HDTV is a hot technology, as any home theater fan will attest. That enthusiasm is shared by as many as nine million households, likely to purchase high-definition television (HDTV) products over the next 18 months, according to a recent <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A> (CEA) survey, titled <I>HDTV Consumer Awareness Update</I>. An additional 30 million consumers may buy into HDTV within the next three years, the trade group asserts.

Despite holiday season signs of an economic slowdown, the <A HREF="http://www.ce.org/">Consumer Electronics Association</A> is projecting a record year for 2001. CEA figures released at the end of December predict that factory-to-dealer shipments will increase to $95 billion, a significant improvement from the $89.7 billion total this year. Results for both 2000 and 1999 were up approximately $5 billion from the previous years' predictions. For that reason, the CEA may revise its predictions. A revision with predictions for individual product categories should appear during January's Consumer Electronics Show.

Cable providers' reluctance to adhere to compatibility standards is hampering manufacturers' designs and hindering the market for digital entertainment products, according to complaints filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) by the <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A> (CEA).

The month of March was the best ever for factory-to-dealer sales of digital television sets and displays, reported the <A HREF="http://www.cea.org/">Consumer Electronics Association</A> on April 27. Unit sales totaled 24,332&mdash;a 7% increase over February sales, and 343% over March 1999. Since the introduction of DTV in August 1998, a total of 202,586 DTV units has been sold to dealers, according to the CEA's latest figures.