The skinny on TVs: Ready to upgrade to a big-screen flat-panel for the big game? We decode the dizzying array of options.

Byline: Sarah Mauet

Feb. 3--Whether you're a Colts fan or you love da Bears -- or even if you're just in it for the commercials and the seven-layer dip -- chances are you'll be glued to the television Sunday for Super Bowl XLI. The outcome isn't clear yet, but the broadcast certainly will be -- this year, more people than ever will be watching the game in mind-bendingly sharp high definition. Around 2.5 million consumers plan to purchase a new television for Super Bowl Sunday -- that's up from the 1.7 million who said they would last year, according to the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association. Local stores have said people are coming in with their minds and wallets open. "January and February are usually as good as or better than Christmas," said Bill Roh Jr., vice president of retail for Roh's Fine Home Electronics.

Wilson Home Audio & Video also gets a surge before the big game, said marketing director Dave Browning. The rush has been larger since the Super Bowl has been broadcast in high-def and the prices for the previously almost prohibitively expensive flat-panel LCD and plasma TVs have dropped -- about…