Whilst there used to be a premium paid for a HD ready television, by the beginning of 2009 virtually every television was HD ready. No premium needs to be paid, the television with the cheapest price is typically the cheapest HDTV.

The only exception is travel companion and handheld portable televisions. Few of these sets are currently HD ready. The lowest price you can expect to pay for the following technology types is,

LCD - Around £100. 15 inches in size. Resolution 1280x800.
Plasma - Around £500. 42 inches in size. Resolution 1024x768.
LED - Around £900. 32 inches in size. Resolution 1920x1080.

LCD and plasma displays currently dominate the market place. LCD has the highest amount of models for sale, at a ratio of around 6:1 against plasma.

The new kid on the block is LED. Technologically superior to LCD, it provides a thinner design, and with a higher and clearer resolution rate. LEDs will also reduce your electricity bill versus the other tech types, and, is therefore a greener television.

Reports have suggested that LED uses in the region of forty percent less energy than LCD. Presently, LEDs are not cheap. You are paying a premium for this technology. A similar premium that was paid for plasma screens in the early 2000's.

For LEDs, you are typically paying double the price of a similar sized and spec'd LCD or plasma screen. Judging from the price history of LCD and plasma screens, I would predict LEDs to become affordable in 1-2 years time.

Most manufacturers will want to profit from their recent LCD model development, before replacing it with LEDs.