Next big advance in TVs.

[StanleyMuso]

Next TV technology revolution is couch potato's dream

11/10/2006 - It's being hailed by its developers as the next revolution in visual technology - a laser television that will make plasma screens obsolete.

http://www.industrysearch.com.au/news/viewrecord.aspx?id=22232

[PeruvianSkies]

Right now technology is too developed in my opinion. We are trying to move faster ahead and no one has the time to catch up. Things are becoming obsolete almost as quickly as they are being created. Because of this there are some positives and some negatives. The best part about this is that people are at least striving for the best quality, but in that process there is also a sense of carelessness. I am mindful of a few things, like if we took the history of the DVD format for example. When the DVD was first introduced there were many common myths about it and there was such a rush to get the format off the ground that there were loads of problems. Not only were there technical problems, but numerous other problems that enabled the technology to push forward in it's development with things like dual-layer and other ways to improve the quality, but that also meant numerous editions of films. Let's face it...before HD-DVD and Blu-ray came along the DVD format was still not 100% where it needed to be, which is exactly why the newer formats are in need. My fear for those two formats is that at the end of the war there won't be anyone standing.

This is also true of the TV's. Most homes at this point have multiple televisions, but the number of people that are using HD at this point is still incredibly low. AND those that are using HD are most likely happy with what they have and are in no rush to go out and spend a few more thousand dolllars on the newer technology. The shame here is that the people who adopt early technology always get screwed in the end. Those that wait are able to enjoy the benefits that other people risked early on in order for it to happen. I suppose this is why I have been so frustrated lately that I have made more investments in sound because sound and sound-related components like speakers don't seem to date as poorly as video. Let's face it there are far more people who hold onto vintage audio gear versus vintage TV's....right?

[StanleyMuso]

I suppose this is why I have been so frustrated lately that I have made more investments in sound because sound and sound-related components like speakers don't seem to date as poorly as video. Let's face it there are far more people who hold onto vintage audio gear versus vintage TV's....right?


I can see myself improving my sound system further over the next couple of years or so, but will wait as long as possible before relegating myCRTs to the scrap heap.

[PeruvianSkies]

I think i'll wait out the war as well and in the meantime enjoy some good sounds.

[Placidguy]

Dont worry about DVD format, HD as now improved it! I got myself a panasonic HDMI LCD tv and a Panasonic DVD-S52 that upsamples DVD to HD and they are a mind blowing combination. So there is no nead to replace your old movie colection.

[drseid]

Dont worry about DVD format, HD as now improved it! I got myself a panasonic HDMI LCD tv and a Panasonic DVD-S52 that upsamples DVD to HD and they are a mind blowing combination. So there is no nead to replace your old movie colection.

Keep in mind though that upsampled DVD is not really HD at all. Try out a well-mastered HD DVD or Blu-ray disc with one of the new HD players on that TV and you will see what I mean by that... :-)

That said, back to the original post, I agree with Peruvian that audio (speakers in particular) seems to be a less risky place to make some investments. That said, pre/pros and receivers seem to be improved and lose value faster than TVs! I guess there really is no safe haven completely.

---Dave

[nightflier]

For those of us who've been holding off on buying new 1080p TVs because the price was too high, this is welcome news indeed. The real question for us is whether our DVI/Component 480p-1080p video setups will get us through to when the new laser TVs are available.

...Maybe by that time, HD will have won out over Blu-ray, in what is shaping up to be a rehash not unlike the Beta-VHS debacle, echoing Santayana's famous quote.

[basite]

lcd's will become leaders in the sizes below 40", laser technology above that,

Hey, what about projectors??? do those laserthings also cover these sizes? or will the projector still lead them??

[PeruvianSkies]

Consumers always seem to lose when there is format wars...we need to change that, but not really sure how. Has anyone ever seen some of the really high-end upscalers? I was blown away at a few shows where they demo'd some of the really good stuff and showed what DVD's could look like even upscaled to large sizes...it was impressive, i'd be curious to see how the new formats look once they are done completely right.

[StanleyMuso]

http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17651&ch=infotech

[Feanor]

Next TV technology revolution is couch potato's dream

11/10/2006 - It's being hailed by its developers as the next revolution in visual technology - a laser television that will make plasma screens obsolete.

http://www.industrysearch.com.au/news/viewrecord.aspx?id=22232

I'm several generations behind the current SOTA. I'm talking a 27" CRT -- it does have S-Video i/o though :D

[nightflier]

Fry's Electronics is selling a 37" LCD TV (1080p, HDMI, ATSC tuner built-in) for $997. It looks like prices are dropping fast. These will probably sell around $800 by x-mas.

[Carl Reid]

Right now technology is too developed in my opinion. We are trying to move faster ahead and no one has the time to catch up. Things are becoming obsolete almost as quickly as they are being created. Because of this there are some positives and some negatives. The best part about this is that people are at least striving for the best quality, but in that process there is also a sense of carelessness. I am mindful of a few things, like if we took the history of the DVD format for example. When the DVD was first introduced there were many common myths about it and there was such a rush to get the format off the ground that there were loads of problems. Not only were there technical problems, but numerous other problems that enabled the technology to push forward in it's development with things like dual-layer and other ways to improve the quality, but that also meant numerous editions of films. Let's face it...before HD-DVD and Blu-ray came along the DVD format was still not 100% where it needed to be, which is exactly why the newer formats are in need. My fear for those two formats is that at the end of the war there won't be anyone standing.

This is also true of the TV's. Most homes at this point have multiple televisions, but the number of people that are using HD at this point is still incredibly low. AND those that are using HD are most likely happy with what they have and are in no rush to go out and spend a few more thousand dolllars on the newer technology. The shame here is that the people who adopt early technology always get screwed in the end. Those that wait are able to enjoy the benefits that other people risked early on in order for it to happen. I suppose this is why I have been so frustrated lately that I have made more investments in sound because sound and sound-related components like speakers don't seem to date as poorly as video. Let's face it there are far more people who hold onto vintage audio gear versus vintage TV's....right?

I agree with the point about DVDs, as it applies to SACD, DVD Audio and just about any and all format wars for music and movie collections...

But I don't think that ever changing tech is bad for TVs.... The difference simply being that if I buy an SACD player and you buy a DVD Audio player and then DVD Audio wins the format war then I'm pretty much screwed, since no new titles will be released on SACD... so I've invested money in a dead format...

However,

If I buy an LCD TV and you buy a Plasma and then your plasma gets replaced with Laser projection (or whatever that new technology is)... you can still watch and enjoy regular and HD TV shows and your DVD collection... so it's not like you're left with a useless product...