Home Theater Highlights of 2006 - HDTV, Flat-Panel TV, Video Projectors

This past year has been full of interesting events, but aside from all the politics, war, and economic doom Sayers, customer electronics makers continued to innovate and marketplace and customers reached into their pockets to purchase the most up-to-date in new technology. Here is a list of some of the more interesting home theater trends of 2006.

HDTV Keeps Rolling Along

Looking back on 2006, it can be said that HDTV made main inroads. Interesting developments, favorable to customers, were the amplified amount of HDTV services through Cable (COX, Comcast, And Time Warner) and Satellite (including the introduction of VOOM, the first HDTV-only satellite service). As well, with most television networks broadcasting larger segments of their primetime schedules in HD, FOX, the lone network offer, announced it would pursue an aggressive HDTV strategy beginning in Fall 2007.

As well as increased programming news concerning HDTV, sales of HDTV-capable TVs experienced a big leap this past year, fueled largely by the attraction of customers to Flat Panel LCD and Plasma TVs (See the next section). For added information on sales trends of DTV/HDTV products in 2006

The Flat Panel Seduction Turns Into Flat Panel Frenzy

Although prices of Plasma and LCD flat panel televisions in 2006 were still comparatively high when compared to tube and projection TVs of the equal screen sizes, apparently they came down in cost enough to make an increased demand for such sets that taxed the limits of makers to supply them to stores fast enough. Where once walls of tube televisions on store shelves, the shopper were was confronted with walls of Plasma and LCD TVs to choose from.

The impact of this dramatic change in the TV purchasing landscape caused several makers to announce abrupt reduces in traditional picture tube manufacturing, coupled with group of picture tube production to the least costly overseas labor markets. Even SONY was caught off guard with a lack of LCD production facilities to meet its competition. As a result, the customer electronics giant concluded an agreement with Samsung to share in LCD and Flat panel production.

Absolutely watch this product category in 2007 as flat panel televisions continue to drop in cost and customers take a good, hard look at how much space they can save by disposing of that old tube or projection TV. Check out my current Plasma and LCD television picks.