Bigger is better in video, but when it comes to audio, good things come in small packages.
As electronics retailers wait for manufacturers and the federal government to come to terms on high definition television (HDTV), they’re selling a lot of 30-inch-plus traditional and projection televisions.
“There’s a lot of interest in video projection,” says Lou Hamilton, owner of Audio Elegance, an upscale electronics purveyor in Cincinnati. “We have a projector that allows you to fill an entire screen with whatever movie you’re running.”
He said televisions coming out this fall-at a pricey $2,000 to $3,000-are a scant 2 inches thick and can hang on the wall like a picture.
Standards for HDTV, which offers sharp, wide-angle video quality with sound as defined as in a theater, have just about been completed. But it will be 1995 or later before the first television is available on the market, says George Barr, director of product training for Circuit City electronics stores.
“It probably won’t be before the year 2000 that real consumers start buying them,” he adds.
Today’s larger TVs are made with flatter glass, which means less reflection and distortion, he says. Nearly all televisions are stereo, and as of July they had to be closed-captioned as well.
Even if you’re not hearing-impaired, closed-captioned is great, he says, because “you can turn down the sound, talk on the phone and still know what’s going on.”
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Although the ’90s have failed to live up to the fast and furious pace of technological breakthroughs seen in the ’80s, new twists on old products will make “just looking” fun for shoppers:
– Audio: Mini bookshelf-style audio components with a big sound are popular choices for consumers trying to make the most out of their space. A system with a three-CD changer starts at about $399. Systems with lots of bells and whistles can go up to $1,100.
At the other end are the mega-disc changers. Sony and Sharp make them for 100 discs, while Fisher has one with a 25-disc changer ($399 to $599).
– Portable: Also popular are CD boomboxes, which not only are portable but are popular with single people in small apartments, says Ed Goldfarb, vice president of electronics for Federated Merchandising, an arm of Federated Department Stores.
The mini-portable CD player still makes a lousy jogging companion, but new technology prevents sound distortion while walking, Barr says.
The Apple Newton is a portable hand-held computer that lets you write on the screen. It then translates your script-a phone number, lunch date or directions-into computer language and stores it (around $1,000).
– Camcorders: Camcorders promise to be hot this year with Sharp’s new ViewCam. Instead of the usual minuscule viewfinder, a 4-inch liquid crystal display (LCD) screen lets you watch the action as you shoot. Priced above $1,000, the product is doing only “fairly well,” says Goldfarb.
Sony will begin shipping a similar version this month.
The good news is that entry-level camcorders are available for less than $500. The bad news is that those models lack electronic image stabilization, the technology that helps keep your movies steady even when you’re jerking the camcorder around as you film.
– VCRs: High-fidelity, four-head VCRs are outpacing sales of the less expensive two-head VCRs. The reason: Most videocassette rental movies are recorded in hi-fi Dolby sound and sound much better on a hi-fi VCR.
“Hi-fi is a higher-ticket item and there’s more profit margin,” Goldfarb says, noting the $329 to $499 price tag is still far cheaper than the clumsy original VCR that was $1,000 15 years ago.
– Telephones: New this year are 900-megahertz cordless phones that allow the user to walk a mile away from their base. “You can literally take your calls at a neighbor’s house or walk around the block,” says Barr. Price: $250 to $300.
Sanyo has developed a cordless phone that lets the handset double as a speaker phone. At $660, it’s not yet available in the U.S.
Goldfarb said the cordless business is “just exploding” at Federated’s department stores, which are also getting more of the cellular business with phones starting at just $49.
– Multiplayers: This was the hot new product at the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago this summer. California’s 3 DO Co. designed a game player that is controlled not by a cartridge but by a compact disc with read-only memory.
The images are far superior to those of Nintendo and the like.