumped into the less-than-$1,000 pool, but Westinghouse did, with a recent price drop on the TX-42F430S. Coincidentally, it's the model I was hosting for an in-home trial.

This set arrived last year at $1,600, and no one blinked. The hi-def die-hards loved it, mostly because it was 1080p at a 720p price, it had four HDMI connections and superb video processing.

Earlier this year, when the price reached $1,200, the TX-42F430S was at least $600 less than similar brand-name sets. Vizio used the same strategy - good, though not spectacular, televisions at a great price - to become one of the top three flat-panel sellers in North America. CBS, which owns the venerable Westinghouse name, licensed it to Westinghouse Digital Electronics, a Santa Fe Springs, Calif., company that has ties to LCD-panel maker Chi Mei Optoelectronics of Taiwan.

Westinghouse then caught people's eye with bargain-basement, 1080p sets whose 1,920 x 1,080 pixels display every detail of hi-def television programming and Blu-ray movies. To see this extra detail on a 42-inch set, you must sit no more than 5 1/2 feet from the screen. (Sitting farther away? Look for a less expensive 720p set.)

The TX-42F430S offers more than technical enticements. It has a simple on-screen setup and convenient rear-panel connections in a cascading, side-firing arrangement. It also has all those HDMI connections - for a DVD player, game console or two and cable box - and a PC input.

The Westinghouse performed as well as some $2,000-plus sets I've subjected to the Silicon Optix HQV Benchmark hi-def test disc, too. It showed virtually no jagged-edge artifacts when converting an interlaced image (1080i) to progressive video (1080p) and only a brief moire when converting another sequence to video that was originally shot in film.

The Westinghouse lost me, though, on its inability to reproduce a dark shade of black. A deeper black level makes everything look better: Colors become more saturated, the image appears more dimensional, and shadow detail, like the ripples in Superman's cape, are more plainly visible.

The TX-42F430S also had poor off-axis viewing. The sharper the angle, the more washed-out the picture looked. These are common complaints about LCD sets, though. For a 42-inch, 1080p LCD with excellent video processing and a very good picture, the TX-42F430S is hard to overlook at the discounted $850. It will remain in Westinghouse's lineup at least through the end of the year. Let's see how quickly any of the big-name brands match it.

Not everyone has the room, or the money, for a big-screen HDTV. The cheapskate's hi-def alternative: a USB HDTV adapter like Hauppauge's WinTV-HVR-950Q ($99, hauppauge.com) that turns a computer into a TV. This Windows-only TV stick - a USB connector at one end and antenna jack at the other - receives both analog and digital over-the-air signals with an included mini-antenna. It also gets digital-cable programming. Once you've loaded the software onto a computer, you can watch, pause and record programming. Just insert the WinTV into a computer's USB 2.0 port, then sit back with the remote control. Despite the terrible reception in our office, I still managed to get 16 channels, including nine digital, on my PC. (Oprah, is that you?) The WinTV-Scheduler and TitanTV program guide made my PC a digital video recorder. Unlike cable or satellite service, though, there's no monthly fee. The WinTV needs some computer firepower and storage (about 5 gigabytes per hour of HD recording), but it's a cheap path to HDTV.

Dealer Data: Survey Picks HDTV Winners

Pacific Media Associates last week announced the winners in its 12th annual survey of dealers, naming four winners in separate HDTV categories.

The dealers asked by PMA gave Mitsubishi the Gold Award for Professional LCD Flat Panel Displays, while giving the Gold Award for plasma displays to NEC Display Solutions. On the question of Product Quality/Reliablity, Samsung Electronics won on the LCD side, while the plasma winner was Pioneer Electronics.

“We’re proud that our annual survey is able to give the flat panel display companies clear and actionable feedback directly from the retailers,” Pacific Media’s president, William Coggshall, said as part of the announcement. “we’re honored to have this opportunity to recognize the outstanding performance by these four companies in our 12th annual survey.”

Samsung Launches Premium LED HD TV

Samsung has unveiled its LED TV that claims to offer premium picture quality and a dynamic contrast ratio of 2,000,000:1.

The Series 9 TV sports a black ‘Crystal Design' bezel with matching glass base and comes with various innovations such as LED Smartlighting that claims to produce bright, vibrant colours and premium picture quality, and reduces power consumption.

Samsung's General Manager, CE Marketing, Mark Leathan said, "It is the combination of these two technology innovations - LED Smartlighting and a whopping 2,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio - that make our premium Series 9 a sight to remember. In our recently completed annual Newspoll HD TV Survey, nearly 78 percent of people said picture quality was a key factor in deciding on their HD television. We are confident that this unit will deliver the highest quality pictures available on an LCD TV."

The Samsung Series 9 also offers four key media solutions that will change how you interact with your television:

InfoLive is an innovative feature which provides constant connection with a real-time RSS viewer for news, weather and stock information.
Wiselink Pro makes it possible to plug and play favourite pictures, videos, movies and music through USB 2.0 connections.

DLNA links your TV with your home PC to access any stored entertainment and media files.
The in-built Content Library stores a wide range of informational and entertainment content such as fitness programmes, delicious recipes and games for children. It even includes a collection of art images so your TV can double as a framed masterpiece.

The Series 9 will be available from October 2008 in 46, and 55 inches for $5,499 and $6,999 respectively.

Laser TV becomes new HDTV Entrant

You thought plasma, LCD, OLED, DLP and CRT were all the choices you had in HDTV? Think again, man. Mitsubishi is adding a new color to the palette, in the form of a high-def TV that uses laser technology. Expect to pay a large premium, though, as always, for the increase in picture quality and environmental friendliness.

Mitsubishi's LaserVue HDTV is slated for release fairly soon, well in time for the holiday season. The difference over other high-def sets is that it uses an engine powered by laser lights, instead of standard TV lighting technology. It sounds cool, as many new fangled ideas do, but expect to pay around $7,000 to get in on the new fad.
The LaserVue set will retail for $6,999 when it comes out by the end of this quarter. Mitsubishi promises that it offers a sharper picture, more defined colors and greater power efficiency. It will use approximately one third of the power that a similar plasma HDTV would require.

Sony's OLED (organic light-emitting diode) HDTV has been making waves with its unbelievably thin form factor and a picture that looks even more crisp than some of the most expensive LCD/plasma sets out there.

Mitsubishi's set offers that as well as the ability to display content in 3D, without the need for those goofy glasses. If you aren't interested in this, then I guess it's time to go adjust your rabbit ears.

View the Mitsubishi LaserVue Site