That’s about 10 times faster than Wi-Fi, which operates in the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. And it’s fast enough to stream high-definition video without the need for HDMI or DisplayPort connections–assuming your video source and monitor are close to each another, preferably in the same room.

Though WiGig can carry a lot of data, its range is significantly shorter than Wi-Fi N, the latest iteration of the Wi-Fi specification. And it doesn’t handle obstructions nearly so well. Which is why the announcement of today’s Wi-Fi Alliance agreement likely heralds a tri-band Wi-Fi standard, one that would use 60GHz WiGig–or a similar technology like WirelessHD (said to support speeds of 10-28Gbps) when it is available and fall back on slower, longer-range Wi-Fi connections in the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands when it isn’t.

Consumers.

Two weeks after Sony lowered the price of the PlayStation 3 to $299 from $399, Microsoft did the same for the Xbox 360 Elite by slashing $100 off the price of the console. In addition, Microsoft cut the price of its now discontinued Xbox 360 Pro console by $50 to $249.99, while supplies last. Both price cuts go into effect tomorrow.

“This is really an effort to pass the cost reduction we are able to achieve through engineering and manufacturing onto consumers,” David Dennis, Microsoft Xbox 360 product manager, told USA Today. “Reducing the number of (models) really just simplifies our manufacturing and makes it easier for our retail partners to manage their inventory and makes the purchase decision easier for consumers. It’s really a win-win-win all around.”

Like Sony (SNE), Microsoft (MSFT) believes the move will lure a new segment of price-conscious consumers into the market and goose sales heading into the crucial holiday shopping season, though it may not prove as effective as the company hopes. To really drive sales, says Jesse Divnich, director of analyst services at Electronic Entertainment Design and Research, Microsoft needs to drop its prices even further.

“Some would argue that Microsoft’s new pricing scheme represents more of a pseudo price drop than an actual price drop since consumers looking to purchase a core Xbox 360 system will still have to pay $299, as they had prior to the new hardware line-up,” Divnich explained in a recent research note to clients. “The price drop on the Xbox 360 Elite means that Microsoft’s core hardware SKU now boasts a bigger hard-drive and HDMI support than its Xbox 360 Pro predecessor.”

Moreover, while the 360 and PlayStation 3 might share the same $299 price point, they don’t share the same specs. “…Technologically the Xbox 360 is not at the same level as [the PS3],” Divnich said. “This puts the Xbox 360 into a tough position where it is outmatched in terms of hardware capabilities at $299 and the Nintendo Wii remains alluring to casual and price sensitive consumers at $249.”

Looking ahead, Divnich predicts that “Over the next year Microsoft will most likely reposition the Xbox 360 Elite model closer to the $249 price point to both pressure Sony and attract potential Nintendo Wii consumers. From a strategic standpoint this would then allow Microsoft to introduce the new Natal model in 2010/2011 at the $299 price point and still have an option for consumers cheaper than the (PS3).”

Now, two more set-top boxes have been launched to try to marry the Internet and the TV. Both adapters, from Sony (SNE) and Roku, worked well in my tests, but each has limitations. The problem is that one of the boxes supplies content from a wide range of Internet video sources, but only works on selected models of one brand of TV set; the other works on a wide variety of TVs, but only provides a single source of content.

Sony’s adapter is the Bravia Internet Video Link. This is a $300 module that attaches to certain Sony HDTV models. It can either be set up beside the TV or snapped onto the back of the set. Once it’s connected to your TV and to your home network for Internet access, a new menu appears on the TV allowing you a choice of videos from numerous online sources, including YouTube, Yahoo (YHOO), Blip. TV, Sports Illustrated, AOL, Wired, and the Web sites of CBS (CBS), Showtime and more.

Setting up the Bravia Internet Video Link was straightforward, even though it involved a welter of cables. There is no built-in Wi-Fi — you need either a cable or an add-on wireless adapter to connect to the Internet. The primary hookup to the TV is via a modern type of cable called HDMI, for High Definition Multimedia Interface.

I tested the Sony Link using the company’s most unusual HDTV set — a tiny, very costly model that uses a very thin, very vivid new screen technology called OLED, for Organic Light-Emitting Diode. This TV provided a spectacular picture, but it isn’t required to use the Sony module. The Link works on many larger, more common Sony sets with more common screens. It just doesn’t work on non-Sony TV sets.

Sony’s Bravia Internet Video Link adapter

The Sony module doesn’t have its own remote control. It uses the one that came with the TV. This makes for an awkward experience, because there are no standard play and pause buttons, and various other buttons on the remote meant to do one thing on the TV may do another when watching Internet video via the Link module.

