More than half the respondents to a poll conducted at a recent HDTV conference said they would delay buying an HD set until a single next-generation DVD standard emerges and there is a clear winner between the competing Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats.
The finding comes from a poll taken of those attending the DisplaySearch HDTV Conference 2005: The Future of Television in Los Angeles last month.
Those attending the two-day event came from across the TV supply chain, including TV and cable networks, satellite and cable providers, retailers, TV brands, TV OEMs, TV panel and imager manufacturers and display electronics producers.
Among the highlights of poll responses from attendees:
- At least 77 percent of attendees said they would be willing to pay up to $500 more for a 1080p TV versus a similarly designed 720p TV;
- About 67 percent of participants indicated they would pay a premium for a 720p DVD versus a conventional DVD, and 58 percent said they would pay a premium for a 1080p DVD versus a 720p DVD;
- At least 93 percent of attendees claimed to have seen digital compression artifacts when watching a program in HD;
- About 59 percent of attendees believe the club channel (Wal-Mart, Costco, etc.) can take significant share from national chains (Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.) due to lower prices;
- At least 18 percent of attendees said they would be more likely to purchase a $2500 HDTV over the Internet than in retail;
- Picture quality was determined to be the dominant factor when buying TVs that are either less than $1000 or more than $3000.
- If priced the same, 60 percent of attendees would purchase a 42in HD LCD TV with 40 percent opting for an HD plasma TV.
- About 74 percent of attendees said they would pay $200 more for a 42in flat panel TV than for a 42in projection micro-device (MD) rear projection (RP) TV.
- At least 39 percent of attendees said they would wall-mount their next plasma TV;
- Nearly two-thirds of participants expect 1080p MD RPTVs to exceed 720p MD RPTVs in North America by 2007.
Proceedings from the event are available at http://www.displaysearch.com/.
