According to the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal, Best Buy conducted a survey that found that 90 of Americans don't understand HDTVs.

Electronics retailer, Richfield-based Best Buy said that it polled 1,012 consumers from Aug. 3 to Aug. 5, nationwide. The survey showed that 89 percent of people said they lacked a complete understanding of HDTV technology. Best Buy said the survey found consumer misconceptions regarding HDTV range from not understanding it at all (32 percent of consumers said they have no understanding of HD technology, and 56 percent of consumers said they have a moderate understanding of it. Only 11 percent of consumers said they feel they understand HD).

That sounds about right. And I can see why this is a problem for Best Buy. Many, if not most, people seem to go into the mindset of a "TV for Life" when purchasing televisions, so they want to be hyper-informed about their options before whipping out the plastic.

Fewer people take the approach of going into a store, looking at the picture quality, and deciding for themselves what they like, which is strange because that's all that really what matters.

Why let the specs drive your decision if you can't tell the difference anyway?

The article reports that Best Buy is going to start a buyer education campaign to inform consumers about HDTVs. Not a bad strategy, but couldn't a product like this can be just as easily sold on emotion as specs?

For those who want to learn more about HDTV specs, check out this video Ben put together this past spring: