Archive for: September, 2009
September 29th, 2009
HDTVs sales back on the rise, but smaller, cheaper sets may dominate
Though they never completely tanked like some other goods, HDTVs certainly hit a bump in the road during the economic downturn. But as the economy begins to rebound, it appears that TV sales are starting to grow again as well—though a new era of frugality may be on the way.
According to research firm SNL Kagan, sales in the second half of 2009 will increase to the point where the number of HDTVs sold will be 29 million units, which bests 2008’s 26.2 million units sold. However, the revenue for new TV sales will actually drop, from $28.4 billion in 2008 to $25.5 billion this year.
Part of that has to do with the inevitable drop in prices that occur each year as production costs fall, and especially this year when steep price reductions occurred at the beginning of the year when retailers were desperate to reduce inventory. But it may also have to do with a new buying trend when it comes to HDTVs: smaller and cheaper. Research from electronics Web site Retrevo suggests that more people are interested in HDTVs that are 37 inches and smaller than they were in 2008. While the ratio of interest between small sets and those larger than 37 inches was about 1:1 last year at this time, that ratio has shifted to 3:2 in favor of smaller sets.
Retrevo surmises that people are purchasing smaller sets due to the conversion from analog to digital TVs or because they’ve already purchased a large TV and are looking for a second HDTV for another room. Here’s another reason: With credit drying up, people can’t buy a big set and stick it on a credit card or finance it with their home equity loan. Forced to stick to a budget, people may realize that they can live with a 32-inch set. After all, unless you had a big rear-projection set in your house, your CRT wasn’t bigger than that and you survived.
Are you planning to buy a(nother) HDTV? Answer the poll question below and let us know what size set you’re going to buy.
Loading ...September 27th, 2009
Westinghouse releases 120Hz 42-inch LCD HDTV for $750
Not so long ago, it was a premium feature for top-of-the-line LCDs, but seemingly within a matter of months TVs with 120Hz refresh rates have hit mainstream prices. Now it looks like the technology to compensate for image blurring in fast-moving action will reach bargain sets this holiday season.
Westinghouse has just announced the availability of the TX-42F970Z, a 42-inch 1080p HDTV with the aforementioned 120Hz spec and a $750 estimated price tag. After the TV’s inevitable discounting by retailers, you’ll be able to get 1080p and 120Hz refresh rates on a set for under $700. That doesn’t mean the TX-42F970Z is necessarily a great set, but it does suggest all but the cheapest LCDs will have 120Hz as a standard spec come next year.
The result, of course, is that a growing number of TV makers will start extolling the virtues of 240Hz sets, even though it’s debatable if the doubling of the refresh rate from 120Hz can even be discerned by most viewers. And once they’ll milked 240Hz for all its worth as a premium features, the companies will start touting 480Hz to well-heeled HDTV shoppers.
September 23rd, 2009
Best Buy previews its 32-inch LCD HDTV/Blu-ray player combo on its Web site
TVs with built-in DVD players have mostly been the domain of bargain brands, but given the far-improved quality of the Blu-ray format, these combo units could attract more mainstream attention. Sharp has already announced a pair of LCD TV/Blu-ray combos, and now Best Buy is undercutting Sharp’s pricing strategy with a similar unit under its Insignia house brand. While the Insignia NS-LBD32X-10A is on the company’s Web site, you can’t even pre-order it yet. It’s just going to be “coming soon” for $599.99.
The 32-inch HDTV is naturally 1080p for full Blu-ray playback, but it’s still a fairly small set to get the most out of the extra resolution. It does come with an Ethernet port, though there’s no mention of whether the integrated Blu-ray player supports BD-Live and its online features. The unit also sports a pair of HDMI ports. Given the price point, it’s not surprisingly that the refresh rate is just 60Hz. And the Blu-ray player may not wind up providing the best in playback performance, but for a casual viewer, it probably won’t be an issue.
Would you be interested in buying a HDTV/Blu-ray player combo? Let us know in our TalkBack section.
[Via Engadget]
September 21st, 2009
More details on HDI's 100-inch laser 3D TV: more energy-efficient, lower cost, walks on water
California startup HDI is already creating buzz with the 100-inch laser-based 3D HDTV it’s been demoing. If the claims made by the company rep I corresponded with today turn out to be true, we could be looking at a Holy Grail of sorts for the next generation of television.
