Is your HDTV giving you HDTV?

Because the association represents, and is financed by, more than 2,000 competitive companies, including Sony and Toshiba, Apple and Microsoft, Best Buy and Circuit City, it treads carefully in such areas as recommendations.

But its consumer Web sites — www.myCEknowhow.com, www.CEAconnectionsguide.com and www.antennaweb.org — are all good starting points as sources of information for those considering buying a new TV, especially an HDTV.

“For most consumers buying their first HDTV, there’s a lot of choices out there,” said Joe Bates, CEA’s director of research.

“That’s a positive aspect in one respect, and challenging in another. Consumers really need to do their research. And, what we have found is that more and more of them are doing so.”

Greg Belloni, a Sony spokesman, said that “initially, the electronics industry did a bad job” explaining HDTV to consumers.

“There is still a little bit of confusion, but it has gotten markedly better,” he said.

“We’re doing a better job now of explaining to retailers, and manufacturers are taking it on themselves to give the public an idea of how to buy an HDTV.”

In the last year, he said, Sony sent its representatives to electronics retailers around the country to give “HD test drive” presentations to sales reps to help them be better informed about high-definition TV.

“The message is getting out there that you need more than the HDTV to get HDTV,” he said.

Dan Schinasi, HDTV product planning manager for Samsung, said the company is making sure it prints detailed information “on the box and the owners’ manuals, and even bigger on the TVs themselves.”

The Consumer Electronics Association estimates sales of 20.7 million HDTV sets in 2007, up from 17.3 million in 2006, 8.8 million in 2005 and 6 million in 2004.

One reason for the increase is that prices for the sets have fallen dramatically.

One major electronics retailer recently advertised a $2,100, 50-inch, plasma HDTV on sale for $1,500, Two years ago, that set would have been at least $1,000 more.

Schinasi, of Samsung, believes the biggest issue for consumers buying a new TV is not about HDTV, but which television technology to choose, such as plasma, LCD, DLP, LCoS or CRT. Yes, CRT (cathode ray tube), which was TV as most of us knew it until the past decade.

“They still exist, and are very affordable,” Schniasi said of CRT sets.

“$599 gets you a high-definition, 30-inch CRT set. It’s a price point that’s very favorable.”

For now, consumers have to wade through several checklists to make sure they’re getting high-definition TV. It’s not as simple as turning on the set.

“It will get to the point where you can just plug in HDTV without special equipment,” said Cripps of HDTV Magazine.

But it’s not there yet.

“I think the industry certainly understands that ‘plug-and-play’ is where we need to be,” he said.

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