2:05pm PT: In just 8 months, 2.6 million Samsung LED TVs were sold, grabbing an 80% market share in the U.S.

2:05pm PT: The company’s goal is 10 million globally.

This means that Vizio, LG, Sharp, and Sony are going to have a lot of work to do to catch up.

[Source: Beta News]

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Vizio, who is one of the largest makers of LCD HDTVs is moving into the 3D space and is taking Sensio for the ride.  This is bound to give their bottom line a big boost as well as give them some much needed name recognition.

RealD doesn’t have the same problem as fast as getting their name out, but that hasn’t stopped them from promptly announcing partnerships with several HDTV brands to help promote their own 3D technology.

These companies are fighting furiously to license their technology in hopes to end up with bragging rights.  In the meantime it looks like all 3D isn’t equal and it will be a few years before we find out who the real market leader will be.

You can read more about Sensio, here and more about RealD here.

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More LED backlighting – Based on sales of LED HDTVs and the margins they provide a lot more models are being announced in 2010.  They allow the manufacturers to charge a premium while providing a better picture when compared to regular LCD HDTVs as well as allowing the television to be thinner.  Only a handful of televisions were featured with this technology in 2009 with Samsung being the clear leader.  This time around LG, Sharp, Sony and Vizio are going to be challenging Samsung to bring the most compelling value to customers.

Even thinner HDTVs – At some point a television will be made so thin, it will only be a thin piece of glass with a set top box which wireless communicates to it.  Until then, manufacturers are working tirelessly to make HDTVs slimmer and slimmer.  LG is hoping to sell a 2.6mm thick HDTV, and other manufacturers are following close with their own “paper thin” television sets.  The appeal makes sense as thinner televisions are easier to hang and are more aesthetically pleasing.  To think, I was impressed with my old Toshiba DLP HDTV when I saw how much thinner it was compared to my Panasonic CRT.

Wireless everything – HDTVs and computers have always tried to get closer to each other.  It was only a matter of time for the internet to live and breathe inside of a HDTV.  Also, as television get thinner wireless will enable the screen to be one part while the receiver is another with a wireless connection bringing the two together.  Wireless HDMI is making a bid to get some space in people’s living rooms.  This will allow you to connect your signal in one room but send it to your television in another room.  A lot of contractors are going to be upset because they won’t be able to charge people to drill holes while they hang a TV on a wall or fireplace.  The other benefit of wireless connectivity is the ability to connect to the web easily.  As Netflix, Pandora, Twitter and Facebook go from being computer apps to TV apps it won’t make sense to force televisions to connect to the web via a RJ45 connector.  With more and more people using broadband and sharing their connections with routers Wifi enabled HDTVs just make sense.  Samsung was charging $80 to enable this feature but once it gets built into the television I suspect it will command a significantly smaller premium.

3D – My first memories of 3D were the Halloween movies you’d watch with the glasses you’d get for free from 7-11.  Some twenty years later, the big TV brands (and the cable and satellite companies) see 3D HDTV as the new frontier in profiteering.  It will take very little in upgrades to help facilitate, people are aware of what it is so it won’t require a bunch of dollars to promote, and with compelling enough content it can be provided for a king’s ransom.  Many people already own 3D ready HDTVs which makes the amount of people who could possibly use a new 3D HDTV service pretty high.

Huge HDTVs; Small Prices – How much would you pay for a 70+ inch HDTV?  In 2008 you’d have to pay at least $10,000.  In 2009, you’d have to pay at least $6,000.  It looks like in 2010 you might be able to get one for under $4,000.  Even though most people could get away with a 32 or 40 inch HDTV, that’s not going to stop HDTV makers from going after the big project brands.  The advantage of buying a HDTV is that you don’t have to buy the lamps (which can be pretty pricey).  It wasn’t financially feasible to have a 72″ screen but as prices keep coming down projectors in homes may go extinct.

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Companies must be full of excitement with CES underway because the announcements are taking place well before the actual show begins.  One of the newest innovations to be announced are 480Hz LED HDTVs.  They should start showing up from companies such as Vizio and Samsung.

480Hz technology was featured in plasma HDTVs up until 2009, when 600Hz sub-field drive technology replaced it.  With LED HDTVs, it’s an upgrade from the 240Hz technology being used in older 2009 models.  The idea behind the higher number is simple:  higher hertz means a smoother picture.

It’s all a bit of a shell game since the eye can only notice up to a certain refresh rate.  After that it’s all a marketing arms race.

To learn more about 480Hz LED HDTVs, you can read the explanation about what it is here.

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