TV shopping for dummies

HDTV
The foremost option to consider when buying a new television should be to get one capable of receiving digital programming, Mullen said.

"It's really the best way to watch television," he said. "It's becoming more widespread all the time."

Mel Espey, owner of Kincaid TV-Stereo on 15th Street, strongly encourages customers to purchase a set that is capable of HDTV.

"If they don't, they're taking a step backwards," he said. "HDTV is definitely the wave of the future."

Digital television and HDTV are not interchangeable terms, however, although some people confuse the two.

"High definition, by definition, is digital," Espey said. "But while all HDTVs are digital, not all digital televisions are HDTV."

Resolution
Another factor to consider is resolution. Standard CRT televisions rapidly flick an image back and forth across 480 lines that make up the screen, first firing the image onto half the lines and rapidly following up with a flash across the remaining lines. The effect is called interlaced scanning, and standard TV sets are said to have 480 interlaced — 480i — images.

Enhanced television sets, which fall between CRTs and HDTV, carry on with the 480 lines of resolution, but rather than alternately flashing the image onto first the even-numbered and then the odd-numbered lines, the sets fire across the lines one after the other. This is called progressive scanning, and it's done at twice the speed of interlaced. High-definition sets can have either interlaced or progressive scanning.

Plasma
By federal definition, HDTV units must have screens with either 720 lines of resolution progressively scanned — 720p — or 1080 lines with interlaced scanning — 1080i. Prices of modern TVs vary greatly, depending on the type of technology used and the size of the set. For example, a plasma television with a 42-inch screen capable of showing high-definition broadcasts can cost $3,000 or more.

Wide-screen, rear-projection 51-inch TVs can cost up to $2,000 or more, depending on the manufacturer.

Mullen said Circuit City stores stock a 50-inch plasma HDTV monitor with a price tag of about $6,000, while just down the aisle, a comparably equipped 50-inch HDTV monitor with DLP technology costs $3,300.

But you don't have to spend thousands on a plasma television to enjoy the future benefits of HDTV.

"Plasma televisions are about a lifestyle choice," Espey said.

Digital transition
The biggest impact on consumers right now is that many more televisions are equipped to handle digital broadcasting, even as broadcasters are lagging behind. Analog television, the standard broadcast technology that for decades has used magnetic waves to send pictures and sounds to a television, is quickly going the way of the dinosaurs. The FCC has mandated that digital broadcasting become the new standard for television.

The deadline for the end of analog broadcasting was set for the end of 2006 but keeps getting pushed back. The deadline is expected to be enforced before the end of the decade. There are only 17 HDTV cable networks out of 390 cable networks.

But that number will grow as the federally mandated conversion gains steam.

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