The average size of TVs sold in the United States jumped from about 32 inches in 2006 to 38 inches in 2012, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. The reason for the growth is simple — prices are dropping.

 

"People are stepping up. As they can afford more, they are buying more screen real estate," said Steve Koenig, director of industry analysis at CEA, in May during a presentation in New York City — the cramped metropolis where the concept of ever-growing TVs may be hardest to fathom. But tight apartments (or more likely, tight luxury condos) could be the perfect place for the bigger screens of new TVs, known as 4K or UHD, with four times the resolution of current HDTVs.

 

Just going on sale, the high-cost TVs aren't remarkable for what you can see — native 4K content is scarce — but for what you can't see — pixels. Until now, bigger screens required bigger rooms so people could sit further back from them — kind of defeating the purpose. Once people are close enough to see the pixels on a screen, the magic of television breaks down to an experience like looking through a grating.