You might think that the flat TV screen provides a better picture - especially because there is some glare on the curved television screen; if we were looking at a portrait or a painting instead of a moving picture, I would agree with you. But we are not. When looking at the curved surface of the TV screen, your eyes travel less; it is almost as if the curved screen is taking your peripheral vision into account. In glancing at the flat screen television, I found my eyes darting to all of the corners of the screen, just trying to make sure that I did not miss anything.
So yes, I am sold on the technology. But am I sold on the price? No. These guys range in price from $3,300 to $8,000 - way too steep for us. Also, we have a pretty great television that we bought at a Best Buy only three years ago. But when the time comes to upgrade a television, we will be buying a curved model.
Extra things to consider:
- Mounting. I have no idea how one would go about mounting a curved television on a wall, which might be a sticking point for some (if you already got rid of an entertainment center, do you really want to go back to buying a new one?) (Our flat panel television currently sits on an entertainment center, so it won’t be a problem for us.) An internet search reveals that there are mounting brackets for curved TVs, but they might be different than the ones that already exist for flat paneled ones: http://www.vogels.com/curved-tv-wall-mount
- Electronic waste. I don’t know if you are the type of person who worries about what happens to our discarded technological items. But if you are, you might consider not upgrading your model (if you like your working, current model).
- Sound quality. We have an external Bose speaker for our television set. The big drawback of flat screened TV versus the old box sets is the fact that sound suffered a lot. I don’t know that curved TVs have solved that problem yet.
- Possible UHD technology. If you get one of these TVs, it might include UHD (not all do), which is something extra you would be paying for. UHD stands for Ultra High Definition, which means a whole lot of pixels. Currently, we have 1080i pixel TV, which is a high definition one. UHD TVs range between 2160 pixels, to 4320 pixels. I know what you are thinking - the more pixels, the better the picture will be. However, something else you must consider is the fact that there is very little video being filmed right now that features that anything beyond 1080 pixels. Basically, in purchasing an UHD model, you’ll be paying for extra technology that cable providers and other video providers aren’t yet supporting. Will they do so someday? Probably. But even the folks at Best Buy did not know when that would happen.
So, thanks for reading! Let me know your opinions or if there is any other high-tech component that I can investigate for you!