Let them watch HDTV
It’s not easy to find a silver lining to the economic meltdown, but here’s one: cheap high-definition televisions.
Bargains on consumer electronics goods, especially TVs, have become a tradition for the holiday shopping season. But this year prices for HDTVs are expected to plunge as fast as ratings for the new “Knight Rider.”
Analyst Riddhi Patel of ISupply forecasts that prices of 47-inch liquid crystal display models will go as low as $800, 42-inch plasma sets to $500 and 32-inch LCDs to $400.
Those are examples of sleek, flat-panel models. If you don’t mind some depth on your HDTV, the bargains get even more fetching. You might be able to pick up a 64-inch, rear-projection, digital light processing (DLP) model, for example, for less than $1,000.
“It’s a buyer’s market,” said analyst Richard Doherty of Envisioneering Group.
The very best prices probably will be available only during the traditional door-buster sale of the season -- on the day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday.
It’s usually a day of jam-packed parking lots, limited stock of the best bargains and traumatized children in front of you in long lines.
The one-day specials are indeed often gone in a day, but HDTV prices probably will take a big dip for the entire holiday season. Patient shoppers might even get a second shot at Black Friday lows; if holiday sales are weak, as many analysts predict, merchants desperate to clear out inventory might slash prices again.
Don’t expect to find the lowest prices on name-brand, state-of-the-art models, but that’s not the barrier it once was. Whereas your grandparents might have demanded Zenith or some other prominent label of the day, consumers nowadays are more than willing to wander off the name-brand ranch.
Not only is the budget label Vizio currently the country’s bestseller, but some of its HDTVs have also gotten solid ratings from reviewers for CNET ( www.cnet.com) and Consumer Reports magazine.
Other budget brands haven’t fared as well with reviewers, however, and consumers have complained that it can take months to obtain repairs from some of the more obscure labels, even under warranty.
As for image quality, shoppers should be aware of two important factors.
The first is resolution. The most advanced HDTVs have a resolution of 1080p. The number stands for the number of digital lines that go into making the image -- the more lines, the better the picture. The “p” stands for progressive scan, which delivers a better image than the other regimen in use, known as interlace (as in 1080i).
The next step down from the top resolution is 720p, which usually comes with a significant price break.
That’s great if you use your TV only to watch programming from broadcast, cable or satellite sources. Those top out at 720p for the most part, so there’s little reason to get a set with higher resolution.
Also, if you have a screen smaller than 40 inches, you can probably go 720p without sacrificing much if any quality.
However, if you’re going for a larger set and plan to use it to watch high-definition, Blu-ray discs or play games capable of the top resolution, then spending the extra money for 1080p could make sense.
And here’s the second big factor: contrast. But on this you’re mostly on your own. There’s no standard rating for contrast, so comparing the statistics of two manufacturers is an apples-and-oranges game.
When it comes to contrast, reviews are a good touchstone, but the best strategy is to check out sets in person.
Just remember that the images on most HDTVs look good in isolation. It’s better to compare two or more televisions side by side, or at least within viewing distance of one another, on the showroom floor.
And don’t rule out the brands with major pedigrees such as Sony, Panasonic, Sharp and Samsung. They’ll probably be aggressively priced too.
Even before Black Friday, some 50-inch plasma sets have been advertised at less than $1,000.
That’s especially significant because $1,000 is a key psychological barrier, said Paul Gagnon, director of North America TV market research for DisplaySearch.
“That’s where a lot of consumers make the distinction between a luxury and regular purchase,” he said.
For all too many people in these tough times, $1,000 could mean the difference between the luxury of paying the mortgage and staying up at night worrying about foreclosure. But if you do have some extra cash -- or are in the banking business and in line for some bailout money -- the bargain days for HDTVs are coming up quick.
Here’s a rundown of the types of sets available:
LCD -- These lightweight, energy-efficient models are the flat-panel HDTVs of choice for most consumers. And it’s little wonder -- the images are sparkling bright, even in well-lighted rooms, and the most prominent problem of earlier LCD sets, occasional dead pixels that mar the picture quality, has been eradicated. “It’s been years since I’ve seen a dead pixel,” Doherty said.
Gagnon said that notable bargains would be available for the 32-inch screen size. “It’s an attractive size for people with limited space,” he said. “Those sets will be below $500 this holiday season, with some of the off brands down to $400.”
Going a bit larger, there will be 42-inch, 1080p LCD sets selling for about $1,000. That’s about what the 720p sets in the 42-inch category were going for last year.
Plasma -- Because of the rising popularity of LCD, prognosticators practically wrote off plasma TVs a couple of years ago.
But plasma never went away and could be stronger than ever in an ailing economy.
“Plasma is where you get the best bang for the buck in color contrast and fast-motion viewing,” Doherty said
Plasma sets are heavier than LCDs and not as tolerant of light-filled rooms. Also, they tend to use more electricity.
But the good ones produce an image that is gorgeous, and the prices, especially in the larger screen sizes, undercut LCD.
“I think we will see 50-inch plasma TVs below $1,000,” Gagnon said.
A copy of an authentic-looking Best Buy advertising circular for Black Friday has a 50-inch Panasonic 720p plasma model for $900.
Is this elaborate circular, which has been going around the Web, the real deal? Best Buy would neither confirm nor deny -- the electronics chain officially releases its Black Friday pricing Tuesday.
DLP -- It’s not easy having depth.
These rear-projection (a.k.a. microdisplay) televisions used to be big players in the HDTV field. But they’re not flat -- most stretch back about a foot -- and flat is all the rage.
Not only is a DLP more difficult to hang on the wall, it also doesn’t fit in with the sleek TV silhouette that consumers crave.
Other DLP problems: The picture usually doesn’t look as good at sharp angles as on LCD and plasma models. And a few people say they see visual anomalies, such as rainbow effects, when watching DLP.
Add it all up, and the industry is moving away from DLP. The only major manufacturers offering the sets are Samsung and Mitsubishi.
But if you don’t mind the bulk and aren’t always seeing rainbows when looking at DLP, there are fantastic bargains out there, especially if you want to go big.
“There will be some 64-inch sets at sub-$1,000 prices,” Doherty said. “You can’t beat that.”
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