Posted on 08/28/2009 2:02:29 AM PDT by Las Vegas Dave
While HDTVs have been popular Black Friday items in the past few years, GottaDeal.com expects that this holiday season will be the a significant one for HDTV purchases by the average consumer. Prices have dropped this year more than any previous year, and with the digital TV transition now complete, a large part of the general public is looking to get a new HDTV, either as a primary or secondary television, and this Black Friday should provide an large number of deals. With HDTVs, quality can vary greatly from the cheaper to the more expensive units. In many cases, the lowest-priced models on Black Friday are stripped-down models made exclusively for that retailer's sale. In many cases they lack features and the quality components used to manufacture higher priced models. That doesn't necessarily mean that these deals aren't great - it's just a case of "buyer beware" as you should not expect $2,000 performance from a $500 HDTV.
The two primary types of flat panel HDTVs in the Black Friday ads will be LCD and Plasma. Plasma HDTVs tend to be cheaper going by cost per inch, but that is not always the case as there are some very high-end, highly rated plasma models out there. The maximum resolution of an HDTV is also something that you'll see in the ads. Most HDTVs will either be 1080p or 720p. These numbers represent the maximum lines of horizontal resolution that the TV can display at once. 1080p is the native resolution for things like Blu-ray, some video games and other sources, and being higher resolution means that these models will cost more.
LCD HDTVs can come with different refresh rates. As of a couple years ago, most models were 60Hz. Newer models are 120Hz or higher. Most consumers won't notice the difference between the different rates, although on some source materials such as movies shot on film, it can be somewhat noticeable. Newer technology such as LED-backlit HDTVs has hit the market, however it will likely be another year or two before these models get the full Black Friday discount treatment from retailers.
On to price predictions. Consumers should fully expect to see 42" plasma and HDTVs in the $399 to $499 range this year. During the last few months on GottaDeal.com, there have been posted deals for 42" HDTVs for under $600 in a few cases, so it's completely realistic to expect at least one retailer to have a deal under $400 on a lower-quality model. These cheaper HDTVs will likely be 720p and will lack features found in more expensive models. Prices on 50" plasma and LCD HDTVs should also fall this Black Friday, perhaps to somewhere around $599 to $699
I went with on because the use less power and they last longer.
The heat and energy created by the plasmas are awfully high, at least on my Panasonics. Wonder how the LCD’s compare?
Friday night boxing
Milton Berle
I Remember Mama
Whew!
I think LED is WHY the LCD and Plasma sets are getting so cheep. The retailers clearly see the writing on the wall. You don’t want to be stuck with a bunch of those things.
I was amazed at the power consumption of the LED sets. And every square inch of the set is the same exact brightness. And the thickness, and the weight. Well, I ramble, but you get my drift.
Congratulations on your set. With blueray it must be spectacular.
I don’t have Blue Ray. I download movies. I only watch them once. I have gone all digital. I have pulled all VCR’s and DVD players. I only use my XBOX 360 for playback. It has a great picture. My Rotel receiver and Vandersteen surround speakers are what makes it. I just changed from a InFocus 61md10 to the 55” Samsung. I miss the bigger size but Samsumg LED is limited to 55” right now. The picture is like having a window on the wall. It is a 3D picture.
LED is the way to go. Forget Plasma or LCD.
I was in a store and watched a little of Sea Biscuit on blu-ray on an LED screen, maybe 50” screen...an AMAZING combination of technologies. It was the first time I looked at a screen and was unreservedly impressed...this at various angles and distances, even a FOOT AWAY. I’m glad I’ve held off on LCDs. They are...in my humble opinion...horribly overrated.
I agree with you. Unfortunately I have some money invested in plasmas, so it may be awhile before I “upgrade”. OLED’s sound interesting also. Wonder where they are relative to LED’s?
.....and in south Texas.....we had only 3 stations....in B/W.... The weathermen had to actually draw graphics on a paper chart....
>>I was in a store and watched a little of Sea Biscuit on blu-ray on an LED screen, maybe 50” screen...an AMAZING combination of technologies. It was the first time I looked at a screen and was unreservedly impressed...this at various angles and distances, even a FOOT AWAY. I’m glad I’ve held off on LCDs. They are...in my humble opinion...horribly overrated.<<
It is interesting you say that. In my exercise room I STILL use my sharp 32” tube set. When the Plasma an LCD sets first came out I had been doing a lot of reading on the subject. I remember going to the TV store and, although I noticed nice bright colors compared to my CRT set, I was totally unimpressed with the picture. Movements would blur, the sharpness came and went. There were weird artifacts and there was an odd unnatural look to the picture. And I am not talking about the “analog tv” picture when viewed on those sets. But when it is viewed, it is shown up for just how bad it is.
Meanwhile, the LED sets I’ve seen eliminate all of that. They really are what I envisioned in “flatscreen” back in the 1970’s when my AV buddies and I talked about it.
I looked at the Sony first. They are more expensive and the picture is not as detailed. Now having detail can be a problem. I was watching Star Wars on Spike the other night. The CGI masking sticks right out. You can see a cheap set very well. If the show is good, you will love it.
I think you mean LED back light. OLED sets which use no back light at all are still extremely expensive and may never catch on.
I think the LED back lights give a higher contrast ratio, but if that's what turns you on, then get a plasma for much less money. The fact is most HDTV's today look great to most people, regardless of the cost or technology.
Drool! I have been wanting something like this for years! Now movies will really play like movies really do in the theater. In the theater a 24 fps movie is actually played at 48fps, with a shutter in front of the lamp flashing each frame on the screen twice, in order to reduces Persistence of Vision:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persistence_of_vision#Film_systems
Look at the positives.
It’s helping heat your house in the winter.
:- )
Ya, those $15,000 32" LCD TV's will never catch on either. I mean, who the hell is going to buy one of those?
What? You can get a 32" for under $500?
Yes! But when they came out, they were as much as a car. The OLED may experience the same drop in price and increase in size.
The interesting thing about LED backlighting, in addition to the reduced power consumption, is its novel ability to selectively turn off or greatly reduce the amount of backlighting in certain areas of the screen, dictated by program content. This boosts the contrast ratio several orders of magnitude. And as we all (should) know, better contrast == better picture quality.
And while we wait for OLED to drop in price, the other technologies keep getting better and they are already affordable. That's why OLED may never catch on.
Sorry to nitpick, but the TVs are LED backlit LCD, rather than true LED picture.
That is true but it is a better LCD and blows then away.
Thanks, Dave. Got a 64 inch Samsung DLP. Looks good so far ........ FRegards
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