Consumers in the market for a new television have never before faced such a bewildering array of video options.
Choosing between traditional tube TVs, LCD flat panels, projection screens with digital light processing, and plasma technology is enough to confuse anyone. On top of that are the signal reception options including analog or digital. Then there are the picture display quality choices: SDTV, EDTV and HDTV (HD and HD-ready). It’s enough to make many yearn for the day when consumers had two choices to make: screen size and color vs. black and white.
A new book by Connie Book, associate professor in the School of Communications at Elon University, provides the kind of information consumers need before visiting their local Best Buy or Circuit City. “Digital Television: DTV and the Consumer” is the first book focus on consumers’ needs during the nation’s transition to digital television and the emerging digital TV technologies, explaining how each technology works and laying out the factors that should be considered in making a major purchase.
Book, who has received four grants from the National Association of Broadcasters to study consumers’ digital TV habits, says many consumers have been waiting for the digital television technology to be more fully developed before upgrading from their old analog sets. She says it’s now safe to take the plunge because the technology is past the beta testing stage and the industry standards have been established.
“America’s greatest pastime isn’t baseball – it’s television,” Book says. “We now have more efficient, versatile and sophisticated technologies. It may be confusing, but the picture quality is much better, and prices are starting to become much more affordable.”
Book says consumers should consider the types of programming they like to watch, and the type of delivery system they have before making a decision about which TV set to buy. For example, those who do not subscribe to the high definition digital cable or satellite packages won’t be able to receive high definition over-the-air broadcasts unless they install an antenna and buy a top-end TV with a built-in HD tuner.
“Prime-time network TV viewers benefit the most from digital TV since all four major networks offer that programming in high definition format,” Book says. “On the other hand, most cable channels do not offer a high definition signal. It may be digital, but it’s not HDTV. It’s not simply a question of what’s the best TV set to buy, it’s really a question of what you watch.”
Book has studied the transition to digital television for eight years and worked with Capitol Broadcasting in Raleigh, N.C., which pioneered the development of high definition technology. She was part of the team that tested the first HDTV sets ever produced, and studied the reactions of viewers who experienced high definition television in their homes.
She and students at Elon University have also done field studies that show that retail sales representatives frequently receive little training and usually know little about the new technologies in their stores.
“In both of our studies, every one of the salespersons gave wrong information about the televisions they were selling,” Book says.
So Book says consumers should spend time studying the technologies in order to make an informed choice. She says an investment in a television, which can cost anywhere from $400 to $4,000 or more, is worth doing the extra research.
“On average, households buy a TV every seven years, and every person spends about three hours per day watching TV,” Book says. “That kind of time investment justifies paying for a good television and making sure it is a good choice. Besides, it’s a decision most households will be compelled to make within the next 2-3 years.”
Book says Congress has mandated that the TV industry make the switch to digital by 2006. “While the deadline may be extended, a deadline is on the horizon. When it passes, those old analog airwaves are going to be auctioned off and our current system will be gone,” Book says. “They’ll probably provide some sort of box so those who want to stick with their old sets can still get a signal, but the transition is a certainty.”
“Digital Television: DTV and the Consumer” is available for $39.99 from Blackwell Publishing at (800) 862-6657, or at http://store.blackwell-professional.com/0813809274.html.