Home Theater: Educating HDTV Shoppers

I was strolling through Costco the other day, looking to buy 55 gallons of something I don't need but can't resist at the price, when I saw this flier attached to all the store's HDTVs (forgive on the photo quality- I was shopping and had to use my iPhone's camera).

Mark this day down. I don't know what the cost in pennies is for this flier to get slapped on every HDTV in existence, but I do know it's value: freaking priceless! (I must really like this because I haven't even gone agape at the $950 price tag on this 42" 1080p VIZIO flat panel!)

This answers about 7,000 emails I've received during my time in this biz, succinctly and with perfect clarity.

Not to be a total ingrate, but why has it taken this many years into this HDTV transition to execute something so perfectly helpful? I know I hadn't suggested it, but then it's not my job to peddle HDTVs and make people happy with their purchases either.

Still, hooray! This simple idea, perfectly executed, is exactly the kind of thing we need more of in this HD era. Throw in a reference to a Blu-ray player being one of these HD sources and this thing really takes off!

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Reader Comments

Posted Fri Apr11, 2008, 10:35 AM — By Claude

I love Costco! I'd buy everything there if I could.

Posted Sun Apr13, 2008, 3:12 PM — By shane

I would too, but I'd have to add on to my house to store it all!

Posted Mon Apr14, 2008, 2:05 AM — By david budo

speaking of educating, i would appreciate stores like best buy and other big name home theater carriers to educate their employees on plasma burn in. people still believe that if you buy a plasma, you will get burn in. it is beyond foolish. studies show that after leaving a frozen image on a plasma for 48 hours, and then running a moving image for the same time, the screen is completely clean. this was before anti burn in features now available. but who in their right mind would leave a frozen image on a screen for longer than two days and then not use it for anything else. the only reason to not get a plama is if you mostly use your display for gaming(more than 50% of use) or you're on a budget. i mean how many people in good sense would choose a sony or samsung lcd over any pioneer(even non 1080p). david budo

Posted Sun Apr20, 2008, 5:53 PM — By Ed T

Now, can we do something about retailers who imply that their DVD players can upconvert your DVDs to Hi-Def? The consumer needs to know that an upconverting player is just doing what your HD TV was going to do anyway: scale the video signal to match the TV's resolution.

Posted Mon Apr21, 2008, 1:51 PM — By THE FLAP

I can not wait until these retailer suffer the truth in labeling kind of tagging that is sorely missing to date. The positition that these retailers take is sort of a trust in a unregulated enviroment. I am sure the reason you have not seen that disclosure is that it wouldn't sell the HDTVs. The average consumer after 10 years of this is still confused as to what they need to do after 2/2009. Get ready for more bull from the big box retailers just to sell product. I recently had a Best Buy employee at their Davenport, Ia facility tell my significant other that if a TV didn't have a HDMI port IT WOULD NOT WORK PAST 2009! Being somewhat informed she asked why our current Tv then had the HDTV with tuner logo on the front. His answer: "the manufactures are always changing what you need to have". I encourge those with a good rep (like this site) to refute these kind of claims and spearhead a move to regulate just what these guys can say.

Posted Mon May 5, 2008, 1:17 PM — By Fred M

Shane - this just in: Costco now sell house additions!

They're where they used to keep the water.

Posted Mon May12, 2008, 8:37 AM — By Phil

"an HD" - shouldn't that be "a HD"

Posted Thu May22, 2008, 1:03 PM — By antennaguy

How about a label that reads. "You must have an antenna to receive free Off-Air broadcasts" While cable and satellite program providers will continue to serve the great majority of homes as the primary signal source, missing HD local reception, compression issues, higher costs, billing add-ons, service outages, contact difficulties, in-home service waits and no shows have left many of these subscribers looking to OTA antennas as a good alternatives. Most TV consumers think of antennas as low-tech devices, but there is more behind some of the newer antenna designs than just bent metal and plastic. Many of the TV antenna designs on the market today such as the Yagi and rabbit ears have technology roots going back 30 to 50 years or more. Considering the investment in TV entertainment already made by many viewers, shouldn�t they consider up-grading to a new digital OTA antenna or adding one to their reception options?

Posted Tue May27, 2008, 7:39 AM — By Greg G

As everyone has already noted, it comes down to educating the general population. I am a home theater enthusiast to the bone (I wish my wallet was as well). At work I routinely field questions about the erroneous belief that plasmas have to be refilled when the gas runs out in 2 years and how long the florescent bulbs in a LCD last. It really just boils down to training and researching your purchases. I read a lot of reviews and articles before purchasing my Panasonic Plasma and PS3. So lets get out there and start educating our neighbors, friends, and co-workers and make it a better place for all of us.

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