According to the spokesperson, the set draws 80-percent less power than a 100-inch plasma, which equates to 200 watts instead of 1.5 kilowatts. More green claims about HDI technology: It reduces manufacturing pollution by 95 percent and offers a 60-percent cut in chemical and radioactive materials compared to current HDTV manufacturing. HDI also says that its technology could be used by a third-party manufacturer to create the laser set that would have a street price 60-percent lower than an equivalently sized plasma. Of course, that plasma would set you back 50 grand, more or less, so you wouldn’t be an 100-inch HDI-powered TV at Wal-mart, but the manufacturer could create a smaller set (say, 65 or 70 inches) with a market that wouldn’t exclusively be multimillionaires. As for such a manufacturers, HDI would not comment on if it was in discussion with any to actually produce this set commercially.
The HDI prototype’s most eye-popping spec is its 1080Hz refresh rate, which means that over 1,000 frames per second are being sent to each eye (for the brain to pull together as the 3D effect). The rep claims that it solves the issues with shutter-based 3D glasses, such as the nausea and headache that some people suffer from after watching 3D video using slower refresh rates. I guess it would be a (literal) case of seeing is believing.
HDI has been invited to be part of Intel CTO Justin Rattner’s keynote address on the future of television at the upcoming Intel Developers Conference later this week. The company also quotes Steve Wozniak’s reaction to a demo of the laser 3D TV: “Without a doubt, this is the best demonstration of 3D technology I have ever seen.” The question that remains for the rest of us is when will the viewing public get a demonstration of the technology in the form of a set it can purchase.
September 20th, 2009
Startup firm HDI previews 100-inch laser 3D HDTV
We’ve seen laser-based HDTVs from Mitsubishi, and Panasonic and Sony, among others, are looking to introduce 3D sets to American consumers next year. But now a California-based startup firm has unveiled a 100-inch laser-based 3D display. The company’s big claim is that the set also runs at 1080Hz, or more than twice as fast as 480Hz sets that are just popping up. While that spec may be ridiculous overkill in terms of 2D video watching, it might help 3D viewing, which requires two separate images being sent out (one for each eye) that the brain then interpolates into a three-dimension image.
HDI has announced no details about when their set would be commercially available, how much it will cost (educated guess: very, very much), and even if HDI would be the eventual manufacturer (or license the technology out). One detail is certain, though: You still have to wear those silly plastic glasses in order to get the 3D effect.
September 17th, 2009
California screenin': Majority of residents oppose big-screen TV ban
California has long been at the leading edge of energy conservation, for better and, sometimes, for worse. Case in point: The California Energy Commission has proposed set power-usage limits on television sets that manufacturers would have to meet in order to sell those TVs in the state. If adopted, the limits would effectively prevent any plasma HDTV larger than 60-inches using current technology from being commercially available in the Golden State.
Needless, mom-and-pop TV shops in California aren’t too happy with the idea, and a recent survey conducted by Zogby International suggests a majority of residents think such regulations go too far. That may not be entirely shocking, but what’s somewhat surprising is that the percentage is lower than you might think: 57 percent oppose the proposal, which means more than two in five Californians agree with the idea that large TVs shouldn’t be sold in the state.
While this feels like regulatory zeal gone a little too far, the green revolution is having an impact on HDTV manufacturing. LCDs and even plasmas have become more energy efficient, thanks in part to more stringent requirements for Energy Star certification. And as LED-backlit LCD HDTVs reach mainstream prices and OLED sets become more prevalent, their energy efficiency will save even more power than conventional LCDs. (I don’t suppose we’ll be seeing a cash-for-clunkers style promotion for less power-thirsty HDTVs, however.)
Do you believe large-screen TVs consume too much power, and therefore should be commercially unavailable if they can’t reach energy-usage limits? Answer the poll question below and let us know your thoughts in the TalkBack section.
Loading ...September 16th, 2009
Seagate tries to stay relevant in living rooms with FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player
Hard drive makers are trying hard to compete with media players in the home theater space. Western Digital has its WD TV and new WD TV Mini devices, while LaCie has its LaCinema line. Competitor Seagate isn’t twiddling its thumbs. Earlier this year, it released the FreeAgent Theater, which includes a 500GB external hard drive, but lacks an HDMI port.
The FreeAgent Theater was designed to appeal to those who weren’t bleeding-edge home theater fanatics, but Seagate is bumping up the specs with its new FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player. This time around, the HDMI port is onboard, as well as full 1080p HD and DTS™ 2.0 + surround-sound support. It also has three USB ports, but it still saddled with only an Ethernet port. Seagate says a new Wi-Fi adapter will be available for the player next month. While the original device only could display JPEG images, the new one offers BMP, GIF, PNG and TIFF file viewing.
