The True Cost of HDTV
By Andrew Robinson
It's no secret that the global economy is located somewhere south of Hell these days, forcing the vast majority of us, present company included, to find ways to cut costs and make every dollar count. In light of these hard economic times HDTV sales have finally begun to slow, though they're far from stalled or dead as consumers are still willing to pay for HD sets and content...within reason. I say within reason because there are some people and manufacturers within the HD community who seem to have not gotten the memo that money is tight... 3D, I'm talking about you.
On a recent trip to my local big box retailer I observed numerous HDTVs of the LED, LCD, plasma and even 3D variety, with prices ranging from virtually free to they can't be serious. As I stared at the wall of displays before me, I began to examine their price tags and spec sheets and noticed that most offered the same features yet differed in price from one another by hundreds, sometimes even thousands of dollars. It got me thinking: what does it really cost per hour to watch my favorite shows and movies in HD?
In order to determine the true hourly costs of an HDTV, one has to set a few ground rules. First, while most HDTVs have a theoretical lifespan of 20,000 plus hours, according to several studies most consumers don't hang onto their TVs until they outright die; instead - on average - they swap them out or purchase new ones every five to seven years. Now, this average may change as more and more manufacturers have learned that changing or upgrading their technology every 24 to 36 months is another way to get consumers to dump their old, yet perfectly good TVs in favor of something new.
Second, the average consumer watches 23 hours of television per week, according to several recent studies. 23 hours a week times 52 weeks in a year equals 1,196 hours of television viewing per year. Now, if your average LCD or plasma HDTV is rated to anywhere between 20 and 30 thousand hours before they begin to fail or fail altogether, this means you can feasibly own your new HDTV for roughly 20 to 30 years. For a HDTV that cost you $3,000 retail, this means you're spending approximately $0.12 per hour of television watched ($3,000/25,000 hours = $0.12). But as I stated earlier, most consumers aren't hanging onto their televisions for 20 plus years - they're hanging onto them for an average of six years. Six years times 1,193 hours of television watched per year equals 7,158 hours; for a per hour price of $0.42 on a $3,000 display.
Based on the five top models in each size category (65 to 42 inches) from five of the largest manufacturers (Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, Vizio, LG) of 1080p HDTVs, I found that LCD still leads the way in value with an average per hour cost of $0.17, with plasma coming in second with an average per hour cost of $0.41 and LED coming in last with an average of $0.59 per hour. However, when I accounted for 3D and the necessary equipment (3D Blu-ray player and two pairs of glasses) needed to display 3D properly, the LED average skyrocketed to $0.75 with one 55-inch 3D LED HDTV costing as much as $1.08 per hour.
Now, I know that 75 cents or 41 cents per hour may not seem like a whole lot, but it does add up. Furthermore, if you don't watch as much TV as the national average, the per hour costs increase dramatically.
Some of you may be asking, "What about front projection, where does that fit in?" I didn't forget about you; however projectors are a somewhat inconsistent bunch. For starters, they don't last as long - or at least their bulbs don't. The average LCD projector bulb is rated for 3,000 hours, meaning you'd have to purchase three bulbs in order to reach the six-year hourly figure of 7,158. Now bulbs vary in price from a couple hundred dollars to thousands depending on the make and model. Knowing this, it wasn't feasible to reach a true average; suffice to say LCD projectors costing between $1,500 and $4,000 retail had a per hour cost between $0.50 and $1.33 over the life of a single 3,000 hour bulb. Now if you're like me and replace your projector's bulb before it reaches its max point, those figures will rise. Based on my calculations, that same $1,500 projector going 1,800 hours on its bulb raises the per hour cost to $.83 with the $4,000 projector coming in at $2.22 per hour. What's more interesting is that front projection gets cheaper with age; for instance a $1,500 projector costs $0.50 per hour at 3,000 hours but when you add in the cost of two more bulbs ($600) to reach the six year figure of 7,158, the per hour cost becomes $0.29. A $5,000 projector on a single 3,000 hour bulb has a per hour cost of $1.67; however add on the price of two additional bulbs to reach 7,158 hours and the per hour costs decreases to $0.78.
Furthermore, front projectors, at least in the high-end space, tend to be longer lasting investments. I recently reviewed two LED front projectors, one retailing for $15,000, the other $22,000. For that kind of money I think it's okay to assume the customer isn't going to simply throw them out with the bathwater in five to seven years. One would have to think an investment of that magnitude would stick around for awhile, say perhaps seven to ten years? Since LED-based projectors are rated to 35,000 plus hours they can easily hit the six-year figure coming in at $2.10 and $3.07 per hour respectively. However, take their longevity out to, say, nine years and the per hour costs drop to $1.40 and $2.05.
Clearly, there is a premium to be paid on any new technology, for if early adopters didn't pay for it, technology wouldn't be able to advance as fast as it does nor ultimately become as affordable. Furthermore, there are other factors that play into one's per hour costs, factors like HD service costs, electricity and in the case of front projectors - screens. However, when money is tight and every dollar counts it's clear which HD display technologies are more affordable than others per hour.
