HD televisions: the challenge is to select the best type, screen size, and brand for you.(high definition television)(Buyers guide)

With high-definition televisions flying off the shelves at ever-lower prices, you don't have to be wildly adventurous or extravagant to become a high-def household. Still, deciding which TV to buy and setting it up can be daunting. This section will guide you through the decision-making process. Let's start with important trends:

Digital tuners are now de rigueur. Any new TV you buy now must have a digital tuner, called an ATSC tuner, that enables it to receive digital signals broadcast over the air and picked up by an antenna. The government recently required all new TVs to have such tuners because analog broadcasts are scheduled to end in February 2009. At that point, you'll need a digital tuner, either built into your TV or connected externally, to receive any broadcast TV signals. Most digital TVs are high-definition models, but there are some standard-definition digital sets as well, mostly picture-tube models. (Some new TVs called monitors have no tuner at all.)

There are more superb sets. LCD, plasma, and rear-projection microdisplay TVs have their own characteristics and strengths, but each also has certain weaknesses. As manufacturers address those shortcomings, more sets of each type are earning excellent picture-quality scores in our Ratings.

One reason for the improved picture quality is the movement to 1080p, the highest form of high definition. More new LCD and rear-projection HDTVs have a native resolution of 1080p, and the first plasma sets of that type have appeared.

TVs with 1080p resolution have more pixels than other sets, giving them the potential to display all the detail in a high-definition signal, including the new high-def DVDs. You'll pay more for 1080p, though, and the advantages aren't easily noticed on all types of programming or on screens smaller than 50 inches unless you're up close.