The appeal of something like the FreeAgent Theater+ is the hard drive option, since networked Blu-ray players can already play files from your home PCs plus obviously play Blu-ray discs. You can dump your media files onto the included drive and then skip streaming issues entirely by playing files straight from the docked drive. But Seagate’s player doesn’t include the online services that connected Blu-ray drives offer, like support for Netflix on demand video streaming,
With the included 500GB drive, the FreeAgent Theater+ is now available for just $10 more than the original FreeAgent Theater at $289; there’s also an option to just purchase the dock for $149. Is it a more enticing option than its predecessor, and, more importantly, competing devices in this space? Let us know in our TalkBack section.
September 14th, 2009
More electronics salespeople recommend Samsung, not Sony LCD HDTVs
If you’re wondering why Sony is losing share in the HDTV market—that is, aside from its high prices—here’s one possibility. According to a new study by J.D. Power and Associates, salespeople at electronics retailers are increasingly recommending Samsung sets, while they’re less likely to recommend Sonys. In fact, Samsung LCDs were recommended 58 percent of the time to the “mystery shoppers” used for the report, but Sony recommendations were given less than 25 percent of the time. The really bad news: In 2008, the research firm’s studies showed recommendations for each brand were neck and neck.
One other interesting finding from the J.D. Power report: The percentage of salespeople who recommended LCD HDTVs dropped from 68.3% in the first quarter of 2009 to 59.4% in the second quarter. Oddly, though, the percentage who recommended plasmas (as opposed to not recommending a particular display technology) only went up a small amount (from 29.5% to 30%). While there are certainly some fine performing LCD TVs (especially those using LED backlighting), reviewers usually find plasma sets offer superior picture quality, which make it all the more curious that plasmas aren’t recommended more. Then again, maybe that’s because electronics stores jack up ambient lighting in their TV sections, which favor LCDs over the cooler plasma images.
September 12th, 2009
Pioneer's Project ET networked entertainment concept phones home (theaters)
After bailing out of the plasma HDTV market, Pioneer seemed destined to selling Blu-ray players and A/V receivers, but it has a bigger idea in mind with its Entertainment Tap (or Project ET) networked concept player. At its heart, it’s a streaming media box that plays files from your networked PCs on your HDTV as well as offering online services like Netflix’s on-demand video. But the company is trying to offer a few features that will put it ahead of the pack of similar devices.
At this week’s CEDIA home theater expo, Pioneer had a Entertainment Tap unit on display with 1TB of hard drive space, along with built-in Wi-Fi and a built-in Blu-ray player. It also has the ability to control home automation products via its Zigbee 2-Way remote control. It works well with iPhones, not only playing media back from the phone, but also letting the device control home theater functions. And like Internet-enabled TVs, it will offer applications like Twitter, even allowing you to tweet what you’re watching or listening to followers with the ability to purchase the media directly from the tweet.
Like all concepts, Project ET sounds really cool, but isn’t ready for release. Pioneer hasn’t offered a release date or even any details about specific products that will emerge from this project. Considering that it can’t be that tough for a competitor to add a 1TB hard drive to a Blu-ray player with built-in Wi-Fi, Pioneer might to hurry along with retail models pretty soon.
September 10th, 2009
LED HDTV explosion: Sony, Sharp, LG, JVC introduce new sets
They’re still priced too high to hit the mainstream, but LCD HDTVs with LED backlighting are becoming more and more prevalent. No fewer than four TV makers have just announced new sets using the technology, with a Sharp 32-inch model (the Aquos LC-32LE700UN) priced as low as $1,099.99.
JVC is also trotting out a 32-inch set, though its LT-32WX50 (pictured) will cost “less than $3,000,” no doubt in part because it’s just 6.4mm thin and weighs a mere 12.5 pounds. Sharp unveiled a whole new line of LED HDTVs: Joining the LC-32LE700UN are the 40-inch LC-40LE700UN ($1,699.99), the 46-inch LC-46LE700UN ($2,199.99), and the 52-inch LC-52LE700UN ($2,799.99). These sets are available now, while the JVC is due in November.
While Sharp is pricing its new TVs competitively, LG and Sony are adding wireless features that pump up the cost on their new LEDs. LG’s 55-inch 55LHX and Sony’s 46-inch Bravia KDL-46XBR10 and 52-inch Bravia KDL-52XBR10 transmit up to 1080p HD video signals wirelessly from special media boxes. The 55LJX is also THX Display certified, which means it automatically calibrates for optimal image quality according to THX specifications, while the Sonys feature an Ethernet port so you can tap into Bravia Internet Video content and on-screen widgets. None is cheap: The 46-inch and 52-inch Bravias will cost $4,500 and $5,000, respectively, when available next month, and 55LHX is priced at $4,799 and will be released “soon,” according to LG.
How low will the prices need to go on LED HDTVs before you invest in one? Let us know in the TalkBack section.
Sean Portnoy spent several years as an editor at Computer Shopper magazine, most recently serving as online executive editor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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