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It’s finally time — you’ve decided to buy a new flat-screen TV. You dutifully ask your most tech-savvy friend for his or her sage advice. What would you say if they told you that you could get a top of the line 60 or 65-inch (or even bigger) TV for less money than a run of the mill 50-inch plasma, and much cheaper than a comparably sized LCD?

What if your friend told you this new set would have none of the problems found with either flat-screen technology? No need to worry about plasma burn-in, none of the annoying motion lag found in most LCD sets? What if they said that you’d get full 1080p resolution (of course), and instead of being stripped down, your new set would not only be truly king-sized, but loaded to the gills with the latest picture, sound and convenience features?

Now — and here’s the kicker — what if they told you that their recommendation would last longer too? Instead of eventually burning out like a plasma or LCD set, the TV they’re touting could be “refreshed” in your home for a fraction of the cost of a new TV?

Interested? We thought you might be. That’s why we at Wirewize are bullish on rear-screen projection TVs — a technology that’s been left in the marketplace dust by sexier flat-panel TVs but still has much (and in many cases, even more) to offer, compared to either plasma or LCD.

What’s that you say? RPTV is last year’s technology? Perhaps, but who cares? So are gasoline-powered automobile engines. While some manufacturers have given up on RPTVs, that’s not because there’s anything wrong with them, it’s just that, well, they’re not flat. Their size — which by the way is not nearly as bulky as you think — makes them more expensive to ship for the manufacturer and more difficult to display for the retailer, compared to the flat-panels that everyone seems to want. Or that the retailers want for you.

In fact, several manufacturers are not only keeping the technology alive, they’re pushing it to the limit. Check out Samsung’s line, which includes two models driven by an LED light engine that’s way brighter than a conventional HDTV (great for brightly lit or sunny rooms). Of take a look at Mitsubishi’s current models with all the latest trimmings (think 120 Hz motion enhancement, et al), not to mention the imminent debut of their “LaserView” line, powered by (you guessed it) a laser-based light engine that’s not only permanent for the life of the TV, but can provide twice as much color as today’s conventional HDTVs, while standing only 10 inches thick. That’s a measly 6 inches thicker than a garden-variety plasma TV.

With a bit of research, you can also still find great RPTV sets from JVC that use the company’s extremely bright and crisp D-ILA light engine, not to mention Sony’s excellent (but now discontinued) SXRD rear-screen TVs. All of these RPTVs can offer a bigger and often better home theater experience than a flat screen TV costing more…often a lot more.

We were glad to see that we’re not alone here. A new retail display study by QuixelResearch has found that for very large screen TV, microdisplay rear projection models are the best value. According to the study, “True big screen enthusiasts can purchase a 60- or 65-inch for $2,000 or less, even 73-inch models are available for under $3,000 day in and day out, and there is really not a comparable flat TV offering to compete with those price points.”

Hey, here at Wirewize we’re not against flat TVs. We’re based in NYC, where even a few inches of living room space is a (very) precious commodity. But when you can get a bigger and better home theater picture for substantially less money, we think that a few inches is well worth the tradeoff. You might think so too.

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What if you never had to replace your CE hardware? That’s the question that some retailers are nervously contemplating as typical consumer electronics products become more like PCs and less like the traditional TVs, disc players and receivers that we know today.

Far from the planned obsolescence that some people think are built into today’s electronics, the coming trend is for manufacturers to be able to “update” CE products in the field with new firmware and software that in theory, would keep hardware constantly current. We’ve already seen the first shots here, such as Onkyo updating its TX-SR605 receiver with downloadable firmware that lets it decode next-generation Dolby and DTS high-resolution audio, even though the product couldn’t play these formats when it was first brought to market.

Of course, this is exactly what the PC industry has been doing for years, offering revisions, patches, bug fixes and other software-based enhancements so that older machines at least remain usable throughout their lifespan. But CE gear? How do you make an AV receiver with no HDMI or component video connections current? How do you update an older DVD player so that it will upconvert like a new one? How do you make an EDTV into an HDTV?

Well, you don’t, of course. Software is a wonderful thing, but so far we haven’t seen its ability to change physical matter like metal and plastic. Lack of magic notwithstanding, there are plenty of good reasons why CE manufacturers would like to see all their products updateable in the future.

For one, technology changes too quickly for manufacturing cycles to keep up. By the time Company X builds this year’s new wiz-bang receiver with the latest sound and picture modes, next year’s sound and picture modes are already must-have technologies. If the company could just “send” these new features to its customers, it wouldn’t have to rush next year’s wiz-bang receiver to market — only to have it be outdated once again.

