Despite the weakening economy here in the US and elsewhere, people are -- as predicted -- still showing interest in HDTV. Shortly after seeing what a nice Q2 the plasma sector had, DisplaySearch has revealed that TV shipments in general were way, way up in said quarter. In fact, North America saw the biggest year-over-year increase (28%) since the outfit started tracking TV shipments in 2004; then there's the 26% quarter-over-quarter growth, which is equally impressive. LCD TV shipments rose 52% compared to last year while PDP shipments shot up 34% in the same period, and it's safe to say that Samsung has the most to gloat about. It was the leading overall brand with shipments of its sets surging to a record 19.1% of all shipments in North America during Q2. Anxious to see who took the proverbial silver / bronze? Check out all of the stats in the read link below.

Betcha didn't see this one coming. After Vizio and Samsung battled over the last few quarters for LCD supremacy here in North America, Sony has ratcheted up to number one after boosting its market share in said region from 9.7-percent to 12.8-percent. According to new research from DisplaySearch, Sony was the leading brand in the 40- to 44-inch, 45- to 49-inch and 50- to 54-inch LCD segments. 'Course, Samsung still remained king of the overall flat-panel market (and notched silver medals in both LCD and plasma sales), but it was Panasonic holding onto the top spot overall in PDP market share. Where's Vizio, you ask? Clinging to the bronze in both LCD and overall flat-panel sales. Hit the read link for lots more numbers -- if you're into that type of stuff, that is.

[Via Widescreen Review]

We're betting we weren't the only ones curious to know how many Xbox 360 HD DVD players were included in the 750,000 number we saw thrown out late last month, and while 269,000 may sound massive at first, it's really not all that surprising. If you'll recall, Microsoft managed to move 92,000 of these things last holiday season, and considering its perpetually lower price (comparatively speaking), it's been a fairly attractive option for Xbox 360 owners looking to get into the HD DVD game. According to new sales figures outed by NPD Group, over one-third of the HD DVD standalone player market is made up of the aforementioned units, and the attach rate to the 360 install base sits at 3.4-percent. 'Course, if the price of this thing keeps a-droppin', we could easily see that percentage climb higher once the dust settles from the end-of-year buying frenzy.

[Via High-Def Digest]

We've taken a look at a number of Consumer Reports' views in the past, but the latest critiques give format fanboys (hardly) any ammunition to use against their respective rivals. Reportedly, CR evaluated Pioneer's DBP-94HD and Toshiba's HD-XA2, and while we were anxious to see which unit "proved" superior, the fact is that both units garnered an impressive 91-percent rating. Granted, the publication did review a total of nine high-definition players from each camp, but the general feeling was that all of them provided "excellent HD picture quality with high-def discs." In the end, we were told that both sides had their pros and cons; for Blu-ray, it's the wider array of players from various manufacturers, while HD DVD maintains the lead on price. Truth be told, we're not terribly shocked to see both camps getting a fair amount of praise, and while we know there's lots of you out there holding out for one to win the proverbial race, it sounds like we could be waiting a bit longer for the finish line to be crossed.

[Image courtesy of ConsumerReports]

Oh, how the times they are a-changin'. Merely months after Vizio ousted Samsung as the LCD TV king in Q2, Sammy is back on top of overall flat-panel TV sales here in North America. Thanks primarily to a staggering 37-percent quarter-to-quarter growth rate (compared to Vizio's 12-percent), Samsung now has an 11.8-percent unit share compared to Vizio's 10.2-percent. Strictly looking at LCD TVs, Vizio still isn't holding the gold; rather, Sharp rocketed ahead to the top spot in that category and left the previous leader clinging to second. It should be noted that Vizio's sales are far from stagnant -- the firm has experienced a 334-percent increase year-to-year in LCD TV growth compared to Sharp's 88-percent. Still, we wouldn't count on the current leaderboard staying this way for long, as Black Friday (and the holiday season in general) has a tendency to shake things up.

While the amount of HD exclusive channels continues to (slowly) grow, it was Mark Cuban's own HDNet and HDNet Movies that took home the gold in the "first high-definition TV ratings" acquired by TNS Media Research. The data was gathered from set-top-boxes in an unnamed "major market," and the two channels were said to "excel in both weekday and weekend" ratings. For the week ending July 1st, the channels held between 6.1-percent and 8.6-percent of the viewers that were tuned into 100-percent HD channels, which simply leaves us to wonder what the other 90 or so percent of eyes were watching so intently.

[Via BlogMaverick]

Yeah, we've already let you guys voice your opinion on the best HDTV out there, but now its time for CNET to dish out an updated version of the "top-rated HDTVs regardless of type, technology, brand, or size." Taking a respectable fourth is the Samsung LN-T4665F, which was praised for its excellent shadow detail and beautiful styling, while the Pioneer PDP-5070HD managed to squeeze into third thanks to its accurate color decoding and impressive array of inputs. The first loser (or runner-up, depending on perspective) was the Mitsubishi WD-65831, which was dubbed "as good as it gets" in the 65-inch range for those not savvy with high-end plasma pricetags. Unsprisingly, Pioneer's stunning PRO-FHD1 took top honors due to its excellent detail with 1080-resolution material, deep blacks, and all around excellent picture quality. Of course, this very set also took home the gold in an earlier showdown, so if you've been teetering on how to blow wisely spend $8,000 or so, the choice seems pretty clear at this stage.