When did flat-screen TV's become all that were made and sold in department stores?

Question

I was born in 1995 and I remember when I was growing up in the 90's and 2000's there weren't very many flat screens at all, in fact flat-screens were considered "upper class" TV's for a while. But now flat screens are all that are made and sold. Can someone tell me the exact year that they took over the television industry in department and tv stores?

Answer 1

Flat screen TVs took over pretty much around the same time that broadcast TV went all-digital, which was June 12, 2009 (see link, below).



The new all-digital format is called ATSC, and those big old bulky glass-tube TVs mostly all worked with the old system, which was NTSC.



Good luck!... ☺

Answer 2

Fairly recently, but CRT (tube) TVs had been being phased out for years before that, helped by the fact that the price of flat-panel TVs began dropping in the early to mid-2000s, causing flat-panel HDTVs to be more desirable than their CRT HDTV counterparts.



In late 2006, Panasonic and Toshiba discontinued their CRT TVs. In early 2007, Sony discontinued their CRT TVs. In late 2007, Samsung and Sharp discontinued their CRT TVs. This meant that most CRT TVs began disappearing from shelves in stores around Christmas 2007 to early 2008.



But a few other brands (mostly second- and third-tier brands) such as Sanyo, RCA, and Dynex continued producing CRTs through 2008. As of late 2008, the only CRT TVs for sale at Best Buy were three models of the Dynex brand, Best Buy's in-house brand. As 2009 approached, they began phasing out their 20" and 24" models.



Target continued carrying CRT TVs of the brand names Memorex and TruTech (their in-house brand) until early 2009, when they began clearance of these models. Last time I saw a CRT TV for sale in a Target store was June 2009.



Walmart, Sears, and Kmart continued carrying TVs under the brand names Emerson, Sylvania, Haier, and Sansui for a few months later, but soon Funai Corporation, the company that makes TVs for Emerson, Sylvania, Philips, and Magnavox, decided to end CRT production. So CRT TVs disappeared from Sears and Kmart stores around late 2009.



As far as I know, Walmart does still stock two or three models of CRT standard-definition TVs under the brand names Sansui and Haier.



Note that all TVs produced from March 2007 on were required by law to have a digital tuner built in, so yes there are CRT TVs that are digital-ready. I own one myself. But some manufacturers didn't see the point, so they used this as an opportunity to stop making CRTs and focus on LCDs and/or plasmas instead.



So, if you're looking for an exact year, I'd say 2009, minus Walmart.

Answer 3

around 2006 they became the norm with plasma and LCD, although

they were out much earlier. Plasma had flawless picture but burn in

issue's while LCD's had poor contrasts and very bad motion blur and

lag that was very disappointing for LCD and plasma owners getting

into HD. Now LCD has improved it's picture by increasing the refresh

rate to a 120hz, improving response times and adding LED backlights

to improve contrasts. Plasma has also made better progress especially

panasonic by improving contrasts even more and to eliminate the burn

in problem, they are using better green phosphers and pixel shifting

technology and using sensors to target static images, so they are both

very good. Panasonic plasma still wins in terms of picture and are going

for good prices. Look up panasonic's G20 or G25 plasma's. They beat 3000

dollar LED picture and sell a 42 inch for a grand or less.

Answer 4

To Bad most flat screens are so ugly. Wish they would make them look better than a big black flat thing on your wall. I know they have done that for a hefty price. :(