Once upon a time, $6,000 was the price of a fleet of used Honda Accords. It was the price of a first class air flight to Rome, and it was the price of a week in Mazatlan with childcare for your kids thrown in. But today’s changing (and constricting) safe travel avenues and the hybrid development and expansion of home theater equipment means a $6,000 Samsung LCD TV may be worth its weight in gold.

The Samsung LN65B650 is sixty five inches of streaming madness. The box alone sitting on the curb will halt traffic for at least a week. This big boy will take out your back wall and make the neighbors really, really wish they had let you borrow that cup of sugar back in 1998. Every dollar video you rent from now until kingdom come will now look like a million bucks.

A giant LCD like this Samsung can earn its money back in one year of plausible metrics. the average family of four spends $2,500 on entertainment and/or amusement outing meals out every annual quarter. but what if the dollars went into a fine LCD unit and the Wii and other games went on at home? That’s about $208 a week the home unit might shave off the credit cards while you keep possession instead of a valuable home asset.

The size of this 65-inch screen means no guest crowd is too large to see the game, the moment, or the candlestick in the study with Professor Plum. Parental controls are easier with parents in the room and a visual footprint that can be seen from Mars. Preloaded content and shows can keep the choices family friendly, age appropriate and commercial free. That’s worth the price of admission right there for some families.

An LCD unit like the Samsung changes the game of the whole house. Every critical email becomes readable without the hunt for the glasses. Getting the kids to watch that nature documentary is easier when there’s a South African veld the size of a Tanzanian savannah measuring wall to wall. Performance technology is kind of the occipital lobes of all ages. Audio can beat through the floor or drift from the best of the latest headphone technology.

Most homes have a plus one or bonus room. But midcentury home dwellers deal with scarcity of space and even scarcer electrical hookups available. hauling the laptop around, fudging the wireless network through walls and cellphones fanning throughout the house, and the intermittent problem of environmental noise just as the kids have dropped off to sleep can wear on the nerves.

But with a future-friendly unit like the 65 inch Samsung lurking in the family room, it’s never too much trouble to boot up the computer and get some work done. Those YouTubes you enjoy are free, and can keep the family laughing for a trifling fraction of what movies and popcorn cost for the entire family at the theater. Consider also saving gas, parking, time traveling and random events like obnoxious fellow movie watchers, and movies at home sound like Paradise.

Last Thanksgiving, the Sony LCD my parents bought was showing the Alfred Hitchcock classic “to Catch a Thief’. The remastered version was amazing and our whole family was drawn in. The problem? A TV meant to suitably entertain two seniors was hardly the right size for a group of thirty people. We crowded closer and closer around the loveseat and easy chair, watching the grand masquerade ball and Cary Grant and Grace Kelly.

With a 65 inch TV, we might all have all see the action from across the room. A family memory might have been more cozy. And I know my mother’s charity friends and their luncheons for between thirty and forty women could benefit from a video presentation of some sort. And for long distance family telephone calls, the internet is simply the best thing that ever happened to close family living far apart.

Insofar as a new LCD TV can supplement home telephony, extend your PC, introduce family size Skype calls to family gatherings across the nation, allow educational viewing and cultural enrichment on a scale that rewards the effort, saves gas and parking dilemmas on movie night, and plays the big game, $6,000 starts to look like a bargain.

To wit: Nearly 800,000 households in the U.S. have “cut the cord,” dumping their cable, satellite, or telco TV providers (such as AT&T U-verse or Verizon FiOS) and turning instead to Web-based videos (like Hulu), downloadable shows (iTunes), by-mail subscription services (Netflix), or even good ol’ over-the-air antennas for their favorite shows, according to the report.

Now, as TechCrunch points out, the estimated 800,000 cord cutters represent less than 1 percent of the 100 million U.S. households (give or take) currently subscribing to a cable/satellite/telco TV carrier, so it’s not like we’re talking a mass exodus here. But by the end of 2011, the report guesstimates, the number of cord-cutting households in the U.S. will double to about 1.6 million, and if the trend continues, well…

Even more trouble for the big carriers is the report’s assertion that U.S. TV watchers are getting a taste for online video, with an estimated 17 percent of the U.S. TV audience watching at least one or two shows online in a given week last year, up from just 12 percent in 2008, and set to rise to 21 percent this year.

Personally, I find the temptation to cut the cord pretty enticing, especially whenever I get a load of my monthly $130 cable bill (which includes unlimited broadband and HD but no premium channels). Why am I paying so much for all the hundreds of channels that I rarely ever watch, anyway? Wouldn’t it be easier — not to mention a lot cheaper — just to ditch my DVR and watch my favorite shows on iTunes and Hulu, catch up on the news via CNN.com, and be done with it?

There’s one important factor that’s keeping me from pulling my scissors out: live sports, and particularly ESPN, my 24-hour sports companion. Sure, as a football fan, I could keep up with the Jets and the Giants via over-the-air TV (although I’m not sure my landlord would be all that ecstatic about my installing a TV antenna on the roof of our Brooklyn brownstone), but without cable, I’d be left high and dry when it comes to Monday Night Football.

What about you? Anyone out there count themselves as one of the 800,000-plus cord-cutting households in the U.S.? If not, would you ever consider it, or are you too attached to basic cable?

