Progress in TV technology continues -- at a price

This is not a good year for technological advancements in televisions.

It's not the fault of science or engineering. Several new types of TVs hit the marketplace in 2008, and they're breathtakingly wonderful.

But they're also expensive, for the most part, and that's the problem. A state-of-the-art TV isn't going to be at the top of many shopping lists during hard times.

On the bright side, new technologies eventually get cheaper. Lots cheaper.

Just three years ago a 42-inch, liquid crystal display television cost $10,000. This shopping season, LCDs in that size might go for as low as $700.

So don't even look at the price tags on the following newfangled televisions. Just put them on a mental wish list, and prepare to wait them out.

Laser TV -- Analyst Richard Doherty of Envisioneering Group minced no words in praising the first laser-powered TV, Mitsubishi's LaserVue.

"It has the richest colors other than Mother Nature itself," he said.

The set, which arrived in stores last month in a 65-inch screen size, is essentially a rear-projection digital light processing model, but with a laser as the light source. It's also highly energy efficient.

Suggested retail price: $7,000.

LED backlighting -- The vast majority of LCD TVs use tiny fluorescent lights as their source of illumination. But the trend is toward using light-emitting diodes instead.

The LEDs allow for truer blacks and richer colors. And the sets are more environmentally friendly for disposal because, unlike the fluorescents, LEDs don't contain mercury.

Sony, Sharp and Samsung all have LCD sets with LED backlighting. Currently, a 46-inch Sony model is about $5,000. But you can get a 46-inch Samsung set for about $1,700.

Doherty estimated that 10% of LCDs on the market used LED technology. By next year, he expects it to be 25%.

OLED -- The images displayed by televisions with Organic-LED technology are so clear that they practically shimmer like water.

The only OLED set on the market costs about $2,500.

Not bad, except that the Sony XEL-1's screen is only 11 inches, measured diagonally.

So unless you don't mind a TV that's a glorified postcard, wait for larger sizes to emerge.

But who knows at what price?

-LATimes.com