1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,960 If you're old enough, you might remember all the hype around HDTVs when they first came out 2 00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:10,960 in the late 1990s and how expensive they were. In fact, the cheapest model you could get at first 3 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:17,600 would set you back $8,000. But nowadays, you can get an HDTV that's over 40 inches for under 4 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:24,080 $250. And not only that, but they take up far less space and have connectivity features unheard of 5 00:00:24,080 --> 00:00:29,120 back in the late 90s. So how the heck have TVs gotten so darn cheap anyway? 6 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:33,600 One part of it is that as electronics have become more and more common in everyday life, 7 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:39,040 the average consumer has gotten wise to the early adopter tax, where new technologies are 8 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:44,320 nearly always more expensive shortly after they've just come out. This means consumers often 9 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:50,000 strategically wait for prices to come down to buy new electronics, which actually lowers demand 10 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:55,280 for the stuff and forces prices down in a self-fulfilling prophecy. Of course, manufacturers 11 00:00:55,280 --> 00:01:00,000 couldn't actually lower prices if the screens were still super expensive to make, 12 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:04,800 but fortunately, this isn't the case anymore. As it is with many things, manufacturers optimize 13 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:10,640 their processes as time goes on. And in the case of LCD screens, they're now printed on much larger 14 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:15,200 machines than they were back in the 1990s. This means just one piece of equipment can make the 15 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:20,640 panels for a large number of devices, making them much cheaper to produce in bulk. For example, 16 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:27,280 the new Gen10 Plus manufacturing process uses a sheet of glass that's just under 10 square meters, 17 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:34,320 and the dimensions are such that exactly 8 65-inch TVs can be produced from it with no wasted material. 18 00:01:34,320 --> 00:01:38,480 Combined with tighter quality control that's been helped along by advances in the materials, 19 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:43,360 even large panels can be made relatively cheaply from these giant pieces of mother glass. 20 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:47,600 Speaking of the panels themselves, you may have noticed that when you go into your local 21 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:54,320 big-box electronics store, many of the TVs you see don't really look that different from one another. 22 00:01:54,320 --> 00:02:00,000 Obviously, you can pay a premium for technologies like OLED, Quantum Dot, or Mini-LED, but it's 23 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:04,320 getting to the point where it's difficult for TVs to differentiate themselves from one another 24 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:09,840 based on picture quality. The initial leap from standard-def to high-def was a huge deal, 25 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:14,080 and the difference in picture quality was clear as night and day to the average consumer. 26 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:18,240 But these days, much of the underlying tech is very similar between models. 27 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:24,080 You have an LCD panel with an LED backlight operating at a resolution of 1080p or 4K depending 28 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:28,960 on the content. And for the average user, this is more or less good enough in the sense that 29 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:34,000 advancements in picture quality over the years haven't resulted in some huge C change that has 30 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:39,360 everyone rushing to get some hot new style of TV. I mean, it's still extremely difficult to receive 31 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:44,560 cable or satellite broadcasts in 4K, partly because there isn't a huge amount of demand for it. 32 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:50,640 And HDR has not spurred huge demand for more expensive TVs either. All this means that instead 33 00:02:50,640 --> 00:02:56,400 of trying to compete primarily on picture quality, manufacturers are now competing on price. 34 00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:01,440 But there's still a huge piece of the puzzle missing. Have you wondered why nearly every 35 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:08,160 new TV these days, even a cheap one, is a smart TV? This isn't just because TV manufacturers 36 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:12,080 want to give you extra features out of the goodness of their little hearts. No, 37 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:16,000 many of the various streaming services available on smart TVs share revenue that they get from 38 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:21,360 advertising with the manufacturers. And on top of that, the manufacturers often collect data 39 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:26,400 themselves, then they sell that on to both marketers and to streaming services so that 40 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:29,840 they can get a better picture of people's viewing habits. This creates a situation where 41 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:35,440 manufacturers can make more money off of the way people use their TVs than they do off the TVs 42 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:40,880 themselves, especially when you consider how cutthroat the pricing wars are, resulting in TV 43 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:46,160 hardware being a low-margin business. And it makes sense when you think about it. Many people simply 44 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:51,200 accept default settings when they set up their TVs that allow for lots of data collection. And even 45 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:57,360 if you go in and turn it off, it's hard to completely turn it off. Hmm, I wonder if someone 46 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:02,320 at Hulu is judging me for all the embarrassing reality shows I watched in the meantime. I really 47 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:07,680 like Smut. So thanks for watching guys. If you liked this video, hit like, hit subscribe, 48 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:11,280 and be sure to hit us up in the comments section with your suggestions for topics that we should 49 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:13,680 cover in the future times.