HDTVs Growing to Epic Size This Season

If you went shopping this weekend, you might have noticed that deep discounts were comparably lacking on new flat-panel TVs, at least compared to 2006. Instead, they've simply gotten bigger, part of manufacturers' strategies to avoid getting sucked into the huge discounts that siphoned away virtually all profits for the sets during last year's cost-obsessed holiday season.

Jumbo sets are flooding the market this year. Sony has 20 models measuring 40 inches or larger in LCD alone, now making up 68 percent of the company's TV lineup, according to the Wall Street Journal. And Sony, like everyone else, is hoping you'll go big: At $1,273, the average 40-inch TV offers substantially better profit margin than a $763 32-inch set (in part because there is less competition in bigger sets from budget brands like Olevia and Westinghouse). The goal is obviously that you'll get sucked into jumping up a size or two when you see the difference in the stores.

Still, prices are dropping, just not as much: 12 percent on average this year for LCD sets. As well, technology continues to improve, with focus on deeper blacks, faster response times, and even lighter and thinner screens. Interestingly, Sharp says it can now fit a 42-inch screen into its old 40-inch frame because there's less wasted space around the edges.

So... are you TV shopping this season? If so, what's the magic number (in inches, I mean) that's tickling your fancy?

LINK: TV screens grow, prices drop