Experience your favorite action movies and sports shows in high-definition on this 32" LCD HDTV that features an ultrafast 6.5 ms response time for fluid visuals and wide 176° viewing angles that help make any seat the best in the house.
What's Included* Dynex® 32" Class 720p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV
* Stationary base
* Remote with batteries
* 5' detachable power cord
* Owner's manual
Scroll down further, though, and it lists a "31-1/2" screen size measured diagonally from corner to corner, ideal for medium-size rooms." These inch class listings exist for Samsung, Toshiba, and other big manufacturers. The Times reporter contacted the stores and manufacturers and got varying explanations. Best Buy said:
We also started using the word “Class” to describe the size of the television if the screen size was not, in fact, exactly the size at which that television is classified . . . . If a 32? television is actually 31.5? we think a customer might want to know that even though it might not seem like a big deal to some people.
This is troubling news. At least with the grocery shrink ray, the reduced size wasn't deceptively labeled (imagine a Breyer's "Half-Gallon Class" that only contained 1.5 quarts).
The Mysterious Shrinking TV [NYT]
(Photo: Getty)
The rest of the world uses the metric system, not the English system of measurement, so a 31.5" TV would be about an 80cm set anywhere else in the world, and a 40" TV would be a 100cm set elsewhere.
Manufacturers are just putting the closest measurements in the language the consumers understand, and that happens to be in inches.
]]>I always thought it was pure BS that CRTs had the "viewable area" in fine print, or not at all.
The same way that a few years ago TVs were being sold as 1080i "capable". (.. by down-converting).
Pure BS.
]]>and yup, calling all lawyers..go for it!!
]]>Burn them to the ground!
]]>yea its rather shady for them to switch back to dishonest measurements now. i'm surprised its no longer an honest measurement:(
]]>14" screen monitor (12.9" viewable).
]]>Um, I don't know what crackpot sort of Home Depot you go to, but a 2 x 4 is NOT 2 x 4; it is 1 1/2" x 3 1/2". Believe me, I've struggled with fractions in set construction shop class enough to know this as a fact.
When a technical designer for theatre (and I assume architects in traditional design) want you to use a piece of wood that is ACTUALLY 2x4, they write 2x4 T (for True) on the blueprints.
Maybe your tape measure needs calibrated?
/better sarcasm
]]>Sounds MUCH better than "I'm 5'8".
]]>/sarcasm
]]>Funny, my wife got me a 22" LCD monitor for X-mas and for the hell of it I measured diagonally and it was 21 1/2".. After I finished punching her in the crotch I kicked the dog.
]]>Same way making a smaller "class" TV saves them money, except they don't have to lower the price.
]]>Dollar-class bills?
]]>About 10 years ago I went to buy a TV. On the box it said it was a 25 inch diagonal TV, unless you were in Canada it was considered a 27 inch TV.That's fantastic. It's like an exchange rate!]]>
Well played, my friend. Well played.
]]>I can totally see the retailer manipulating the settings and video source so they can show you how much better a more expensive TV looks.. or to make a crappy TV look much better than it really is.
Overall if I had to buy a TV it would be from a place with a good return policy, because a house has very different lighting from that of a retail store and you won't be able to really see how it looks until you have it in your own viewing environment.
]]>If you insist on going to Best Buy, bring a tape measure with you to measure just how big the screen is. Take the actual size of the screen and divide by the size on the box. Then multiply that result by the price they advertise and offer to pay them that amount. Do not buy the extended warranty. Do not buy any cable from them, Monster or no monster. Do not pay to have them calibrate anything. Just take it home yourself.
]]>Hmmm. I wonder what would happen if Best Buy credit card holders started sending in the same 'class' of payment.
]]>A 3% (at least) cost savings is significant. Especially if you can trick the user to comparing it to real 32" sets. (glancing at prices for 32" LCD's, that would allow them to be ~$15-$20 cheaper than all the competition...)
]]>@spazztastic: like i said above, if it isnt a big deal, then they wouldnt be doing it in the first place.
]]>@TorrentFreak: hahah awesome~
]]>@unobservant: If "it might not seem like a big deal" then they wouldn't be making up this bullshit definition to deceive people in the first place.
]]>So, who is benefiting from this? Is this just us not being metric?
]]>Buy the TV and then return it citing the inaccurate screen measurement. Be sure to distress the packaging sufficiently so the TV can't be sold as new again.
]]>About 10 years ago I went to buy a TV. On the box it said it was a 25 inch diagonal TV, unless you were in Canada it was considered a 27 inch TV. Apparently someone in the US government made the manufacturer quote the size based on the image while the Canadian government hadn't caught up to the shenanigans.
Most likely, this kind of "32 inch class" for a 31.5 inch screen would be illegal if done by the manufacturer base on the observation in the paragraph above. Maybe it is legal for a retailer but I would expect some lawsuits and "promises to never do it again even though we didn't do anything wrong" real soon.
]]>Anyway, I thought this was standard practice for TV Manuafacturers...kind of how a 2x4 stud is not really 2" x 4"...
]]>Isn't it awesome when companies make up words to explain things without telling people what they mean? Class-y.
]]>