IRVINE, CALIF.: Prices were primo for high-end HDTV sets just a year ago. Now, Westinghouse has rolled out a 42-inch hi-def LCD, 1080p set for less than a grand. A lot less, in fact. The TX-42F970Z is shipping to sell at around $750.
The price-point caught particular attention because the model is said to have a 120 Hz refresh rate, as in, it rebuilds the picture 120 times a second. The long-held refresh rate was 60 Hz, though some TVs now have 240 or even 480 Hz refresh rates, and a prototype laser 3D, hi-def set coming down the pike has a reported refresh rate of 1080 Hz. The higher the refresh rate, the less jerky the picture.
More on HDTV sets:
September 21, 2009: “HDI Unveils Laser 3DTV”
Silicon Valley start-up HDI has unveiled its laser, hi-def 3DTV. The company demonstrated its prototype for reporters in the Bay Area last week. The TV is said to refresh at 1080 Hz.
July 7, 2009: “Mitsubishi LaserVue Price Drops”
The price of Mitsubishi’s laser-based TV sets is coming down. The company’s 65-inch L65A90 LaserView HDTV sets are now going for $6,499 on Amazon, a $500 discount from the introduction price of around $7,000.
June 30, 2009: “$300 25-inch 1080p TV Bowed”
Southern California company called “Hannspree North America” is rolling out a 25-inch, 1080p HDTV. The ST251MKB LCD set is among the company’s first line of “mainstream digital TVs” in what it’s calling its “ST series,” each sporting a six-foot HDMI cable, analog input and a universal remote.
June 17, 2009: “LG 15-inch OLED TV Due in December”
LG’s 15-inch organic light-emitting diode screen TV prototype was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in January in Las Vegas. OLEDs are especially thin, and capable of flexible and particularly high-resolution display.
“Explaining an HDTV’s Refresh Rate,” by Adrienne Maxwell at HDTV.etc.
