They are selling a package with a Samsung 3D TV, 3D Blu-ray player, and a pair of glasses.

To learn more about this package and other deals, check out the March 21st Best Buy ad scan.

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It may not go very well until the Summer.  The new models are on their way to retail shelves and online.  It usually takes a few months for enough stores to have them in stock for the price dropping to commence.  If stores became flush by March it will take until July before prices get low enough on the newer sets and older sets have been cleared out for things to start heading in the right direction.

This may be why Panasonic is spending $100 million dollars to help promote their televisions.  Vizio and Samsung are always sponsoring sports events to make sure people remember that they look better on one of their sets.  Other brands may get even more creative to help with awareness and promotion.

Here what they should be doing:

Pressuring retail partners to drop prices on older models – The 2009 models need to go.  It would be better to create a shortage than to have a glut of televisions.  When Nintendo put out the Wii originally they loved all the press coming from people who weren’t able to get their hands on one.

Start talking up 2010 features - Verizon is running commercials on the East Coast about how their FIOS service allows you to contact people through Facebook.  I may not ever get the service but I thought it was a great add-on since so many people are addicted to contacting people and catching up with them.  If your 2010 models connect to the web, show the televisions online, if the black levels are deeper  – show the difference.  There are lots of brands and models out there.  It will be easier to get lost.

Drop prices on 2010 models quickly – MSRPs are a joke and everyone knows it.  Tell retailers that if they move X% more units than they did for 2009 models they’ll get a bonus.  When I see Amazon advertise a television it instantly becomes a best seller.

I’m considering selling my “old” 1080p Sony BRAVIA and getting something new but until I see a reason to upgrade I’m going to just on the sidelines.  Chances are that there are lots of other people in the same situation.

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The easy way to explain it is to say that these televisions are not actually in fact 480Hz. What they are referring to is an artificial increase in the refresh rate to help provide smoother video. This is accomplished by tricking the eyes to see quick glimpses of images.

To get more technical:

Manufacturers have created a technology which inserts very short black frames between the original picture frames while the viewer is watching a video source.

The method utilizes the principle that the human eye does not “forget” light instantly. You know this from a very short flash that tends to stay on your eye cornea for a short time. By inserting very short black images between the other frames, you can constantly reset the human eye, in order to improve the perception of response time and refresh rate of a LCD-TV.

LED LCD HDTVs will grow as 2010 progresses, and it looks like manufacturers will be using 480Hz as a way to make them more attractive.

[Source: TVLampsnbulbs.com]

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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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It may be until mid-2011 before any benefits are seen from this partnership but using CCFL backlighting is a thing of the past with newer LCD television using as many LED backlights as possible.  This kind of development means that the price point on these televisions should get closer to $1,000 as more and more manufacturers join in with their own product lines.

Source: Reuters

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The Samsung UN46B8500 is another in the long line of Samsung LED HDTVs the company has released this year.  It features 4 HDMI inputs, 240Hz picture refresh rate, 1080p picture and 7,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio.

By connecting to the web you’ll be able to get access to a bunch of internet content including video from Yahoo Weather, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo News, YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, RallyCast, eBay Daily Deals, and Blockbuster On Demand.

Also if you carry your pictures and video files on a USB stick you can use the USB 2.0 ports in order to access the information on it.

Right now through the end of October, Vanns.com is selling the Samsung UN46B8500 for $3,239.  You’ll also get a free Blu-ray player and wall mount.

You can learn more at Vanns.com.

[Source: AVRev]

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Below are some of the specs:

Here’s what someone who picked one up said on Amazon:

I was a bit hesitant to buy this TV as I was waiting for a price drop on the Samsung LN52B750 52-Inch 1080p 240Hz LCD HDTV with Charcoal Grey Touch of Color for several days. Then, at Fry’s I saw Sharp’s new LC52LE700UN standing next to Samsung’s LN52B750 and they both looked quite similar, though Samsung’s screen was slightly brighter. The picture quality appeared to be the same. I grabbed the Sharp’s remote and changed the picture settings and I was able to increase the backlight up to match Samsung’s level while still maintaining amazing contrast ratio and black levels.

By the end of the day I decided to go for the Sharp TV, and I had it for almost a week now. The picture looks really great at any time of the day, when the room is dark or lit (we have a side window facing south). The TV’s sound is pretty good and clear, but I decided in advance that I’d like good external speakers to match this great TV.

The TV features also a VGA input (there’s also an S-Video input), which is handy for connecting a computer or laptop. I tried connecting my MacBook Pro yesterday and it was able to drive it at 1344×756 (16:9) and 1344×1008 (4:3), but I couldn’t get 1920×1080. The picture looks sharp, and it was good enough to watch Hulu on it.

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For starters you can find the full specs for the VF551XVT here.  The specs for the UN55B8000 can be found here.

You’ll notice after looking at these televisions that there aren’t many differences.  Both are 55 inch, 1080p, 240Hz HDTVs with at least 4 HDMI inputs and LED backlighting.

They aren’t exactly the same though.  First and foremost, the VF551XVT has 5 HDMI inputs versus just 4 with the UN55B8000.  Also, the UN55B8000 boasts a 5,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio versus just 2,000,000:1 for the Vizio.

The most glaring difference comes when you look at their prices.  The Vizio VF551XVT goes for only $2,099 in a bid for Vizio to continue keeping it’s crown as “America’s #1 HDTV company.  The Samsung UN55B8000 on the other hand sells at most stores for $2,800 with many stores selling it for $3000.  As long as Samsung continues to charge a premium they are going to have an uphill battle against Vizio.

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In an odd turn of events, it looks like Dell or Vizio is really excited about the new 55 inch 240Hz LED HDTV and want to see sales get jump started.  That’s the only reason I can think of for you to find this television marked day after only being announced a few short days ago.

At any rate, you can check it out for yourself at Dell Home.

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The 46SV670U from Toshiba is a 240Hz 1080p LCD HDTV with LED backlighting.  It includes 4 HDMI inputs, and also includes an SD slot to allow you to show your video and pictures from a digital camera or camcorder.

While there are many prices for this television around the web, the best price I found is at Abe’s of Maine who is selling this HDTV for $1,596.

Not only does this price include free shipping, but you’ll also get a free wall mount.  Other retailers are charging more than $1,700 for the same television.

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