Do you believe that eventually the HDTVs as we currently know them will replace every other type of TV or is this just the first generation? Should we all wait for the next generation of HDTVs before buying?
The high-definition television
specification in place today is defined as a picture that is either 1280×720 pixels or 1920×1080 pixels in resolution and includes audio that is encoded for 5.1 surround-sound (like the audio at the cinema). Almost all TVs you can buy today support this level of content. Moving into the next decade, the HDTV specification will be the standard and broadcasters and content creators will support it.
That said, the technology used in the televisions to display an HDTV signal will change. For example, today’s HDTV sets produce pictures using either plasma or LCD technology. There are also rear-projection television sets that can display an HDTV signal, although these are starting to be phased out in the marketplace. Reps from two major TV brands I spoke to said they are not promoting that technology any more. Super-flat (just millimetres-thick) displays are on the horizon. They are made of OLEDs or organic light-emitting diodes. Sony showed off prototype OLED TVs last year. Several other flat TV technologies are either available today or in development.
One more piece of advice. If you’d like a new HDTV, don’t wait, buy what you want and can afford now. There will be always something new that is about to come along that will make your purchase obsolete. It’s a sad fact of life. But the TV you buy today will serve you well for another decade.
What’s on the horizon now is ultra-high-definition TV. It is 16 times the pixel resolution of today’s HDTVs. Don’t expect it to be available an electronics store any time soon. It certainly won’t be a mass-market standard for another decade.
