Unlocking mysteries of HDTV shopping

Different types, sizes of sets confuse some buyers

Joyzelle Davis, Rocky Mountain News

Published June 5, 2006 at midnight

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Buying a high-definition television at times seems as daunting as building one from scratch.

First you've got to figure out the difference between plasma, rear projection, direct view, LCD and digital light processing sets. And that's before you enter the world of HD-ready and HD built-in sets.

"If I didn't work here, I'd be confused" about how to buy an HDTV, joked Jason Leist, a sales associate with Magnolia at Best Buy in Broomfield.

But it's his job to help befuddled buyers sort their way through the thicket to find the best fit for their living room. Leist starts by asking the customer about his or her lifestyle: How much TV does he typically watch? How big is the room where the TV will go? And how much are they willing to spend?

It's a process an estimated 15 million households will go through this year, bringing the nationwide total of HDTV households to 34 million, according to Kagan Research. By 2010, nearly 83 percent of households will own an HDTV.

Plummeting prices have helped HDTV sets move from toys for the wealthy to mainstays in middle-class living rooms. Customers last year reported spending an average of $1,600 on HDTV sets, compared with $2,400 in 2004, according to a survey by Leichtman Research Group.

And with the federally mandated transition to an all-digital system less than three years away (related story, Page 5B), a lot of customers figure that they might as well get the best resolution screen as long as they're going to buy a digital set anyway.

"High-def is one of those great products where you just have to see it and you want it," said Philip Garvin, co-founder and general manager of Denver-based HDNet, an all-high definition broadcast TV network. (Garvin, by the way, has four sets in his home, and even more in his vacation home.)

If you're thinking about venturing into HDTV territory, here are a couple of things to keep in mind:

• Pricing. If you're looking to spend $200 to $1,500, you'll generally be looking at CRT (the tube TVs that are used for most analog sets), DLP rear-projection and smaller LCD sets. While you can get a large screen size with both DLP and CRT, they're also bulky. LCDs are thin and can be mounted on a wall, but you'll be mostly looking at screen sizes below 32 inches at that price.

If you're able to spend more, that puts larger plasma and LCD sets in range. If you really want to spend more, Ultimate Electronics sells the 65-inch Sharp Aquos LC-TV for about $20,000. Thornton-based Ultimate has sold about two a month companywide since the sets went on sale earlier this year, said Jim Pearse, Ultimate's senior vice president of merchandising.

• Room size and lighting. LCD and plasma flat panels work best for tight rooms, where they can be mounted on a wall. Keep in mind that you pretty much have to be directly in front of a flat-panel screen in order to see the image. Rear-projection needs a lot of floor space and a dark room for best viewing, while similarly boxy CRT sets have much wider viewing angles than flat panels.

• Other costs. Keep in mind that you might want to set aside some of your budget to pay for good component or HDMI connection cables, an electrical surge protector, and, if you don't want the hassle of figuring out which plug goes where, installation. Ultimate's Pearse also recommends spending as much as 30 percent of your budget to buy additional speakers that will showcase HDTV's Dolby sound better than the factory-provided speakers on most sets.

• Programming. One of the top reasons customers complain about their HDTVs is they get the set home and realize that their picture was better on their old analog TV, Leist said. That's usually because the customer didn't upgrade to high-definition TV programming either through an antenna or package from a pay-TV provider, and standard definition TV can sometimes look pixilated as it stretches to fit the HDTV's 16:9 ratio screen.

"They're getting just an OK picture rather than the high resolution and clarity that HD can provide," said Ultimate's Pearse.

Another thing to keep in mind: If you really want a high-definition TV, steer clear of enhanced definition televisions. With a display of 480 pixels, enhanced definition TVs are typically better than analog but don't have true high-definition quality.

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