HDTV: growing fast but most know little about it

This holiday season, electronics retailers will be crowded with consumers hypnotized by big-screen TVs displaying high definition.

Many may never watch nature shows at home, but that won’t stop them from becoming transfixed at the sight of a hermit crab in HD. They want that picture quality at home but usually aren’t aware of what it takes to achieve it.

HD confusion is common among consumers, said Johnny Cruz, operations manager at the Best Buy near Fiesta Mall in Mesa.

“A lot of times people walk in and say I want that HDTV ... and they’re going to be plugging it into cable straight from the wall,” he said. “The picture they’re going to get straight out of the wall will not give them the picture they see here in the store.”

A recent Best Buy survey of more than 1,000 consumers found misconceptions regarding HDTV, ranging from 32 percent not understanding it at all, to 56 percent having a moderate understanding. Only 11 percent in general and 19 percent of HDTV owners feel they have a complete understanding of it.

But not all consumers are in the dark. Chandler resident Eduardo Garcia is ready to make the jump to HD and has done his homework in advance. He was comparing

HDTVs last week at Best Buy.

“I want an LCD (liquid crystal display) TV at least 40 inches,” he said. “I do a lot of movie-watching, and also I play a lot of video games ... so I want to see it how it’s meant to be seen. It’s a little bit more than I want to spend, but I’m willing to spend it.”

It’s important for consumers to seek guidance when buying an HDTV, said Roman Zepeda, sales manager at Showcase Home Entertainment in Scottsdale.

“What we’re seeing is a lot of customers who come in and they’re buying buzzwords like LCD and 1080p,” he said. “They know what the hot terminology is, but they don’t know what it is they’re asking for. So we usually have to spend time explaining what the terminology means.”

People are getting smarter when it comes to HD because there’s more information available through cable and satellite providers, Zepeda said.

“Over the next year to two years, it’s going to be something more common, it won’t be something special,” he said.

Analog to digital

Analog TVs — tube-type sets — are slowly being phased out as digital televisions become the standard among consumers.

“We’re the first retailer to say we’re going to stop carrying analog TVs,” Cruz said. “We have probably about two or three left, but digital is right around the corner. Digital is on the forefront, and everybody is going to go digital.”

In February 2009, federal law requires that all full-power television broadcast stations stop broadcasting in analog and broadcast only in digital. A tuner, usually available through your cable or satellite provider, will allow analog TVs to continue to receive digital programming, Cruz said.

“But it’s not going to make them HD, it’s not going to give them a better signal,” he said. “What it will allow them to do is just receive that digital signal. It will not increase the (picture) line resolution because the TV is not capable of increasing the lines.”

What you need

The first step for those wanting to make the jump to HD is buying the right TV to watch what they want to watch in HD, Cruz said. An HDTV is one with a screen that has 720 pixels or more from top to bottom, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. Types of HDTVs include flat-panel LCDs and plasmas, and DLPs (digital light processing), as well as a dwindling number of tube TVs.

What most people don’t need is a 1080p-resolution HDTV, Cruz said.

“A lot of TVs are giving the resolution that’s beyond what satellite or cable are capable of giving, and that’s called 1080p,” he said. “Right now, the only way to get that signal is through a DVD player called Blu-ray or an HD-DVD player.”

If you don’t plan on buying a high-definition DVD player, then lower-resolution HDTVs (720p, 1080i) are fine, he said.

Also, in most cases it’s not necessary to purchase a television with a built-in HD tuner because the tuner will be provided by your cable or satellite provider, Cruz said. However, having a built-in tuner is necessary for people who plan to watch HD channels via antenna.

Once you purchase a TV, you need to upgrade your cable or satellite service to include HD programming, Cruz said. That usually entails buying or renting an HD box and paying an additional monthly surcharge for the service, he said.

As for audio, you’ll need a digital system in order to capture full HD sound, Cruz said. Otherwise, the audio will be less than HD.

HD on a budget

Going HD doesn’t have to mean spending a lot of money, Cruz said.

“It depends on the size of the TV, how large you want to go,” he said. “In my bedroom, I have a 19-inch TV with a regular DirecTV signal. It’s not HD, but I have an HD-DVD player in there. It really depends on how they’re going to use the TV.”

Prices for HDTVs are dropping rapidly, with 32-inch, flat-panel HDTVs selling for as low as $800, while 50-inch plasma TVs can be found for $2,000.

For those interested only in watching movies in HD, it may involve only buying a HDTV and a Blu-ray or HD-DVD player, Cruz said. Prices for the players are dropping as both formats vie for HD market share.

For those wanting only to watch TV in HD, getting HD programming is “not expensive at all,” he said.

“I bought the (HD) box and now I just pay the extra $10 a month for the programming,” Cruz said.

High-definition confusion

A September Best Buy survey of more than 1,000 consumers showed many remain in the dark when it comes to HD:

89% feel they lack complete understanding of HDTV technology — how it works and what it takes to get the full HDTV experience.

41% of HDTV owners admit to knowing little to nothing at all about HDTV.

39% don’t even identify an HD-ready TV as necessary for the experience.

• Many consumers don’t understand that additional components such as access to HD programming or an HD antenna (44 percent), HD cables (52 percent) and an audio system (62 percent) are necessary to get the optimum HDTV experience.

• While 41 percent of HDTV owners admit to knowing little to nothing at all about HD, they would not want to admit that to family and friends.