High-tech TV: What's it all about?
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Right now, broadcasters are sending out both digital and analog signals, but perhaps as early as 2009 those analog channels will go dark and any nondigital TVs will need to be hooked to a converter box to continue receiving broadcast television.

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All the more reason to consider a new set.

But just because a new TV is "digital" doesn't mean it's "high-definition." Many of the cheaper digital sets have a picture no sharper than your old TV.

So what is HDTV?
HDTV stands for high-definition TV and is identified by two factors -- the shape of the screen and the picture resolution. When shopping, make sure the set can display a minimum of 720 lines of resolution, and preferably 1080 lines.

A true HD set also shows the picture in what is called 16:9 ratio widescreen, similar to a movie screen. The set you likely have now is more square, at a 4:3 ratio.

A high-definition set may also be labeled "HD ready,'' which means it is capable of displaying a high-definition picture but will need an additional tuner -- priced at $300 to $500 -- or a cable TV or satellite TV box attached to it to receive the upgraded pictures.

A set with a built-in HD tuner can display broadcast channels in high-definition without additional boxes.

To further confuse matters, there are some lower-priced sets in stores that offer Enhanced Definition TV, or EDTV, which attempts to bridge the gap between a standard-definition TV and a high-definition model. EDTV, doesn't match the sound quality of HDTV, but it's a major step beyond SDTV in picture quality.

Available in a digital wide-screen format, it displays the same 480 lines as your old standard-definition TV, but it has more pixels per line -- 852 compared to 640. The picture will be sharper than what you see on your old set -- about the same as watching a DVD -- but won't be as sharp as a true high-definition picture.

Differing digitals
Even when shopping for a "digital" TV, buyers will encounter four main types of TVs: CRT, rear-projection, LCD and plasma.
CRT stands for cathode ray tube and in terms of technology is most like the sets that have been built for the last 50 years.

Because the technology is so proven, a CRT widescreen high-definition TV is likely to be the cheapest set you'll encounter, with prices starting at $800. But the largest high-definition screen you can get in a tube-type set is about 34 inches, which is unlikely to satisfy the desire for a true home-theater experience. Also, at that size CRT sets are heavy, limiting where you can use them.

Rear-projection TVs have also been around for decades, but today's versions bear little resemblance to those huge packing-crate-sized models of the past. New widescreen rear-projection sets are far slimmer -- a 50-inch set is only about 16 inches deep, compared with 30 inches or more for the old-style sets.