What was the number one item on holiday wish lists in the just-concluded 2006 holiday shopping rush? LCD TVs were the big winner, according to the NPD Group, with $925 million in sales. The flat wonders beat digital cameras ($825 million) and notebook PCs ($810 million). Surprisingly, iPods and other digital media players were relatively distant fourth-place finishers at just $720 million. So it's official: Americans prefer big screens to small ones. NPD declined to comment on how plasmas and other displays figure into their calculations.
Hooray! you've finally got that 50-inch plasma HDTV you've been lusting for since the days when they cost a cool 10 grand. Excited with your same-as-cash, no-payments-for-a-year 1080p deal, you grab a beer, settle into the sofa, and tune in one of the games in DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket package, ready to watch the greatest image you've never seen.
•Toshiba's Mark Knox Talks about HD DVD and Blu-ray Jamie Sorcher recently sat down with Toshiba HD DVD guru Mark Knox to get his company's take on the present and future of the big hi-def disc rollout. Posted: 08/04/06
The format war just took and interesting turn as some juicy pre-CES news leaked out to the Internet today courtesy of the New York Times. Next week at CES Warner will be announcing the Total HD disc, which will carry both Blu-ray and HD DVD transfers of a title on a single disc.
The <I>UltimateAVmag.com</I> editors are getting ready for CES 2007 and will be reporting live from the show starting Monday, January 8. Join Shane Buettner, Tom Norton, and Randy Tomlinson as they file their reports and photos.
