No electronic product will be hotter holiday season 2006 than flat screen TVs, partially thanks to continues dropping of the prices (half what they were two years ago). With more and better TVs now available from an ever-growing list of brands. It’s just a great time to purchase a new high-definition LCD or plasma television set.

To help you decide what and when to buy, you can find here some tips that may support you this shopping season.

be price-wise and brand-savvy
The average price for LCD and plasma sets was 22 percent lower this June than it was a year earlier, according to Pacific Media Associates, a research firm that tracks display prices. Competition from lesser-known brands, special promotions, clearance sales on older sets, and price cuts by manufacturers are behind the lower prices.

Smaller manufacturers often use bargain prices to attract buyers, this forces major brands to trim their prices as well. Among the 32-inch LCD HDTVs that did very well in the tests was a Sony model priced at $1,500, competitive with some other major brands. Within that same size grouping, models from Westinghouse and Magnavox did respectably, though not as well as the Sony–but at $1,000 each, they cost considerably less.

Prices could drop even lower in coming months because of promotions tied to the football season, holiday sales, and continued discounting of older models. Some market analysts project that smaller sets could see the biggest price cuts because of oversupply. Quixel Research, a market research firm expects a 20 percent or so drop in LCD and plasma prices by year’s end, with especially good deals on 26- to 37-inch LCD models.

Of course there will always be bigger, better, lower-priced sets on the horizon. You undoubtedly got a lower price and more value than you would have earlier. Shop around for the best deal, and keep your receipt in case you find the set selling for less within a month or so. Often retailers will match the lower price.

for screen size, think big
Plasma sets used to be the only flat-screen TVs larger than 40 inches, but LCDs now come in big sizes too. With the price gap between plasma TVs and big-screen LCD sets narrowing, more buyers are choosing LCDs. Last year, 32-inch screens were the big sellers among LCD TVs, but 37- to 46-inch sets are likely to attract more interest in coming months.

With larger LCD sets posing stiff competition, plasma makers are pushing 50-inch and larger plasma TVs at very attractive prices. But some companies, such as Sony and Mitsubishi, have stopped producing plasma TVs for the consumer market and are focusing on LCD sets.

ConsumerReports says here for the best HD experience, buy as big a screen as your room size and budget allow. Surveys of HDTV owners show that many wish they’d purchased a bigger set. This is also my professional experience. While in the purchasing process, peopple look at their current TV, after a while they wished that would have bought a larger screen.

See Types (available to subscribers) for help choosing between LCD and plasma, then consult the LCD and plasma TV Ratings (available to subscribers) for specific models.

insist on fine performance
LCD and plasma technology have made progress over the past year or so, addressing weaknesses that detracted from picture quality. LCD TVs, for example, have had difficulty producing true black and natural-looking motion with no blurring. They’ve also had a narrower viewing angle than plasma sets. The newest LCD models have improved in those areas. Similarly, the best plasma TVs have added features to minimize distracting reflections and screen burn-in, two issues from the past for plasma technology.

Often customer come up with the old problems of LCDs and-or plasma televisions. Don’t assume that a new LCD or plasma TV has the same problems as an older set of the same brand you may have seen. Both technologies have improved, and LCD is catching up with plasma. The best LCDs score as well as the top plasma TVs.

Consider a 1080p TV
TVs with 1920×1080 native resolution — also called 1080p — are starting to gain momentum. A number of sets of this type are now in stores. More are expected next year. These displays have 1,920 pixels from left to right and 1,080 from top to bottom. They’re the first consumer TVs that can potentially display all the detail in the 1080i signal in most HDTV broadcasts, as well as the 1080p high-def DVDs from Blu-ray and HD-DVD players.

Other big-screen HDTVs top out at 1024×768 or 1366×720 resolution; or labeled as “720p” sets. Their screens contain about half the number of pixels in a 1080p set, so they have to convert 1080i HD signals to a lower resolution. This would mean a drop in the quality of the picture. While a 1080p TV can display more and finer detail than a 720p set, resolution alone doesn’t determine picture quality. Black level, brightness, and color accuracy are just as important. A 720p set that does everything right can have excellent picture quality, but an equally adept 1080p set has the potential to be even better.

The difference is most obvious on large screens and in close viewing. With a 1080p model, you can sit near enough to appreciate the fine detail without seeing the faint grid of pixels. However from a normal viewing distance — about 15 feet or about 4,5 meters from a 42-inch screen, a 1080p set won’t look dramatically better than a good 720p TV. More information on The Best Viewing Distance To Watch A TV From.

Keep in mind that any display device is only as good as the signal it receives. A less-than-pristine cable signal, for example, limits even the best TV.

If you want state-of-the-art technology and potentially the best HD picture quality, buy a 1080p TV. If you simply want fine picture quality and prefer to spend less, opt for a good 720p TV.

think about reliability
With more consumers buying flat-panel TVs, there’s a growing amount of data on reliability, and the news is good: During the first year or two of use, LCD and plasma TVs have been just as reliable overall as traditional TVs, which have historically required very few repairs. Some consumers are opting for LCDs over plasmas for fear that plasma TVs have a shorter life span, but such concern is unwarranted, says Rosemary Abowd of Pacific Media Associates.

The latest product reliability survey of ConsumerReports shows no repair issues during the first year or two of use for LCD TVs from JVC, Panasonic, Samsung, Sanyo, Sharp, Sony, and Toshiba. Dell LCD sets have had higher than average repairs. In plasma, there have been no repair issues for Fujitsu, Hitachi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Sony, or Toshiba. The repair rate for Philips and Vizio plasma sets has been higher than average. At this moment there is not enough data to report on other brands or on long-term reliability for any LCDs or plasmas, according to ConsumerReports.org.

Considering the results of these survey’s an extended warranty generally isn’t worth it. If you are only happy with a peace of mind on possible repairs, it might be worthwhile for you (ConsumerReports: pay no more than 15% of the price of the TV set).

Summary:

• Prices continue to drop, with more volatility expected.
• LCD technology is pulling even with plasma for quality.
• More 40-inch-plus LCD TVs arrive, along with more 50-inch and larger plasma sets.
• 1080p TVs offer higher resolution, at a higher price.
• The surveys of ConsumerReports.org show few repairs so far for many flat-panel brands.

Ready to buy? See our LCD and plasma TV Ratings (available to subscribers yearly subscribtion for $26). Not decided yet? Watch the December report from ConsumerReports, which will have Ratings of more flat panels and other TV types.

Source: ConsumerReports.org

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