OTHER TECH

You buy an HDTV primarily to get high-quality images, but what about its sound? You'll find that it rates a distant second. Though the speakers built into TVs are generally a lot better than they used to be, they can't come close to recreating the kind of surround sound experience you get at the movies. In fact, some plasma TVs don't even include speakers.

While using the speakers on a TV for the center channel in a surround sound setup might seem like a good idea, odds are the built-in speakers won't sound much like your other speakers and won't be able to handle really loud passages of music or dialogue. Going with a separate surround sound system can give you performance that rivals what you experience in your local cinema. (For more on adding great sound, see "How to Buy Surround Sound.")

If it's been a while since you last bought a TV, you'll notice that the backs of today's HDTV sets have a variety of connectors. But when it comes to a TV's audio/video inputs, the rule is simple: the more the merrier. With so many high-def sources available - satellite and cable TV, off-air broadcasts, D-VHS tape, videogame systems - and with high-def discs on the horizon, even the most well-equipped TV can quickly run out of inputs.

The most important inputs for HDTV are component video and digital video inputs like DVI and HDMI. Wideband, or HDTV-capable, component-video inputs will not only accept high-def signals from an outboard tuner or satellite receiver, but they'll also let you get the best possible picture quality from regular sources like a progressive-scan DVD player. The digital inputs have the advantage of keeping a DVD or HDTV signal in the digital domain all the way from the source to the TV, avoiding digital-to-analog-to-digital conversion, which can degrade picture quality.

But just because you have more source components than your TV has appropriate inputs doesn't mean you'll have to plug and unplug something every time you want to change sources. A good digital surround sound receiver or processor can provide outstanding audio as well as video switching, letting you run far fewer cables to your TV. (See "How to Buy Surround Sound.")