BenQ DV4670

BenQ's 46-inch DV4670 is one of the largest LCD flat-panel TVs on the market. Boasting a big screen and high resolution, the DV4670 will carry a hefty list price of $13,000 when it becomes available in December 2004. If you're looking for something smaller, BenQ's 30-inch DV3060 and its 26-inch DV2680 are available now with list prices of $3,000 and $2,000, respectively.

Upside: The DV4670 has a high native resolution of 1,920x1,080, meaning that it should be able to display every detail of 1080i HDTV. No plasma has that high a resolution (yet), and LCD flat-panel TVs also don't have burn-in issues as plasmas do. (For more comparisons between LCD and plasma, check out our HDTV guide.) The DV4670 contains the usual HD input options, with the notable additions of a DVI port and a VGA input.

Downside: With a $13,000 list price, the DV4670 costs more than twice as much as comparable 50-inch plasmas. It doesn't include an HDTV tuner or a CableCard slot, so you'll need a separate set-top box to receive HDTV or digital cable signals. And although we haven't seen the DV4670 yet, LCD flat panels have traditionally had inferior black-level performance and a relatively slow response time compared to plasma.

Outlook: Given its high price, we expect the DV4670 to appeal to wealthy consumers who strongly prefer LCD technology over plasma. If the falling prices of big-screen LCDs such as Samsung's LTP468W and Sharp's LC-45GD6U are any indication, however, those consumers will probably pay much less than list price.

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