Tuesday, March 19, 2013

TVs in 2013: Bigger, Pricier, Better?


Read on Geeks.com

How’s your TV working out for you? Not big enough? Not high def enough? Well, just you wait. At CES 2013, there were more awesome TVs than you could point your remote at. Bigger, huger, more HD than HD. TVs will be smarter, thinner, and have more amazing pictures and color than ever before. Just you wait and…see.

Let’s complicate things. All kinds of TV buzzwords are zipping around in the TV world. “Ultra HD,” “4K,” and “8K” TVs will be all the rage. So, TV resolution had traditionally been measured by vertical pixel counts. A 1920x1080 TV would be “1080p.” Things are a little different with the new crop of TVs though. 4K resolution is 3840x2160. Technically NEARLY 4K, or Quad Full HD (QFHD). 8K resolution is 7680x4320, and referred to as Ultra HD or UHD. You’ll sometimes see UHD used in reference for both 4K and 8K TVs.

Don’t forget the organic light emitting diode (OLED) TVs! LG previewed some amazing OLED TVs that should be on the market as soon as March 2013. OLED TVs can be super thin, and feature unparalleled black levels, contrast, brightness and color. OLED TV colors will blow you away.


The Hisense 84" ultra HD LED TV debuted at CES 2013.

Yes, TVs can be UHD and OLED as well. Sony and Panasonic both had 56” 4K OLED TVs on display.


Panasonic had 56" 4K OLED TVs on display at CES.

What are some of the other features you can look for in your TV of the future?

How about a gigantor TV? CES had TVs as big as 80 and over 100 inches on display! Where are you going to hang THAT!?

Bugged by fading edges in your TV viewing? Samsung and LG unveiled curved TVs to cut down on the fade.

Samsung had an amazing array of giant “floating” TVs that could be tilted and rotated. Their booth featured rotating TVs, touch screen displays, and incredible images. One of the standout, if not the coolest TV booths at the show.


Featured rotating TVs, touch screen displays and incredible images!

LG debuted smart TVs with 3D options, over 1,000 apps, and Wi-Fi connectivity. That’s a nice tablet!

How about a paper thin 3D TV you can see through? LG even featured curved 3D TVs.

What about Sharp’s 85” 8K TV?

From what I saw with my own eyes, these TVs are amazing, there’s no doubt. Jaw dropping pictures. The pictures and colors are unbelievable. The best way to describe them could be “better than reality.” But is this worth the price tag? Sure the prices will come down, but for now the biggest stumbling block will be price. LGs first commercially available OLED TV will be about $12,000. It will have a lot of awesome features, but it will still be $12,000.


Amazing TVs with jaw dropping images... and prices.

There are 4K sets on the market. Sony and LG offer 84” 4K TVs in the $20,000-25,000 range. The rumor is that Vizio will have a 4K TV that won’t hurt your wallet as much. Got $300,000? How about Westinghouse’s 110” 4K TV? That’s more money than my HOUSE cost, dude.

In addition to price, there are other challenges. These TVs are difficult to mass produce. There’s currently not a lot of content that optimizes the experience. So, it might be a bit before you’re hanging one of these babies in your garage. These TVs look cool and the pictures are amazing, but will they catch on? Is there a demand for more than HD content? What do you think?

In the meantime, be sure to check out Geeks.com's HDTV selections!

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