Believe it or not you don't know everything - so please don't come across as so "high and mighty / I know best" all the time.
Everyone has their own opinion, and that is fair enough - but there are a lot of high end AV manufacturer's who actually design very minimalist designs on purpose (less chance of interference for one thing) and make a very nice profit every year.
In regards to this inparticular - I said High end models for several reasons;
1) The high end models are going to be focused on those customers who DO want PQ above everything else and are willing to pay for it (and have done in the past with Kuro's etc etc throughout the years)
then the ZT is for you, but im pretty sure that comes with tuners and speakers, etc as well as smart functions, etc
2) TV's without tuners can be classified as "monitors" and therefore have a much lower import tax attached , which therefore leads to a smaller rrp for the customer. Im pretty sure this is still the case, it certainly was historically.
well why do these cost £8K then like the one i linked above?
3) Personally speaking I have gone through a lot more STB's over the years than I ever have TV's, because the former are effectively throw away items these days, and added features come out every year or every other year when my Kuro has already lasted four or so. Whether its added storage (admittedly less of a problem now) , HD tuners, or whatever else - its a lot easier to get the added feature for that year in a separate box than getting a new tv each time.
i haven't went through any set top boxes, i just used the built in one on my last tv before buying playtv for my ps3, then using that as my pvr. my new tv now does HD and recording built in, i do not need any other features, as they can be done through the tv, therefore nowadays stb's are a thing of the past, they are no longer needed, essentially saving you £100's because the tv's do all of the features they do, stb's are now effectively obsolete.
Given the progress these days in tv transmission, its gaurenteed the current tuners installed in today's TV's are not going to be suitable for the whole life of the tv.
progress is usually very slow when it comes to tv transmission, it took them years to switch the whole country to digital, in fact they usually do not like to force changes therefore legacy channels are usually transmitted simultaneously like bbc1 and bbc1 hd is now, therefore in the future if bbc 4k was introduced, im pretty sure they would keep either bbc or bbc1 hd along side it, therefore i would still be able to see that channel.
4) I never said this would be of interest to the mass market. It wouldn't be. Doesn't mean its not viable for a limited run (just like the ZT range of Plasmas coming out from Panasonic, with a limited run with ~£4k price tag )
those come with speakers and smart functions, etc, etc.
as you can see the type of tv you are after costs double that, and seriously who is going to pay £7K for a tv with none of these functions when they can get a ZT for £4K?
5) High end users are most likely to have a separate amp and speakers anyway, so no need to build these into the chassis in the first place) Kuro's for one don't have speakers built in (although seperates are available to plug directly in).
yes they do usually have seperates, but to make 2 models one with those things and one without would end up costing more money, therefore it is better to include them and let the enthusiasts just leave them dormant and use their seperates. it makes absolutely no sense to make an option without these things as it is not financially viable, that's why pioneer had to withdraw from the market in the first place, they were making a loss with the route they had taken, the market is so small there is no profit in it. the reason why the ZT is only available in one size in europe is proof of this.
there is no money to be made in the enthusiast market, sets would become so expensive nobody would buy them and opt for the cheaper models.
seriously would you buy a ZT with no tuners, no smart functions, no 3d for £10K? when you can have one with it for £4K? the more models you make the increase in costs and those costs have to be passed on, normal people will not be willing to pay those increased costs so they will have to be forced onto the enthusiast sets.
Stop mixing high end with bog-standard. Im not talking about a standard retail offering - you don't even get Kuro reference PQ for that kind of money now and they are 4 years old or so, that (blatantly) isn't the market I was talking about.
you can actually get better tv's than the Kuros these days, there is a huge debate over at avforums, and a professional calibrator over there says the in store VT is better than the in store kuro, so i imagine the ZT is a lot lot better.
You brought mass-production into the discussion - I always stressed High - End which is EXACTLY the opposite (but can still make profit for the company involved)
if it can make a profit why did pioneer withdraw from the market?
