Shocker: consumers are buying larger screen HDTVs

We've heard some pretty outlandish claims about the recommended screen size for the "average" American den, but a new writeup over at Channel4 is suggesting that even Europeans are gravitating towards larger sets. Reportedly, Sharp is estimating that "the average size of TVs bought across Europe will increase to 60-inches by 2015," and moreover, retailer Comet has stated that the "average size of its TV screens has increased to 30-inches from 25-inches two years ago." Of course, it's not like this is all that surprising -- after all, the general rule of thumb (for better or worse) in TV buying is that bigger is always better. Couple that with the tanking prices across the HDTV board and you've got a recipe for big-screen upgrade fever. Notably, Comet also proclaimed that it had seen a 7,000-percent (yes, that's correct) uptick in sales of 50-inch sets over the past two years, and needless to say, that category has become the outfit's fastest growing. Hey, who needs 32-inches when that 80-incher is within budget?

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 26th 2007 10:22AM]

The biggest reason why people didn't get larger screens before was the amount of room the cabinet would take up ... it wasn't a price issue. Given that most HDTVs can be wall-mounted, that argument goes away, so naturally people are gravitating towards larger screens.

[wack Posted Dec 26th 2007 10:57AM]

I just wont buy a HDTV over say 52". I think that around 40-46" is the perfect size. sure you could buy a monster tv, but when it can't refresh fast enough to follow the picture, then it's not worth it. Like for watching sports, the players becomes pixalated say in basketball when they charge down the court, a large tv loses the clarity of the outline of the players. besides, the tv that I really want to pick up: Samsung 46" LCD Model LNT4665F.

[Galley Posted Dec 26th 2007 11:32AM]

I agree. I had a roommate who had a 50-incher, and it was just too damned big. The largest I would personally buy might be 42".

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 26th 2007 4:07PM]

well, get a plasma or dlp or lcos. Refresh is only a big issue with lcd.

I had a 50" and now I have a 60". 60" seems a very good size for my 15' viewing distance. Both sizes worked, but I'm very happy going a bit bigger and it definitely does not seem too big.

Anything less than 50" would be too small for my room.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 26th 2007 11:41AM]

Had a Sammy 56 inch DLP. At first it felt too big sitting 11 feet away. After a while it felt small. I Gave it to my father in law and got a Sammy 61 incher. PERFECT SIZE. Why bother with anything smaller?

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 26th 2007 11:53AM]

I'm surprised that power consumption is never talked about in these stories. Some of these 50" plasmas draw almost 800 watts!

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 26th 2007 2:54PM]

I have a 50" Sony RPTV. Yesterday I was visiting friends who have a 37" Panny LCD. The Panny looked a bit small to me, but not unduly so. When I got home and turned on my Sony, it looked HUGE compared to my friends' Panny.

So....I guess it's all a matter of perspective. Though a 60" would be nice.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 26th 2007 4:55PM]

Won't getting a bigger flat panel just increase the European carbon footprint or is all that global warming whining all just talk? I suppose global warming blame applies to big, bad Americans, but everyone else gets a free pass.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 27th 2007 12:02AM]

We have a 52" 720p LCD projection TV. Seemed ***HUGE*** when we got it, but now it feels 'OK'. If it died today, I would probably replace it with a 55-60" A calibrated 58" 700 series Panasonic plasma would make me a very happy camper :-)

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 27th 2007 3:11AM]

There are 2 reasons we are seeing increase in larger TV purchasing by consumers. 1 is of course the most obvious one, the price. With plasmas and LCDs going down in prices it is obvious that consumers will want to go with bigger sets, quite natural. For this same reason we are having incredibly great projectors for under $3k these days. Need to larger.

The second reason is less obvious. As HDTV standard (16:9) continues to grow, we are faced with actually the appearance of less viewing area then older 4:3 TVs.. You can do the math, but the picture on 4:3 felt generally larger, thus psychological need to go bigger.