by Jacqueline Emigh, PCWorld  

6. Slicker laser TVs

Although projection TV is often considered as a single category, there are actually lots of different rear- and front-end projection technologies. Many of the projection TVs on the market today are rear projection (RP) sets that use a digital light processor (DLP) to reflect light from a light source to a screen.

From 2009 to 2010, sales of DLP-RP sets will drop off from 383,000 to 211,000, according to Patel.

Plasma sales will also fall, from about 14.9 million to about 14.0 million units, while LCD sales will surge from 134.3 million to 157.6 million units. OLED TV sales will increase from 17,000 units in 2009 to 34,000 units in 2010, according to Jakhanwal.

Mitsubishi, the leader in the DLP-RP space, produces laser TV sets that are “3D-ready.”

Traditional DLP projection TVs use a bright while light similar to the light in a slide projector, along with a color wheel. “With its red, blue and green pie slices, the wheel spins very fast so that each color is in front of the DLP for 1/60th of a second,” Peddie explains.

Alternatively, color lasers are now being used in some high-end DLP projection TVs to replace the spinning wheel. But “the green lasers are the weak link in the equation,” according to the analyst.

With the likelihood now strong that new 3D technologies will be introduced in 2010, Mitsubishi’s laser TVs will probably be joined soon by more plasma and LCD TVs in the 3D arena.

But just when some observers started voicing doubts that the DLP industry could last more than another couple of years, more vendors started hopping aboard the laser TV train. In September of this year, HDI announced plans for a 100-inch laser TV supporting 3D at the blazing rate of 1000 frames per second.

At about the same time, Sumitomo Electric claimed to have developed the world’s first “true green” laser diode, seen as eliminating the current cumbersome process of doubling the frequency of an infrared laser in order to create green light.

Meanwhile, some laser TV advocates claim the industry might eventually be able to lower prices on consumer TVs by producing less expensive laser components.

7. 3D TVs

Mitsubishi and later Samsung pioneered with “3D-ready” RP-DLP sets that produce a 3D effect by switching rapidly between left and right images if you’re wearing the proper goggles. But the DLP TVs are costly and require the use of special proprietary content in order to view 3D video. Samsung recently exited the DLP market entirely, according to Patel.

“The talk now is mostly about LCD and plasma,” she says. Pictured here is a 50-inch 3D plasma HDTV introduced by Panasonic in December.

Also this month, LG unveiled plans at a press conference to launch an extensive line-up of LCD 3D TVs during the second half of 2010, according to a Reuters report.

Meanwhile, the BDA announced a single Blu-ray specification for creating 1080p HDTV 3D content that will work across LCD, plasma, and OLED sets.

Right now, details of the Blu-ray specification remain kind of sketchy. It’s still unknown, for example, whether the spec will require use of goggles.

But if goggles will be needed, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, according to Peddie. “Glasses-free screens have been given up by Philips and others because of costs and technical problems,” he says.

“The glasses-free screens use an optical filter to replace the shutter effects of the glasses. As a result, you lose half the resolution of the screen. Also, glasses-free screens have zones—from three to eight depending upon the price of the screen and content.” But goggle-free 3D screens might eventually end up on mobile phones, he acknowledges.

Despite the impending announcement of new 3D TVs from major manufacturers in 2010, Patel predicts that it will take another two to four years for 3D TV to go fully mainstream.

“There are lots of issues still to be sorted out around formats for picture capture, display, goggles, etc.,” she elaborates.

8. Larger plasma TVs

Plasma TV makers have long been able to produce big displays, even measuring 100 inches and up. But it’s only now that consumer demand is pushing mass production to sizes of 50 inches and more, according to iSuppli’s Patel.

“In the 40-inch range, plasma no longer has a price performance advantage over LCD TVs. But that advantage still exists in the 50-inch and larger sizes. Panel makers are expanding the availability of panels in this range,” Patel says.

“However, the market is limited to homes which have a dedicated home theatre or larger living area.”

Samsung’s HPR6372 plasma HDTV, currently street-priced at around $3500, measures 63 inches. But earlier this year, Samsung announced a 70-inch panel. A 76-inch plasma panel from LG is also on its way to HDTVs of the future.

9. HDTV/Blu-ray combo units

HDTV product rollouts in 2009 also included the Sharp LC46BD80U, an HDTV/Blu-ray combo unit now available for about $1600 to $1700, along with the The Sony VIAO L11FX/B, an “all-in-one” unit which incorporates a Windows 7 PC, HDTV tuner, a Blu-ray drive, and a 24-inch multitouch screen.

TVs with DVD players have been around for quite some time, and so have PC/TV “all-in-ones.” More HDTV/Blu-ray combo units in 2010 wouldn’t come as an huge surprise.

“It’s a natural evolution of the market,” Patel observes. For the most part, these combo units are aimed at those who already have “primary TVs” in their living rooms, but who now want to add TVs for “secondary rooms” such as bedrooms, dens, or children’s rooms.

Peddie, though, points to some of the drawbacks of these integrated products. “Combo units only make sense at the time of purchase. They don’t have good life-time histories,” he says.

Instead, buying a TV and Blu-ray drive as separate components gives you more freedom to take advantage of price reductions and move to new technologies. “Think back to the TVs that were sold with VHS tape drives,” he illustrates

10. Greener TVs

California has just passed a law limiting TV power consumption, and similar legislation might crop up elsewhere. Consequently, manufacturers will start trying to “green” their TVs greener in 2010, experts say.

As some see it, the new laws could sound the death knell for plasma TVs. “Plasma TVs do give a very good display, and some people swear by them for color fidelity,” Peddie maintains.

But plasma is also “an obsolete technology that has been outlawed in California,” according to the analyst. “Plasma TVs wear out. They make noise, due to high voltage and the fans [needed for] cooling. Plasmas consume inordinate amounts of power, and they use exotic gases which make them toxic.”

LCD TVs, OLEDs, and even laser TVs are better suited to power conservation, according to some. Unlike LCDs, OLED TVs don’t need backlighting, Jakhanwal says. Laser TV advocates often cite relative energy efficiency, too.

“In 2010, there will be an increased emphasis on LED backlit LCD TVs. The CCFL vendors are also working towards improving [florescent panels] in order to lower power consumption,” according to Patel.

“Manufacturers will move away from products containing toxic materials such as mercury, and they will work towards meeting up with Energy Star 4.0 standards as well as toward the RoHS compliance needed in European Union (EU) nations.”