Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas, Savvy Consumer Column.

Byline: Teresa McUsic

Jun. 11--Shopping for a TV was once fairly simple. Buyers would figure out how much they could spend and buy the biggest screen that would fit their budget and living room.

But TV shopping is now more like purchasing a personal computer. Each model brings a complex matrix of technical choices.

In the world of PCs, shoppers have to sort through models with varying processor speeds, hard drives and software configurations to determine the best value for their needs and budget. In the brave new world of TV shopping, a distinct set of technical variables is emerging that can strike fear and uncertainty in the heart of any self-respecting technophobe.

You can blame the complexity on the consumer electronics industry's increasing embrace of all things digital. As more and more programming is stored and distributed in the bits and bytes traditionally used by computers, televisions will need to integrate more computerlike capabilities to serve up the digitized content in the best light possible.

And not all the features or technologies have become standardized, further complicating the decisions.

"It's undoubtedly becoming a more complicated purchase decision," said Myra Moore, president of Digital Tech Consulting, a Dallas-based market research firm that tracks the consumer electronics industry. "And it will probably be that way until we get to the point where everything is digital."