Also, I found some of the Internet content to be disappointing. Many of the items labeled “movies” on various Internet channels were really just trailers, and some content was stale. For instance, some baseball news videos on Yahoo were weeks old.

However, Sony plans to make one of its feature films, “Hancock,” available through the Link module before it’s released on DVD. More important, it will be adding access to Amazon’s (AMZN) forthcoming video-streaming service, which promises to contain a wealth of full-length content.

The Netflix Player by Roku is much simpler. In fact, it was the simplest set-top box I have ever tested. It costs just $100 and does just one thing: It allows Netflix (NFLX) subscribers to view its movies and TV shows via the Internet on a television set instead of on a computer. It can’t get you any other video content from the Internet.

The Netflix player is a small, plain black box that works with most TVs, not just digital or high-definition models. It connects using both old-fashioned cables, like the kind used by many VCRs and older DVD players, or an HDMI cable.

Unlike the Sony, the Roku box includes both wireless and wired Internet connectivity, and has its own remote. While the box is capable of displaying high-definition content, the Netflix service isn’t currently streaming movies and TV shows in high definition, so you get varying quality, depending on your TV and Internet speed, up to DVD-type levels.

There’s no added monthly fee required to use the Roku box, but you must be a Netflix subscriber. The box merely displays the movies or TV shows you have placed in your Instant Queue on Netflix. You have to do this on your computer before viewing the videos on the Roku box. You can choose from around 12,000 streaming movies and TV shows, far fewer than the 100,000 titles Netflix makes available via DVD, but a sizable collection.

In my tests, the Roku box set up quickly and easily, the interface and remote were simple and effective, and the movies and TV shows I tested streamed quickly and without hesitation over my fast home Internet connection.

Both products are meant to promote sales of other things — Sony TVs and the Netflix movie-rental service. They do these tasks well, but neither is the breakthrough solution that will connect most TVs to most Internet video content.

Find all of Walt Mossberg’s columns and videos online, free, at the All Things Digital Web site, walt.allthingsd.com. Email him at mossberg@wsj.com.

Here are a few questions about computers I’ve received recently from people like you, and my answers. I have edited and restated the questions a bit, for readability. This week my mailbox contained questions about using Apple TV with older sets, the pricing of Apple TV and using SmartSync Pro on Vista.

In your review of Apple TV last week you said it wouldn’t work on a standard, non-widescreen TV, but I have seen reports that it does work on these sets. How is that possible?

What we wrote was that it was designed for newer, widescreen sets, especially high-definition sets, and wouldn’t work on older, square-type sets, “unless they can display widescreen-formatted content and accept some newer types of cables.” Some older TVs can do this, but many cannot. The sets must have connections called component or HDMI, which many older sets lack, especially lower-priced ones, even if they can display widescreen content.

I have also heard reports that you can use Apple TV on older sets that cannot handle widescreen content. But my guess is that, on these sets, the menus and user interface are distorted.

I have just bought a new Dell Vista computer. None of my backup software now works. Does SmartSync Pro work with Vista? Do you have any suggestions?

SmartSync Pro, a program I have recommended in the past, regularly crashes on my own Vista desktop, though its maker, SmartSync Software, claims most features do work on Vista. The company says it is working on a new Vista version. In general, this is a major problem with adopting Vista. It is amazing to me that so many hardware and software vendors still haven’t issued Vista-compatible versions or drivers.

One suggestion might be to try the internal backup and restore function in Vista, which Microsoft claims is improved over what was available in Windows XP. I haven’t tested it, but more information is here.

In your Apple TV review, you said the Xbox 360 costs 50% more. But aren’t they priced the same, at $299?

I said the “comparable” Xbox 360 model was 50% more than Apple TV, and in making that calculation, I was being kind to the Xbox. The base, $299.99 “core” model of the Xbox 360 has no hard disk, so, to be comparable to Apple TV, which does, you would need the high-end Xbox 360, which costs $399.99 and includes a hard disk. But even this high-end Xbox 360 doesn’t have Wi-Fi wireless networking, which is built into Apple TV and is needed to stream PC-based content to TVs in the many, many homes that lack wired networks.

To get Wi-Fi on an Xbox 360, you must spend $100 for an optional adapter, which brings the cost to $499.99. But I assumed a user might be able to find a wireless adapter for $50, so I rounded the price down to $449.99, which is slightly greater than a 50% premium over the Apple TV. Even with that premium, the Xbox offers slower wireless speeds, and a hard disk only half as large.

Next month, a new Xbox 360 model is expected to be available that will have a 120-gigabyte hard disk — triple the size of the Apple TV’s disk. It is likely to cost $479.99, but still won’t include wireless networking.

