There is no shortage of impressive new features and technologies coming to the humble television, as they continue to get bigger and bigger whilst becoming as thin as an iPad.

With all these innovations at their fingertips, what features do people really want in their next TV? Some says their next purchase simply has to have 3D playback or USB support, maybe even an impressive energy rating.

But when it all boils down to it, the majority still hold picture quality and screen size, above all.

Inside CI brings shows us this, detailing a new global consumer research study by Sony which lays out the key considerations by buyers looking to purchase a new television.

Mainstream buyers rank picture quality, screen size, sound quality, price and a full HD 1080p resolution as their top five important considerations, with a slim TV screen, its energy rating, ease of use remote and design of the set following in the next four positions.

Perhaps the three big features that make the new smart TVs ‘smart’ rank in the final three spots. 3D ready support, Internet web browsing and Internet video hold these spots, which “shocked” Hiroshi Sakamoto, deputy senior general manager of Sony’s home entertainment group, according to Inside CI.

The full list:

Sony internal research: Consumer needs for TV

  1. Picture quality
  2. Screen size
  3. Sound quality
  4. Price
  5. Full HD 1080p resolution
  6. Slim TV screen
  7. Energy saving
  8. Ease to use remote
  9. Design
  10. LCD TV
  11. Brand
  12. Multiple connections
  13. LED TV
  14. USB port
  15. PC input
  16. Frame refresh rate
  17. Thin bezel
  18. 3D ready
  19. Internet web browsing
  20. Internet video

That doesn’t appear to stop Sony from trying to force 3D upon us, with the company said to be planning to release 100 3D Blu-ray titles before the summer, which will “help revitalise 3D,” said Sakamoto.

The report may be general in its nature but it will be interesting reading for television vendors and service providers who are looking to deliver applications and video streaming services to new connected TVs.

It is often the case that consumers wait for TV technologies to become established before buying into them, especially when it is accompanied with a price drop. At the moment, consumers are enjoying their TV straight up, suggesting there is a lot of work for companies to do to convince us otherwise.