Jeremy Charette
05-30-2006, 06:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://news.com.com/2100-1041_3-6076240.html?part=rss&tag=6076240&subj=news' target='_blank'>http://news.com.com/2100-1041_3-6076240.html?part=rss&tag=6076240&subj=news</a><br /><br /></div>"Shipments of LCD (liquid crystal display) televisions jumped <b>135 </b>percent in the first quarter, compared with the same period last year, and allowed LCD TVs to account for 17 percent of all TVs shipped, up from 15 percent three months earlier, according to DisplaySearch. Revenue from LCD TVs also grew, by 114 percent, and hit $8.8 billion. For the hardware industry, that's a somewhat rare result: Because of price-cutting, large increases in unit shipments typically lead to far more modest increases in revenue shipments. The growth in revenue can be partly attributed to the fact that LCD TVs are growing in size. The average screen size, as measured by the diagonal length of the screen, grew by 19 percent in the first quarter compared with the same period a year ago. Customers snapped up more TVs in the first quarter measuring 37 inches or longer than they did the year before, DisplaySearch said. LCD TVs overtook traditional CRT TVs in the market for 30- to 34-inch diagonal TVs for the first time. (CRT TVs, however, remain more popular overall.)"<br /><br /><br /> <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/200501007_LCD_TV_imagine.jpg" /> <br /><br />No surprise here. They're thinner, sexier, and a sign to the Joneses next door that you've "made it". Prices are also dropping like a rock. I've seen 37" sets at the $1000 mark, 32" models for $700, and 27" panels are selling for less than $500 now. There's little reason not to make the switch, especially if you haven't upgrade to HDTV yet.