philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

High-End TV Prices Tumble

[Philip Lelyveld comment: Since today most content is 2K, a key selection criteria should be how well a set converts 2K content for 4K display.  Many Japanese sets do it beautifully.  Many lower priced Chinese sets don't.]

Companies including Sony Corp. 6758.TO +2.30% and LG Electronics Inc.066570.SE -1.34% now sell UHDTV sets in the U.S. for as low as $3,000, down from $4,500 a few months ago. Even in Japan, the price of Toshiba Corp.'s 6502.TO +1.14%55-inch model has halved to as low as ¥300,000, or $2,850. Meanwhile, some smaller models from lesser-known Chinese brands sport tags below $1,000.

Meanwhile, Japanese TV makers are trying to justify their price tags by using extra chips that adapt regular high-definition content so an improvement is noticeable on 4K sets.

LG's Mr. Alessi says he fears that the lack of such features on the less-expensive Chinese-made sets will give UHDTV a bad name.

"Side-by-side comparison tends to show a big difference," says Paul Gagnon, director of North American TV research at NPD DisplaySearch. "The question is whether or not it is worth two times the price. That's something that's going to take time to figure out."

The average price of UHDTVs sold in China is expected to fall to $973 in 2014, compared with $1,288 in 2013, according to NPD DisplaySearch. Outside of China, the firm expects the average to slide to $1,637 from $4,313.

Read the full story here: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB20001424052702304361604579292630876600834