Despite the impending transition to digital television, some consumers nationwide are suppressing the urge to buy shiny new flat-screen TVs.

But local sales have been strong largely thanks to the digital changeover and falling prices for high-definition TVs.

Joe Harris, sales associate at Target in Countryside, said LCD sets were selling well during the holiday season, particularly those with a screen of 26 inches or bigger.

“I don’t think it was necessarily because of the deadline; it’s just that we have a lot of good deals around Christmas time,” Harris said. “I think that helped a ton.”

Still, industry analysts don’t expect brisk sales to continue.

TV sales at appliance and electronic stores topped $47 billion through September, up 5 percent from a year ago, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Sales have been up every year since 2001, but sales are almost certain to be down in the fourth quarter, according to market research firm DisplaySearch.

Billy Schuler, store services manager for Best Buy in Countryside, said while sales remain high, a lot of people come in with questions about what is required and whether what they have now will work when the Feb. 17 deadline hits.

“But their biggest question is: ‘Do I need to buy a new TV,’” he said. “For some people, it’s not a wise decision; for others it is, especially for those with a family because there are so many upgrades in terms of technology. Their sons or daughters have game systems that would enhance their picture quality. They’re changing their DVD lifestyle where they are using it more as an entertainment zone.”

Older customers, he said, are more cautious about spending their money and are not looking to drop a thousand dollars on a new TV. They come in looking for antennae or converter boxes —and to ask questions.

“It’s more of an awareness level that they are not comfortable with,” Schuler said. “They are not sure of why this is taking place; all they see on TV is that they need to purchase a digital TV tuner by Feb. 17 or they are not going to have television service. We get phone calls daily or customers coming in and out of the building. In the last three months or so, we’ve definitely seen an influx of customers in regards to getting up to date and ready for it. January of last year, it wasn’t that big of a thing.”

Consumers changed their spending habits leading up to the holiday buying season, according to a survey by BIGresearch conducted for the National Retail Federation. In November, 26 percent of adults said they had delayed a major purchase, such as a TV, as a result of fluctuating gas prices.

Forty-seven percent said they’d become more budget-conscious in the past six months, and nearly half said they’d become more practical and realistic in their purchases.

Tim McMahon, owner of Fox Electronics in Countryside, said while he doesn’t sell TVs, he still gets calls from people asking what to do.

“They’re worried about what’s going to happen,” he said. “I explain to them if they have cable or satellite there is no effect.

Older people mostly ask about installing (the converter). Installation is easy but it needs to be set up.”

GateHouse News Service reporter Sean F. Driscoll contributed to this report.

Learn the lingo
The latest wave of television technology has introduced a whole new vocabulary for consumers to learn.

Although all those letters and numbers have a meaning, it’s not as important as a simple opinion on how the picture looks, said Ryan Redden, home theater supervisor at Best Buy in Rockford.

“I always tell people to just look at the picture as they’ll be receiving it at home,” he said. “Don’t get confused by the numbers, just look at the picture. Are they really going to be using extra features like the refresh rate, and are they getting a benefit out of it? If not, then it really comes down to their lifestyle and how they’ll be using the TV.”

Image quality terms to know
• High definition: The best resolution, which can display high-definition broadcasts at full resolution as well as high-def video games and DVDs.

• Enhanced definition: Will display HD broadcasts at a lower, but still good, quality. Image quality is about the same as current DVDs.

• Standard definition: Comparable to analog TV in terms of resolution, but still offers advantages to old analog TVs such as better contrast and displays of color.

Flat-panel display styles
• Plasma: Sometimes called “PDP” for plasma display panel. A layer of gas is sandwiched between panes of glass. These produce light by incoming electrical charges. The light illuminates a fixed array of red, green and blue panels. Plasma TVs offer deep blacks and rich colors, can be viewed from wider angles than LCD TVs and come in larger sizes.

• LCD: Or liquid crystal display, which is the same technology used for years in notebook computer screens, PDAs and digital camera screens. LCD TVs are better than plasmas in bright rooms and are more affordable, but can have a limited viewing range.

Other terms to know
• Aspect ratio: The proportion of the screen’s width to its height. The options are wide-screen (a 16:9 aspect ratio) or standard (a 4:3 aspect ratio). The wide-screen sets are well-suited for watching DVD or HDTV content, which is usually wide-screened. When the shape of the image doesn’t match that of the screen, black bars are added to display the image properly. Most sets can adjust standard content to fill a wide-screen picture. 

• Pixels: The higher the number of pixels, the higher the picture quality. The letter p or i that accompanies the pixel rating refers to the scanning technology: progressive (where scanning is all at once) or interlaced (where scanning takes two passes). A progressive image provides a smoother, film-like image. Most high-def sets offer progressive images.
Source: Consumer Electronics Association