All tuning stripped out of rear projection CRT TVs

By Dennis P. Barker

At the recent Toshiba product line show, which was held in the outskirts of Albuquerque, NM at the luxurious Hyatt Tamaya resort on May 19th, the company unveiled their first completely tunerless rear projection CRT monitors capable of displaying high-definition TV signals. The set sets in the new Custom SeriesHD Series include no tuning whatsoever, and will reply on the consumer of adding a separate HD Satellite and HD Cable Box. To this reporter, it was seemingly a bold move. However, it was later found out that by eliminating all tuning, the sets bypassed the FCC tuner mandate for all TVs 36-in. and above, which goes into effect on July 1st. And, as a bonus, the company will be able to offer the sets at much lower prices. The 57-in. widescreen model " 57HC85 " is priced at $1,599.99 (list), which means that it will sell for about $1,300-$1,400 (street). Toshiba will also offer a 51-in. model (51HC85 @ $1,399.99 list).

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