The Digital Television Transition Coalition (DTTC) announced their dedication on Wednesday to ensuring that all television viewers will still be able to rot their brains when the U.S. goes to all digital broadcasts in February 2009. The group promised to use public service announcements and community-based campaigns to educate the public on the switch from analog to digital. Hopefully they will not consult Best Buy employees to explain the difference. Analog signals will no longer be broadcast over the air after Feb. 17, 2009, and over 90 million boob tubes are currently incapable of receiving digital signals. Who wants to buy a new tv?

Thankfully, those unable to purchase a new television or pony up the cash for cable or satellite will not be left in the dark. No baby boom in 2010 after all. Federal vouchers totaling $1.5 billion will help the poor and elderly make the transition by providing them with the dough to purchase digital-to-analog converter boxes. It’s probably no coincidence that a portion of the Coalition is made up of consumer electronics vendors, as those digital-to-analog converters will conveniently be available at your friendly neighborhood electronic store.

The first step taken by the DTTC was launching a Web site, which is sure to help educate the poor and elderly on getting the necessary tech to upgrade their televisions. The next logical step is probably to broadcast PSAs on HD channels. I just hope the group gets their act together, because if those old people can’t watch their game shows come 2009, there’s going to be an uprising. For the lucky few who don’t know, a cane to the kneecap really hurts.

[Via Infoworld]

So you have decided to reach into the old wallet and spring for a new flat screen TV.  Ahh I can almost HEAR the Velcro ripping now!  But like most people you only know two things:

1.) You want a TV cooler then your buddies next door.

2.) You don’t want to be paying for it for the next 10 years.

Luck for you we here at NextLust have done all the legwork for you.  At the end of this series of articles you will be able to shop for a flat screen in style.  So without further delay I present…

The Ulitimate Flat Screen TV Buyers Guide - Part 1

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I’ve recently been looking into going HD, problem is I’m not made of money. I would love to drop $3,000 on a beautiful 1080p LCD, but I’m realistic and try not to live beyond my means. I’ve been looking at different options and every cheap HDTV I’ve come across is either:

1. A no name brand or worse, a company that is known for making crappy toasters

2. Something that gets horrible reviews from users on sites like Newegg

So you can understand my skepticism when I found the Syntax Olevia 37 inch for under $700. I was originally looking for a modest 32 inch and willing to pay over $1000 so to say the least, I was a little apprehensive. Further inspection showed that TV had an overall higher than expected review score.

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Personally, for me it’s TiVO or nothing at all. But if you’re really stuck, or just like the lastest and greatest, check out the new line of HDTV’s from LG. They have a built in 160GB hard drive for recording all those HD channels we all love so much. There’s also a USB port to add an external drive.

There’s a few reasons why this isn’t a great idea. 1st, if the drive dies where does that leave you? Plus, is 160GB really enough? There’s a few different sizes, in both LCD (37″, 42″, and 47″) and Plasma (50″ and 60″). These puppies are gonna set you back though. Ranging in price from $2,650 to $9,435 for the 60″ Plasma.

[Ubergizmo]

I, like so many others, am at the stage in life where I want to make the jump to HD. The only thing in my house actually capable of displaying HD content is a Xbox 360, but playing Dead Rising on a standard def has really got me thinking.

So how about it? Is 32 inches too small or is 70 inches too big? What the hell is 1080p really do and is it going to improve my sex life? All these questions and more will be answered below.

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Almost all the buzz around CES this year has something to do with the large number of “big” televisions shown, and it seemed like most every manufacturer had some kind of 100″+ screen on the show floor. While we know that bigger isn’t always better, most of these TVs looked great. My pick of the show for the best looking “big TV” is the Sharp 108″ LCD Aquos pictured above. To my eyes this display looked better than most I had seen, and I stopped to ask a Sharp representative why that was. I don’t remember what she said, because, like most of the Sharp reps, she was blonde, miniskirted and quite gorgeous. Luckily, I thought to take notes.

These screens use a new, very high quality glass. The panels come from a new Sharp plant in Japan, and is the first to use this new type of glass. This display is a full 1080p, and has a contrast ratio meeting that of plasma televisions. So, that means LCD is here to stay, and is probably winning the size race, since they’ve beaten Panasonic’s 103″ plasma.

Sharp has no plans to sell this glorious TV yet, but if they did, I’m sure it would sell well. Words like “ballgame” and “Gears of War” were floating around this display every time I passed by. Seeing as how the upcoming Aquos 52″ LCD will sell for about $5000, quick math would give you a good guessing number for this 108″.

[Sharp’s AQUOS page]

LG Electronics is a dirty tease. They must know how many gamers are here at CES.

Sega has put LG’s newest full HD displays to good use while pimping their games at the same time. Sega titles like Virtua Fighter 5 and Sonic the Hedgehog are being shown off on LG’s HDTVs in glorious 1080p. Pictured here is a very non-Sega Ninety-Nine Nights on a 102″ HDTV, which managed to stop people dead in their tracks. Many other LCDs were also shown, in sizes all the way up to this big one, all showing how great your games could look on an LG display.

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