U.S. Consumers are expected to put aside their reservations over high-definition television, and spark a 71 percent surge in sales in four years, a market research firm said.

By 2009, HDTV sales are expected to reach $65 billion, as consumers grow less skeptical about the technology, Park Associates said in a recent statement.

Nearly half of all TV households in the United States plan to buy an HDTV in the next 12 months, which is expected to boost sales by 30 percent and video services 38 percent by the end of 2006, the researcher said.

"Consumers who were once hesitant to spend huge dollars on an HDTV are now reconsidering this product category," Park Associates analyst Deepa Iyer said.

To take advantage of the expected market boom, broadcasters and cable and satellite operators, as well as content producers and TV and chipset manufacturers, will need to ramp up their high-definition products, Iyer said. Currently, the subscription rate for HD programming is barely 10 percent among all digital video subscribers, while only 35 percent of HDTV households subscribe to HD video services.

Higher HDTV sales are expected to cause a chain reaction in demand for HD content and services.

"However, this industry lacks a sense of urgency in its efforts to bring compelling HD services to consumers," Iyer said. "It has to recognize that HDTV will become ubiquitous only if all collateral forces within come together to embrace the change."