Another reason why makers love software is because products no longer have to be returned to the store or to a repair center for simple fixes. Samsung has been a leader here, with new firmware downloads available for several of its digital TVs, and current TVs coming from the factory with built-in USB slots to make in-home updates quick and simple.

In theory, this is great for consumers. It may even be great for the manufacturers, who can cut down on product returns and not have to build so many similar products, distinguished only by marginally different feature sets. So what’s not to like?

Only this — if you’re a CE retailer, this coming reality isn’t the rosiest future you could imagine. In a world where products could last indefinitely, the parties that sell those products in the first place won’t last indefinitely. That’s bad news for a retailing industry that’s already hard-pressed to understand and effectively sell today’s complex products.

The average U.S. household now spends over $1,400 per year for consumer electronics, according to the CEA. Much of that number is being fueled by TV sales — currently the hot technology driving the market and one in which retailers are already working on razor-thin profit margins, thanks to a manufacturing glut from China and a rapidly saturating owner base. How much will that figure drop if a seven year old set is really as good as a new one? How many brands will be left to compete when there’s much smaller market demand? How much choice will there be for consumers? And if you’re a retailer, how much business is there in selling free product updates?

We at Wirewize are all for consumer benefits, especially when they’re available on the cheap. But when we hear PC-style firmware updates being touted as a good thing — especially since the vast majority of them are fixes, not enhancements — we keep thinking of an old joke from the PC industry itself — “Don’t call it a bug, it’s a feature.”

Welcome to Wirewize! We’re glad you stopped by, and hope you enjoy our site and our blog. We’d like to use this introductory post to give you an idea of who we are, what we’re trying to accomplish and how we hope to serve you and the consumer electronics industry better.

Wirewize is a product of CE-Interactive, a NY-based technology company whose mission is to help consumers, retailers and manufacturers overcome the problems of complexity in today’s consumer electronics products. We’re sure you all know what we’re talking about when we say that today’s CE products have become too confusing for the typical end user. Our goal is to help you make sense of it all.

Once upon a time, home audio and video was a hobbyist’s game, and half the fun for the home theater enthusiast was the connection, configuration, accesorization and tweaking of a system to get it all humming at its best. But nowadays, home theater is for everyone, not just for enthusiasts.

Unfortunately, the products never got simpler — in fact, they’ve become even more complicated. Too complicated for many average consumers who buy the gear, and too complicated for a lot of the retail sales clerks that sell them the gear. What’s the result? Unhappy end users, unnecessary product returns to the store, and a feeling of frustration for everyone.

Enter Wirewize. We’ve developed a unique suite of software tools that have been designed to make the connection of home theater equipment simple for the average user. You enter the products you own (or are thinking of owning) into your “System Locker”. One there, our “Cable Finder” analyzes the best possible connections between the components and recommends the correct types of cables to use. A click on our “Setup Wizard” then shows you step-by-step instructions on how to hook everything up, with pictorial guides taken from the actual product owner’s manuals. It’s like having Mapquest for your home theater.

Need even more help? Check out Wirewize LIVE, our phone-based tech support service that can help you with your home theater questions 24/7. Wirewize LIVE is a major step beyond traditional manufacturer support centers, because it helps you with virtually all major home theater brands, not just one. Wirewize LIVE give you US-based support over the phone that’s affordable and immediate — no more having to waste your day waiting for a costly in-home service call. Wirewize LIVE is currently available at select consumer electronics retailers, and will soon be available here at this site.

In the meantime, feel free to use our site as much as you like. You can have multiple systems in your free Wirewize account, say, one for the living room, one for the bedroom, another for the kids room, etc. Help your less tech-savvy friends by entering their components into a locker and emailing it to their locker, so they can see the correct cables and hookup info.

Don’t forget to send us your comments and suggestions! Our software is still officially in beta, and the problem we’re solving is a huge one. Unable to find your product in our database? Send us your request, and we’ll add it to the over 7,000 products now in our system. Connected your system but got unwanted results? Let us know so we can work on any bugs. We’re committed to making Wirewize better and better over time, and your help will speed along the process.

We look forward to communicating with you here at our official blog. In the coming weeks, we’ll look at topics big and small in the consumer electronics world. Till then, enjoy our site and let us know what you think!

The Wirewize Team