In Monday’s Display Daily, we told you about some of the big price specials that major retailers will offer on LCD, PDP and microdisplay projection TVs on Black Friday - the Friday after Thanksgiving and the traditional start of the Holiday selling season. Momentum continues to build toward Black Friday with even more specials being announced as the week progresses.

Perhaps the most important development is the breaking of the $1,000 price barrier. This is a very important psychological threshold that will spur many more purchases. Consider these specials:

• 42" Vizio P42HDTV Plasma HDTV - $988 (Wal-Mart and Costco)
• 42" Sylvania 42" HD Plasma TV - $944 (BJ’s Wholesale)
• 42" Westinghouse LCD HDTV - $999 (Best Buy)
• 52" Panasonic 3LCD Projection HDTV (PT-52LCX66) - $999 (Circuit City)
• 40" Polaroid LCD HDTV (FLM-4034B) - $949 (Circuit City)

At the $500 threshold, there are more bargains to be had:

• 32" MAG LCD-TV - $499 (Staples)
• 32" Westinghouse LCD HDTV (W3213) - $479 (Best Buy)
• 32" Syntax Olevia 32" LCD HDTV (232V) - $479 (Circuit City)
• 32" 720p LCD-TV with MOTORAZR cell phone purchase - $349 (CompUSA)
• 32" LCD HDTV - $478.00 (Home Depot)

We also saw a very interesting advertisement in today’s edition of the New York Times. A full-page ad was placed by Panasonic with the headline, "Six facts you need to know before you buy a large flat panel TV." The key facts - or, at least, assertions:

1) PDPs produce deep rich blacks - LCDs produce gray
2) PDPs can reproduce fast motion - LCDs blur it
3) PDPs meet the HDTV color gamut - LCDs don’t
4) PDPs have great viewing angles - LCDs fade with angle
5) PDPs are environmentally friendly - LCDs have bad Mercury
6) PDPs are rugged - LCDs are fragile

While these "facts" are mostly true, it’s the big push by Panasonic to promote its PDP-TVs over its own LCD-TVs that is most telling. Panasonic wants to be known as the PDP-TV company. While company executives have stated they are not driving a price war, the evidence suggests otherwise. While Panasonic’s 42" PDP-TVs have not pierced the $1,000 threshold, they are only a couple of hundred dollars from it - and they may well reach it by Christmas. And, with Panasonic lining up squarely in the PDP camp, expect a long and drawn out battle with LCD-TVs in the coming years. Consumers will win, but can anybody else?