HDTV Buyer's Guide 2008
High-definition television is taking center stage at the 2008 International CES. The consumer-electronics show will spotlight innovations such as Pioneer's self-proclaimed "world thinnest" plasma HTDV (it's only 9-mm thick), a fully integrated wireless set from Westinghouse, where the power cord is the only tethered connection, and even the first laser televisions.
The pervasiveness of high-def at CES emphasizes the arrival of a technology which is finally taking off, after numerous false starts and failed predictions that its ubiquity was imminent. Now, that moment is indeed upon us. HDTVs flew off store shelves during the recent Christmas shopping season, and the U.S. installed base now estimated at 30 million sets, according to TVPredictions.com.
Notwithstanding its rising profile, the fine points of HDTV shopping are still a mystery to most consumers. There are questions of screen size, resolution, scanning method (interlaced or progressive), and how the picture is created (LCD, plasma, or projection). Most importantly, there's price, with sets ranging from as little as $500 up to many thousands of dollars.
