2007 saw HDTV prices continue to drop (around 25-30 percent), greatly improved plasma and LCD flat panel image quality and the additional of more HD channels by both cable and satellite providers. It was a heck of a good year for HDTV!
On the downside, the year also witnessed the continuation of the ruinous Blu-ray vs. HD DVD format war, a drop in small size (<30â€Â) LCD flat panel image quality due to price compression pressures on the set makers, industry consolidation and market turbulence with Hitachi, Toshiba and Sony announcing their exit from the rear projection market, and plasma maker Fujitsu deciding it will vacate the US HDTV market altogether. Here are the HD Guru’s predictions for 2008 1) Laser TV
Missing its planned 2007 introduction, Mitsubishi will ship large-screen DLP rear projectors using three (Red, Blue and Green) lasers for illumination. The HD Guru expects the sets will ship in late second or early third quarter 2008. What’s the promise of laser HDTV? Incredible, rich deep colors never before seen in a display, record brightness with extremely high contrast ratios and possibly the best image quality available. Mitsubishi will demo “Laser TV†to the press on January 7 at the 2008 CES. The HD Guru will be there to report all the details.
2) Price Reductions
HDTV prices will continue to drop, not as much, however, as in 2007. The HD Guru predicts about 20%. Flat panel manufacturing costs have been trimmed almost as far as possible, so the pace of the price reductions will finally begin to slow.
3) Greener HDTVs
2008 will bring HDTVs with higher efficiency and much lower power consumption. HD Guru expects a number of 2008 plasmas HDTV will consume half the power the 2007 models, making them far more efficient than fluorescent backlit LCD flat panels (called CCFL).
More companies will offer LED backlit LCD flat panels like the Samsung’s LNT-4081. There will be more 120 Hz LCD sets with smaller price premiums than in 2007. The higher refresh rate decreases motion blur, but it will not save energy, as all 120Hz panels to date use inefficient multiple CCFL backlighting .
Laser-driven rear projectors will produce high light levels with very little power consumption.
4) HD Disc Format War Continues
Expect Blu-ray and HD DVD to continue battling it out in 2008. Currently, both LG and Samsung offer players that accept both formats. Look for more companies to introduce new combo players, at lower prices. A combo high definition disc player is the best insurance against being stuck with an orphaned format beyond 2008.
5) 3D HDTV
3D TV (it is actually stereoscopic but is universally referred to as “3Dâ€Â) will arrive for HDTVs with the anticipated release of 3D movies on HD discs using a 3D compatible Blu-ray player and HDTV from Mitsubishi. The player will be compatible with Mitsubishi’s DLP rear projectors including the new Laser TV. LCD 3D flat panels may also arrive in 2008.
6) OLED HDTV
It has been reported that Samsung will show a 31†Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) with HDTV resolution with a ship date in late 2008. Expect Sony and one or two other vendors to announce OLED HDTV for 2008. OLED TVs are just a few millimeters thick and have excellent contrast ratios and black levels. Expect the first generation OLED HDTVs to be expensive. The big question is will the drive circuitry provide good motion resolution or will first generation HD OLED TVs suffer from motion blur? Stay tuned for an evaluation.
7) Thin Plasmas and LCD Flat Panels
Both technologies will go on a diet with Hitachi and at least one other vendor offering really thin (about 1.3 inch depth) LCD HDTVs. Plasmas will shrink down too. Expect them to be in the two-inch deep range.
8) Many More HD Channels
2008 will see a seismic shift to HD for a very wide array of cable channels. In addition, HD newsgathering will commence for the network news and all major sports and events such as the Democratic and Republican conventions and the summer Olympics. To accommodate the expansion of HD offerings, many cable companies will need upgrade their systems. DirecTV will launch another HD satellite to provide the bandwidth for all these new channels.
9) The Return of CableCARD
A number of top tier HDTVs will return to using CableCARD to allow reception of HDTV and standard definition cable channels without a cablebox. In 2007, most manufacturers abandoned the CableCARD due to lack of support by the cable providers. An FCC mandate in mid 2007 forced the cable providers to utilize CableCARD in their own set top boxes.
10) More Screen Sizes
Expect the return of the 32†screen for plasma as well as more affordable plasma HDTVs in the 60-inch and larger sizes. Look for an plasma in the 80†size range from at least one vendor.
The set makers will concentrate on image improvements in the 50†and above category, while pricing pressures will force under 40†LCD flat panels to lose features once considered standard
11) Chinese Brands to Enter the US Market
As reported earlier by the HD Guru, a Chinese LCD panel maker will enter the US HDTV market to compete directly with Vizio, Polaroid and other “off brand†HDTVs. If anticipated LCD panel shortages occur, the panel maker will have price and supply advantages that will cannibalize sales from the off brand companies they supplied in 2007.
To all our readers, a Happy High Definition New Year!
Copyright ©2007, 2008 Gary Merson/HD Guru™. All rights reserved. The content and photos within may not be distributed electronically or copied mechanically without specific written permission.
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what tv sells new today at 37″ or 42″ with a cable card slot? they work so well but I cannot find another now?
help !