As I noted in the column, the Xbox 360 can do some media tasks the Apple TV can’t do, and, of course, it is also a full-blown game console, unlike the Apple TV. That may make the Xbox’s higher price well worth it for some.

Write to Walter S. Mossberg at mossberg@wsj.com

Like the Xbox, the PS3 and the Wii bear little resemblance to the toylike game consoles of the 1980s and 1990s. They are powerful computers that have been optimized for graphics and sound. And, like the Xbox, the two new contenders can handle multimedia and can connect to the Internet.

We’ve been testing the two newcomers, with help from four volunteers, three men and a woman, all in their 20s, most of whom have extensive game-playing experience. We tried a selection of games for each.

Sony’s PlayStation 3 (left) and Nintendo’s Wii (right).

These two new game machines couldn’t be more different. The PlayStation 3 is a bulky, shiny black box that costs $600, or $500 for a somewhat stripped-down model. That’s up to $200 more than the Xbox 360, and about what you’d spend on a basic Windows computer. The PS3 includes a hard disk, a networking port, Wi-Fi wireless networking, and playback of DVDs and CDs. It produces high-definition video. In fact, the PS3 can also play a next-generation, high-definition movie disk, called Blu-ray.

The Wii is a small, thin white box that costs just $250 and has much wimpier specs than the Sony. It does have Wi-Fi, but it lacks a hard disk, a networking port, and the ability to play DVDs or CDs, let alone Blu-ray disks. It cannot produce high-definition video. It has fewer ports and connectors.

Yet, in our tests, we found the more modest Wii to be the more exciting, fun and satisfying of the two new game machines. We and our four volunteer testers were impressed by the rich, realistic graphics and intricate game play in some of the half-dozen PS3 games we tried. By contrast, we all agreed that the graphics on the Wii ranged from dated to cheesy.

But the Wii won our hearts for one reason: It uses a wireless controller that can detect your arm and hand motions and transfer them to the screen, so that you can physically control the action. This opens up huge possibilities. In sports games, you can actually swing a baseball bat or tennis racket or golf club. In adventure games, you can slash a sword through the air or throw a punch. You make pretty much the same motions, using your full arm and hand, that you’d make with the real objects.

With the Wii, you don’t sit on the couch and just press buttons. You typically stand. You get a workout. In fact the Wii controller, a slim rectangular gadget that looks like a TV remote control, has a wrist strap to prevent it from being hurled across the room while you are, say, serving in tennis. The controller also has a small built-in speaker and it transmits vibrations to make the play more realistic. There are already reports of people complaining of sore elbows and wrists from hours of Wii play. Our testers were initially amazed that they felt a little winded and sore after hours in front of the Wii.

To show off these capabilities, every Wii comes with a free disk called Wii Sports that includes simple, basic sports games — tennis, baseball, golf, bowling, and boxing. These aren’t fully realized games; they are more like demonstrations. The graphics are crude and the games lack multiple levels of difficulty. But they are terrific fun. One of our testers, a college athlete who is bored by standard videogames, said they gave her the first opportunity ever to feel successful at a videogame.

We assume some clever game developer can produce more sophisticated versions of these sports games, and of other types of games that make full use of the Wii controller. There are also likely to be specialized controllers that can take advantage of the Wii’s motion sensitivity.

The PS3′s controller, which resembles the one on the previous-generation PlayStation 2, also has some motion sensitivity. But it seems much more limited, and the controller doesn’t vibrate.

The two products are clearly aimed at different audiences. While the PS3 has a lot of multimedia features, it is really for hard-core gamers with deep pockets (or with parents with deep pockets) — the folks who spend days mastering all the levels and secrets of a complex game.

The Wii is for casual game players, including younger kids and older adults who find the complexity and finger skills required for the PlayStation and Xbox to be intimidating. Even adventure games and racing games on the Wii seem easier to get into than similar titles on the PS3.

Left: Two people seen standing while they use the Nintendo Wii’s motion-sensor remotes to play games. Right: Screen views of a Wii tennis match show on-screen players mimicking motions of the wireless controllers.

In addition to Wii Sports, we tested and enjoyed two other Wii titles — “The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess,” an adventure game; and “Excite Truck,” a driving game. In the former, the controller can be swung like a sword. In the latter, you can move it to steer. We also ran a simple slideshow on the Wii by inserting a memory card from a digital camera.

The Wii can also play a selection of older Nintendo games, such as Super Mario and Donkey Kong. You have to buy and download these from the online Wii shop. But we were disappointed that they require the purchase of an extra, old-style controller, which we couldn’t find in either of our local Best Buy or Circuit City stores.

