Apparently not so much. When it comes to actually going out and buying a new HD set, screen size is not at the top of the list (with price, for example) for many American consumers, according to some new data from industry analyst iSuppli.
Research says that among CE consumers with annual household income ranging from very low to about $100,000, screen size ranked only between fifth and seventh place among important considerations. In fact, barely 5 percent of those in the below-$25,000 income group listed size as the most important factor. When moving to higher income brackets, size becomes even less critical, falling to sixth and seventh places.
Top priorities in the up-to-$100,000 range were: price points, picture quality, and brand name, in that order. In other words, brand name is not the most important factor anymore, which should come to most industry observers as no great surprise.
"While picture quality is important, it's difficult to quantify. Rather than looking at pixel counts or refresh rates, consumers simply perceive their front-of-screen experience as 'picture quality,'" iSuppli said. Among two or more sets in-store and side-by-side with near-identical perceived video quality, price points will win out, the analyst said.