Any drawbacks in hooking up either a blu ray or hd dvd player to my Pioneer 5080? ( 720)
I also have a 46″ samsung 4665 ( 1080 i), although the Pioneer is combined with a great surround sound set up and in a room set up that is better for movie watching.
NOTE: IF there is a drawback in combining the player with a 720, instead of a 1080 hdtv, I do have the option of switching the tvs
2 questions:
1 with greener televisions on the horizon.. how do you figure the new 81 series from Samsung stacks up?
2 in the maze of possibilities do you recommend getting the TV and player from a larger chain that does installation or buying it as cheaply as possible and hiring a private installation company to do the deed? pros and cons to both?
thanks.
Great article! Anybody heard about the Holographic Projection Technology that is supposedly being used in the war? Apparently, a fine mist is sprayed into the air and a series of laser projectors are aimed at it. With computer sync the resulting images appear to be lifelike 3D from any angle.
An Artillery Battalion might appear on the horizon and distact the enemy just long enough for the old “bait and switch”.
How long before lifesize 3D images of our favorite VoomHD series dance before our bloodshot eyes?
Would like to hear our Guru’s comments on the subject. Thanks.
After your glowing review of the Samsung BD-UP5000 combi HD and Blu-Ray player, I decided that it was the one for me. But now I’m seeing a new model coming this summer.(BD-UP5500) Can you tell me what upgrades the new model will have over the old one?
I have great hopes for the laser HDTV, but we won’t see it for another 10 months. Meanwhile, plasma gives the best results, but it has a defect almost nobody talks about: Noise. Customers return sets for excessive buzzing, but reviewers don’t notice. My wife’s high frequency hearing is so acute, she won’t listen to FM radio, because the hiss annoys her. I’m not willing to spend $6,000 on a plasma set I’d might have to return to the store. Please comment on noise when you review and fall in love with new HDTVs.
Am I the only HDTV owner whom has not turned on his sets speakers for the past 7 years. I am ready to upgrade from my 55″ Mits rear projecdtion model. Any chance anyone will start making speaker less, 50″ or better Plasmas or LCD’s with a built in tuner for home consumer use. I have looked at the commercial monitors and they just don’t have the features I want.
Hello,
I am looking to buy a 40″ – 42″ LCD TV. This is the first time I am shopping for a LCD TV. Should I wait for sometime? Any recommendations that I should I look into?
Thanks
As for SED tech, Canon has allegedly developed its own intellectual property (“IP”) so it can finally bring it to market. The hold-up to this point centered around two issues:
1) A patent dispute with Nano-Proprietary concerning the SED IP; and
2) Ramping up production so that economies of scale can bring the tech into the price range of the average consumer sooner rather than later.
Again, I reference my post immediately above as to issues with new tech. I’m a proponent of letting the bugs work out and economies of scale kick in. I hate paying too much to be a guinea pig that gets stuck with a quickly obsolete product. Yet, I’m in Best Buy buying gadgets seemingly every week. If only I could reconcile the two…
My concern with laser TV is that, even if it comes out this year, the first couple of generations of display technology are usually buggy as all get-out. As an example, in 2000, the first plasmas had burn-in issues about two seconds after turning them on. Now, eight generations later, it’s hardly an issue.
Tech companies have R & D pipelines that would blow people’s minds. My father used to work for Panasonic and some of the stuff it had in the wings boggled the mind. The real questions for consumers (a question you still haven’t answered, HD Guru) is “will the new technology in question be reliable AND affordable?” The answer with the first 2-4 generations of a product is usually “no.” It’s really something that’s stopped me from being an early adopter of anything anymore.
Or maybe I’m just trying to make myself feel better about spending $4K+ for a plasma this holiday season. One can’t be too sure…
From what I have been reading, this whole Laser TV is a dud for the time being until 2009. Arasor misled the media and will not be ready.
I’m excited about the laser televisions coming out. I can’t wait to see them add that technology to DLP televisions. The LED DLP’s already provide up to 40% more colors than other HDTV’s so I’m impressed to see the newer ones. I’m also interested in the 3D HDTV’s and 3D movies. That could be pretty cool!!!
Thanks! Will we see any improvement in either (1) black levels; (2) contrasts; or (3) white levels on KURO sets. Or will the rest of the industry just be getting it the standard it seemed to set this year? Will lower power consumption mean even worse whites? Also, any idea on price range of laser TVs?
What improvements, if any, will we see in plasma? What price range do you think the laser TVs will start in?
Plasma will have deeper blacks, higher contrast ratios, and (as stated above) lower power consumption.
HD GuruÂÂ
Canon plans to develop surface-conduction electron-emitter display, SED-televisions using its own technology.
Canon claims they are still developing the technology but it way past its original due date and looking more unlikely that it will come to market.ÂÂ
HD GuruÂÂ
Hiya
Nice predictions. Quick question. When you predict, “LCD 3D flat panels may also arrive in 2008.” How will the 3D work here , shutter glasses, circular polarisation, autostereo? (I know the Mitsubishi/Samsung rear projectors use LC shutter glasses..
There are two technologies. Philips has 3D without glasses. It works well but you must be within a “sweet spot” of a specific range of distance and angle to the screen to see the effect.
Other companies have demonstrated LCD flat panels with shutter glasses that are similar to the ones used with DLP 3D rear projectors.
HD Guru
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