What's to Come in LCD TV and Plasma TVs This Year

Take a look at the fascinating new technology that will be included in high-definition televisions in the coming year.

The major television manufacturers have announced their opening salvos for 2009 at the Consumer Electronics Show, giving consumers a glimpse of what's in store for the future of high-definition television. Some of the new features and technologies will bring consumers greater convenience, others may simply complicated thing, and a few are prototypes meant for future models. We'll give you a quick rundown of what we've seen and what we think about it all.

Refresh Rates Now Twice as Refreshing

Refresh rates of 120Hz have been all the buzz over the past year, and the quest for smoother, more realistic pictures has not let up. This year, several manufacturers have introduced high-definition televisions with refresh rates of 240Hz. These TVs include models from the Samsung 7-series and 8000-series, LG's LH55 series, Vizio's 55-inch VF551XVT1A, and the Sony's BRAVIA KDL-52XBR7.

We've always been skeptical about the benefits of plain old 120Hz televisions. While they do provide improvements to the smoothness of the image, their overall benefit seemed exaggerated. They certainly did not warrant the extra cost over a non-120Hz 1080p television. The same holds true of these 240Hz televisions. Early reports from those who have had an opportunity to evaluate 240Hz models indicate that much of this is simply marketing hype, and like 120Hz, does not significantly improve the picture in a detectable way. Basically, you'd be paying for a technological benefit that your eye cannot really perceive.

Our verdict: don't shell out the extra cash for 240Hz. If it comes on a reasonably priced television, by all means, get it; it can't hurt. But don't go out of your way to attain what is, at best, a marginal benefit.

Sharp's Built-In Blu-ray Disc Player

Why buy two devices when you can buy just one? Sharp has unveiled a series of HDTVs that feature a built-in Blu-ray disc player. The TVs feature a little bulge that houses a side-loading Blu-ray player. This solves one of the big problems of flat-panel televisions: where to put your set-top boxes when your set has no top!

The Blu-ray disc player will be featured on certain Sharp AQUOS televisions in sizes between 23 and 52 inches, and are marked with 'BD' in their model numbers, specifically the LC-52BD80U, LC-46BD80U, LC-42BD80U, LC-37BD60U, LC-32BD60U. The BD player will also handle CDs and DVD discs (with up-scaling) and integrates seamlessly with an on-screen on-load interface.

This is an intriguing step for Sharp, and moving toward convergence is a potentially smart move, saving consumers the trouble of figuring out which Blu-ray disc player they should get to go along with their new TV. These models will be available in January and February.

Internet-Enabled HDTVs: Netflix Streaming

HDTV manufacturers realize that most consumers want their flat-panels to be a part of their Internet experience, whether it's streaming video or simply interacting with other devices. Both LG and Vizio announced televisions capable of directly accessing Netflix streaming videos without the use of an additional set-top box. All you need is an Ethernet connection (for the LG) or a wireless connection (for the Vizio), and you're all set to stream all the Netflix movies you can handle. The Vizio also supports other online streaming services, like Blockbuster, Pandora, Rhapsody, and Amazon, among others. Vizio will be releasing these sets under the "Connected HDTV" label, while LG uses the term "Broadband HDTVs."

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