Correction: This post originally said that 800,000 U.S. TV households “cut the cord” in 2009. They didn’t all cut the cord in 2009; the number reflects how many had cut the cord by the end of 2009 — a somewhat important distinction.

From: Yahoo! News.

If you weren’t blown away by the three-dimensional effects in James Cameron’s movie “Avatar” or you left the theater with eyestrain or a headache, your eyes might not be 3D-ready. Around 5 to 10 percent of people don’t have true depth perception, and far more may have trouble with their binocular vision, which is needed to see the 3D images in movies or the new 3D TVs on the horizon.

To make movies such as Avatar, filmmakers use special 3D cameras that capture two images, simulating the different perspectives of the left and right eye, according to RealD, a 3D technology company. The two slightly different images are projected onto a custom screen. When seen through the lenses of the special 3D glasses, each eye sees the proper perspective and the brain fuses them into a 3D or stereoptic image. Most of the new 3D TVs coming to market require shutter-style eyewear that blink on and off rapidly so that each eye sees its own, slightly different image.

People whose eyes aren’t perfectly aligned because of strabismus (the eyes don’t align when focusing) or amblyopia (the loss by one eye to see details), or who struggle to keep their eyes lined up and moving together, will likely have difficulty fusing the images into a 3D experience. Moreover, the challenge may cause eyestrain (dry, irritated, or painful eyes ), which may lead to headache.

Bottom line: If you’ve experienced problems viewing 3D images, you’re better off going to 2D versions of movies and watching TV on conventional sets. To try to determine why you’ve had 3D vision difficulty, consider making an appointment with an eye care professional—either an ophthalmologist or optometrist—and ask for an eye exam, including an assessment of your stereoptic vision. Some people who have 3D vision problems may simply need new prescription eyeglasses or contacts, or might need to get their existing prescription changed. Some might be candidates for surgery to correct misaligned eyes. Also consider asking about a referral to a developmental optometrist, a practitioner specially trained to help patients improve their visual performance, which can help with tasks such as seeing 3D.

From: Consumer Reports – Health Blog

In the short form, what consumers need to know now is that LCD televisions have moved ahead of plasma as the go-to devices in home theater. Backlights and local dimming combine with heightened speaker placement for a literally off-the-wall home theater experience. What’s 60 Hertz when 120 is available? What’s 120 Hertz when 240 is available? Upgrades in LCD models are playing now to the discriminating home video customer.

Screen refresh rate cycles are what the LCD bang for buck is all about now, and the first to market LCD versions are now generally available brand wide. Samsung, LG, Viewsonic, Vizio, Flo TV, Sony and others are the new vendors in the LCD television world. Panasonic and Mitsubishi have a LCD TV technology presence. Brands like Memorex and Toshiba offer  confidence and reliability. Dynex specializes in Blu-Ray devices, and lots of home theater options come packaged with variable LCD Television units.

New home theater LCD television buyers can shop for models that use up much less energy than their tube based predecessors. Home office and major cable Internet users can look for high end LCD televisions with Ethernet ports of wireless connectors. Got some night owls in the house? Home theater accessories include noise canceling headphones for the single viewer or late night user’s television enjoyment.

With internet compatibility, consumers need additional LCD TV features. Some models of the new LCD TV product range have new types of parental controls. The whole family can enjoy movies or one individual can watch educational or instructive video with a minimum of snow or interference, without waking up the kids, the neighbors and the dog. Adult viewing can happen at the home consumer’s discretion.

Is convenience a factor in getting a new LCD TV? Free shipping is a welcome option for many online LCD TV vendors. Vertical LCD TV resolution in 1080i and 1080p and 720 p is available. But so are pivoting wall mounts for speakers and vertical height speakers that deliver premium LCD TV audio quality. Make the most of the room with the right seating and light by getting the best suited LCD model television available.

Does messing about with wiring and satellite dishes, cable connections and wall studs intimidate you? Excessive wiring and cabling is not necessary for an LCD TV flat screen experience. Cable in connections to the PC and even direct video in and media card capability is available in select LCD television models. Upgrading the television part of the home theater equation doesn’t have to mean upgrading audio as well, HDMI inputs from one to four can be accommodated. Just upgrading cables is a smart move.

If the home theater entertainment budget does not have “LCD TV” penciled in anywhere, consider a refurbished model. Use of variable tilting, low profile and full tilt LCD TV mounts can change the look and feel of the home television experience for every function. Just shopping for LCD TV accessories like a more intuitive remote control device or wall mounted speakers can optimize the home theater quality of experience.

The small business options for an LCD television can turn a home theater into a situation room, video conference studio, or home video or amateur filmmaking screening room. A presentation opportunity can’t be missed next time because of lack of suitable viewing environment. With Skype or another internet service, an LCD offers a wealth of telecommunication and internet telephony enabled video conference options.

If space is an issue, reducing the floor footprint of a LCD TV or family television viewing area can be a snap. A new stand or swivel option can change the organization of the home and the interaction between people enjoying the film or TV entertainment products.  Got an awkward space? Wall mount shelf systems and adapter brackets mean no television won’t fit in your home theater space anymore.

The home theater of today is limited not by LCD TV budget or accessibility of technically qualified sound and connectivity options, but by the consumer’s imagination.

Panasonic – VIERA / 50” Class / 1080p / 600Hz / Plasma HDTV.

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