The holiday shopping season is closer than you think, but is now the right time to splurge on a fancy flat-panel television?

Darned if I know. The HDTV universe is chock full of mysteries, from curious numbers (120Hz?? 1080p??) to revolving formats (LCD, plasma, OLED …).

So WWTW checked in with a couple of HDTV experts to get their take on the state of the TV industry as well as what the near future could bring.

First, the bad news.

Consumers likely won’t see the kind of price erosion typical of recent holiday shopping seasons, says Alfred Poor, a longtime contributor to PC Magazine and the mind behind HDTVprofessor.com.

“The fact that we appear to be in a slightly less supply than demand state would also favor little further drop in price, if any,” Poor says. But the holiday season can be unpredictable, so there’s still a small chance that prices will drop more than anticipated.

Some big box outlets will do whatever it takes to lure customers into their stores, he says.

Phillip Swann, who oversees TVPredictions.com, says the best bargains this season will likely be with 720p sets, which offer less resolution than their 1080p peers but still deliver a crisp, clear picture for your TV dollar.

Some consumers, WWTW included, may be confused about the latest innovation to hit the flat panel market – LED televisions. But Poor says there’s no such thing as an LED TV outside what you see at major sports arenas and on billboards. The latest LED sets are LCD panels with LED backlights.

Poor blames some industry leaders for the confusion – Samsung’s “LED TV” marketing material never even mentions the term “LCD,” he says.

These new LED backlight sets offer a thinner presentation and gobble up less energy, plus they provide “better color gamut performance” than existing sets, according to Poor.

Naturally, these new sets cost more than traditional LCD televisions, and Poor predicts they’ll remain only a small amount of the overall sets sold in the near future.

LCD will continue to dominate the television scene overall, Poor says, as plasma sets continue to shrink in popularity. Swann agrees, although he thinks plasma sets will sell briskly thanks to shops aggressively pricing these sets.

And if you’re looking to hold back your cash until the next flat panel innovation comes our way, don’t bother.

Poor says Mitsubishi’s LaserTV falls back on a rear projection format which won’t click with most consumers, and talk of OLED sets (organic light emitting diode) have stalled thanks to exhorbitant production costs.

Perhaps the only game changer heading our way is talk of 3-D televisions. Poor predicts these sets won’t have significant sales until 2012 at the earliest since there won’t be much 3-D ready content for consumers to see.

Swann also doubts that format will have much traction.

“Three-D will be hyped but will have few sales,” Swann says.

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1. Where do misfit formats go?

Shopping for a new HDTV? Better do your homework, and then check the numbers one more time.

The biggest decision consumers once had to make was the easiest – LCD or plasma? But today’s sets offer far more options to consider. And since flat-screen sets in the 40-inches and up range still cost north of $1,000, it pays to know precisely what you’re looking for when you enter that electronics chain near you.

The LCD vs. plasma debate still rages on, but today it’s as much about price points as which offers a superior picture.

One way to take the HDTV plunge is to consider plasma sets. Phillip Swann, president and publisher of TVpredictions.com, says LCD models have jumped ahead of their plasma peers in terms of sales, and by a wide margin. That provides an opportunity for savvy shoppers.

“For consumers, it should mean keeping an eye on possible plasma bargains. Some believe the plasma picture is better so if you can get it cheaper, do so,” Swann says. He adds consumers shouldn‘t expect free-falling TV prices this Christmas season as we‘ve seen in the recent past.

LCD and plasma technologies have battled it out for years, but while newer technologies like OLED and Laser TV could be coming our way soon, “the jury is still out on them,” he cautions.

Projection-style sets, which are mounted on the home movie room’s ceiling and beam the image onto a movie screen, haven’t caught on with the masses. Swann suggests vanity might partly be to blame.

“People want the sleek, status symbol style of the flat-screen, even for a home theater,” he says. Their price tag also leaves movie lovers with sticker shock. The screens alone can set you back at least a grand.

Arguably, the most confusing figure consumers will find at their HDTV shop concerns 1080p. That number refers to the number of pixels a set can display – 1,920×1,080 pixels to be precise. The “P” stands for progressive scan, a better way of displaying pixels than with the 1080i format. But no channels (cable or broadcast) offer programming in 1080p – yet.

Brad Wilson, a sales associate with Ultimate Electronics in Denver, says only Blu-ray discs, some HDTV video cameras and Xbox setups can take advantage of the 1080p extra clarity.

But that will soon be changing, Wilson says. Both DirecTV and Dish systems will have some 1080p programming by year’s end, he says. The choice might not be open much longer, though. Wilson says many manufacturers have stopped producing 720p sets.

Another important number consumers should keep in mind is 120 Hz. The figure refers to the amount of times an LCD set refreshes its image every second. (this isn’t a factor with plasma sets)

Older LCD sets refresh 60 times a second, which might sound like plenty but it often causes blurring in fast-moving objects.

Sports fanatics would be wise to find an LCD set with the 120 hz refresh rate, Wilson says.

For more information on HDTV purchases, visit these quality sites:

• TV Predictions
• CNET
• PC World

UPDATE: Friend and frequent site visitor John adds this valuable info gleaned from his recent HDTV research and purchase:

A website tip for buying gear: www.firefold.com. Never pay retail for cables or wall mounts again. The price difference between them and Best Buy, etc, is ridiculous. And HDMI is the standard so whether you pay $9.99 for it or $100 for it, the same signal is going to pass. And the wall mount was only $50 compared the $100+ that the local stores want.

Note: Check out HomeTheaterReview.com’s Home Theater Educational Page which explains terms ranging from HDMI to 7.1 surround to 1080p video and much more in easy to understand terms. Most people suggest you look for a custom AV installer or specialty AV dealer to help you with your home theater investment. Check out this list of almost 900 hand-picked dealers from every state in the nation that represent the Best Home Theater Dealers in the United States.

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