Men, women agree on importance of image quality, not sound

While differences remain between men and women about home theaters, both sexes share an equally keen interest in picture quality, according to a survey released last week from retailer Best Buy.

Eighty percent of men and women surveyed ranked picture quality as being very important in their HDTV buying decision. Men and women also agree that the size of a display is important. Fifty-seven percent of flat-panel TV owners surveyed agree that bigger is better when it comes to flat-panel TVs. Aesthetics matter as well. Fifty-two percent of male and female flat-panel TV owners agree that they even like their flat-panel TVs when they're turned off.

The survey found some significant differences in preference between the sexes as well. Seventy-four percent of women said sound quality was a very important aspect to consider, while 54 percent of men said they felt the same.

Other big differences included:

Ranked as Very ImportantWomenMen Ease of use 67 percent 54 percent Price 69 percent 50 percent Installation service available 38 percent 23 percent

The Best Buy Omnitel Survey was conducted by phone Dec. 15-17, 2006. The sample size was 1004, of which 697 were a spouse or significant other. The margin of error was +/- 3 percent.