![]() ![]() It measured 40 inches in size and cost a whopping $4,000. In 2005 CNET reviewed one of the first LCD-based TVs, the Sony KDL-VXBR1. In fact I told my future father-in-law to buy that same TV and he used it for 12 years before upgrading to anĪnd that RPTV was a good deal, at least compared to flat-panel TVs at the time. This 56-inch TV cost $2,700 at the time and I called it "a top choice for people who want a 1080p big screen but don't want to break the bank." Yep, nearly three grand for a 56-inch TV was a good value 15 years ago. ![]() A good example was the Samsung HL-S5687 I reviewed for CNET in 2006. In short, it's now a lot easier, and cheaper, to buy a TV.īack in the day you could buy a rear-projection TV that was 65 inches or even larger, but it took up a huge chunk of space and cost a relative fortune. "Price points for high quality, large screen TVs have fallen so much that a broader swath of consumers can easily afford to buy one," he said. the fact that big-box retailers including Walmart, Target and Costco are selling more TVs both online and in stores and the willingness of people to buy a new TV without it being a long, drawn-out process. Baker points out three major trends: The emergence of online retailers such as People have also changed their TV-buying habits in the last 25 years. Baker says the average price of TVs peaked in 2007 between $900 and $1,000. The most impressive is the last one: Calculating from that average size and price, a square inch of screen in 2004 cost more than five times as much (!) as it does today - more than seven times as much if you factor in inflation. Today that same screen size is considered too small for many bedrooms and you can get an inconceivably gigantic 75-inch screen for less than $1,000.Įven though I've been reviewing TVs for that entire 15-year stretch, it's still amazing to me how stark those numbers are. Two decades ago a 32-inch TV was massive and ridiculously heavy - typically more than 100 pounds and bulky enough to require its own piece of furniture. They got smarter too, but with the advent of flat-panel LCD, plasma and OLED technology they've also grown. A watch was pretty much the same size but just told time: It couldn't begin to imagine all the functions we see in today's smartwatches. A PC was a box on a desk with a fat monitor. A quarter century ago a phone was the size of a brick and did nothing but make calls. , computers, watches - all pack more power into more compact packages than ever. If you could point to one tech trend over the last 25 years, it's that This story is part of CNET at 25, celebrating a quarter century of industry tech and our role in telling you its story. ![]()
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