hdtvs

Best Buy TVs now all digital

It's a lot harder to find an analog television at Best Buy these days. That's because as of the beginning of October, Best Buy stopped selling them, according to an Associated Press report. The largest consumer electronics chain in the U.S. will now only sell televisions with digital tuners.

It's not a huge surprise. The government-imposed digital television mandate is fast approaching. By Feb. 18, 2009, TV broadcasters will be required to broadcast only digital signals, and TVs with only analog tuners will be unable to pick up the new broadcasts. As part of the gradual … Read more

HDTV makers want consumers to do their homework

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif.--To borrow from the real estate cliche, selling the "HD experience" is about education, education, education, according to the top-tier TV manufacturers.

Mainstream consumers, apparently, still don't quite get it, and the blame falls squarely on the shoulders of TV manufacturers, according to Randy Waynick, senior vice president of marketing for Sony's home products division.

"In the past year, if we were to grade ourselves, we were barely passing as an industry," he told an audience at the DisplaySearch HDTV conference here. Citing a study by Best Buy, 40 percent of … Read more

HDTV's evolving alphabet soup: LED, OLED, LCD, DLP

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif.--So you've finally got your mitts on that 42-inch LCD TV you've been lusting after since last Christmas. Congratulations. The major television manufacturers would like to thank you for your business by finding ways to make your shiny new display look old and out of date very quickly.

It's nothing personal, of course. But such is the nature of a commoditized and maturing industry like high-definition televisions. There are more than 70 TV brands on retail shelves competing for your dollars and eyeballs, and the only way to differentiate themselves is to keep tweaking … Read more

Marriott rooms plug in to HDTV

All Marriott hotel rooms in the U.S. and Canada will get a high-definition television by the end of 2009, the company has announced. OK, it's official: now I will definitely be going for Marriott over Motel 6!

Rooms will have a plug-in panel that lets guests connect laptops, camcorders, digital cameras and other gadget paraphernalia to a flat panel, high-def screen. The standard 32-inch televisions will also be equipped with a 25-watt stereo speaker system so guests can listen to tunes on their MP3 players, with no headphones required.

By the end of 2007, Marriott expects to have … Read more

Dell selling Sony TVs through Web site

Dell has begun selling HDTVs from Sony on its Web site alongside its own Dell-branded TVs.

Shoppers looking for 46-inch or 40-inch LCD televisions on Dell's site will be able to purchase Sony's Bravia models. For example, the 40-inch KDL-40V2500 is listed on Dell's site for $2,199, less than it costs on Best Buy's Web site.

Dell, like most other PC companies, has been selling flat-screen televisions for several years. But also like those other companies, it hasn't had nearly as much success as it would have hoped. Dell is ranked 24th in the global market … Read more