With the International Consumer Electronics Show 2012 just around the corner (Jan. 10 to Jan. 13), we here at J&R are like kids waiting for the candy store to open. This year’s show promises to be the biggest one yet.

CES has always been about looking forward. It has been about introducing us to the next great bit of technology that can enrich our lives and alter the way we experience the world. Like the Kindle Fire, which along with its siblings Kindle Touch and the basic Kindle, sold a million units a week during the month of December. This CES should be no different.

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Blu-ray is currently the best medium to view movies for the consumer. Anyone serious about maximizing their audio and video experience at home need not look further than blu-ray at the moment. It’s the pinnacle of home entertainment.

So that said, what should you purchase for the blu-ray addict in your life?

The first thing should be a nice, 1080p display. To get the most accurate, cinematic detail from movies, then a plasma panel is the most ideal. When it comes to displays, my philosophy is always to go big. The price of many 50 inch sets have come down dramatically. Case in point, the Panasonic TC-P54S1. This is a 54 inch television, and it is a steal at the current asking price.

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Buying a new HDTV should be a very thorough process. You must first decide on how much you are willing to spend. Once you have a realistic budget, then you can proceed from there.

If shopping for a plasma panel, the first thing you need to be aware of is the lighting in the store. Is it bright? You should know that a typical store with industrial fluorescent lights is the last place you would want to judge the picture quality of a plasma. Many reputable stores counter this by only displaying their HDTVs in a darkened room, or in a room with soft lights comparable to the lighting in most people’s homes. However, I have been to many stores that clearly don’t know what they are doing. They have plasma displays front and center, under harsh, bright fluorescent lights. Those are conditions in which no one watches a TV, so do not make a judgment under those circumstances. Ask the manager or an employee to see if they can dim the lights, if they can’t, then go to another store. It may seem a bit melodramatic, but if you are going to spend your hard earned money, then the store should accommodate you if they are not displaying their wares in an optimal environment.
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The cream rises to the top, at least that’s how the saying goes. However, when it comes to consumer electronics, nothing could be further from the truth. In this arena, mediocrity reigns supreme. The life of an electronics enthusiast and early adopter is tough, just ask Laserdisc and HD DVD fanboys. However, the one constant seems to be that when electronics are marketed to the general public, it’s never based on how well the said product performs, it’s all about convenience and useless gimmicks. This is the bane of anyone who cares about quality because mass appeal usually comes at a price, and that price is usually performance.
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Pioneer announced their new generation of HD plasma-screen TVs, and they’re absolutely beautiful. If you’re looking to upgrade to a high-end, flat-screen HDTV, these should be at the top of the list of models you’ll be looking at.

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