The Wii also has a fun system for creating avatars you can use to represent yourself in various games. They are called “Miis” and you can assign them a wide range of facial features.

The PS3 has some impressive features. All six of us were blown away by the graphics on PS3 titles like “Genji: Days of the Blade,” an action-adventure game set in old Japan; and “Ridge Racer 7,” a car-racing game. We enjoyed the skateboarding game “Tony Hawk’s Project 8,” including the use of the PlayStation controller’s limited-motion sensitivity — though the graphics in that game were much cruder than in the other two.

We also were impressed by the photo slideshow feature on the PS3, which turned photos on a camera memory card we inserted into sharp, vibrant images of snapshot prints fluttering on the screen.

We also watched a high-definition movie on a Blu-ray disk and thought it looked and sounded good.

But none of us felt that the game graphics, or the Blu-ray movie playback, were superior enough to the Xbox 360′s graphics and DVD playback, to justify the PS3′s heftier price. None of our four volunteer testers said they’d buy the PS3 at $600. (The $500 model of the PS3 seemed a bad bargain because it lacks Wi-Fi, which is needed in most homes to connect to the Internet for online game playing.)

In fact, the PS3′s graphics, while better in some cases than what we’d seen on the Xbox, weren’t knock-your-socks-off better. And, to really get the most out of a PS3, especially its Blu-ray disk feature, you need a high-definition TV.

In addition, there were some annoying lapses on the PS3. Setup was long and complicated. Load times for games and for levels within games were slow. Typing is tedious, using an onscreen representation of a cellphone keypad (though you can attach a computer keyboard if you have one.) Just registering for the Internet features seemed to take an eternity.

Plus, the PS3′s wireless controller was a pain. In our tests, it often ran out of juice and had to be plugged in to be recharged. Once plugged in, we were always accidentally disconnecting it, because the cable was too short.

Speaking of cables, they may cost you a bundle on a PS3. It comes with a new-style high-definition connector, called an HDMI jack, that provides the best video on a high-definition TV. But it lacks an HDMI cable, an accessory that can easily cost $100.

For mainstream users, who lack the skill or patience or interest for complex videogames, the Wii is the way to go. For hard-core gamers, the PS3 will be the one you want, but only if you are willing to part with a lot of money.

Write to MossbergSolution@wsj.com

This year, that tower of babble is higher than ever, as new terms have come into being, and old ones have come to the fore. So, here’s a quick glossary of some of the current techno terms you may encounter when shopping for a computer, television, digital camera or cellphone this holiday season.

Aero: This is the graphical user interface that’s a key part of Microsoft’s new Windows Vista operating system, due out around Jan. 30. If you want to get the full benefit of Vista, make sure any Windows PC you buy this season is capable of running Aero. Many are not.

Antiblur: Also known as antishake or image stabilization, this is a crucial feature of digital cameras today. Because few cameras have optical viewfinders, users tend to hold them at arm’s length to frame the shot on the LCD screen. This increases the likelihood of shaking the camera. An anti-blur feature can correct that. The best antiblur technology is optical. Digital versions are less effective.

Draft N: This is a new, faster, longer-range version of the popular Wi-Fi wireless networking system, and many new Wi-Fi products are built to comply with it. It succeeds the common “G” flavor of Wi-Fi. But, there’s a catch. As the name implies, this technology is based on a draft of the forthcoming new Wi-Fi standard, to be called “N.” And the final standard could be different enough to make Draft N gear outdated in 12 to 18 months.

Dual Boot: A computer that is configured to boot, or to start up, in two different operating systems, depending on which the user chooses at any one time. The most important example of this currently is on Apple’s Macintosh computers, which now can be set up to run either the Mac operating system or Microsoft Windows using Apple’s free dual-boot software, called Boot Camp.

Dual Core: A type of microprocessor — the brain that runs a computer — which packs the equivalent of two processors into a single chip. The best known dual-core processors in consumer computers are Intel’s Core 2 Duo and Core Duo, but rival AMD also makes them. They are a good bet for most people.

Flash Player: A small-capacity digital music player, like Apple’s iPod Nano and Shuffle. These players use flash memory, a type of memory chip that behaves like a small hard disk to store music, photos and videos. Larger players, such as the full-size iPod and the new Microsoft Zune, use actual hard disks, like the ones in computers. Flash memory is also what’s inside the small memory cards used in digital cameras.

HDMI: This acronym, for High-Definition Multimedia Interface, describes a new kind of cable for hooking high-definition TVs to things like cable boxes and DVD players. It provides a high-quality digital feed, and combines both audio and video signals via a single connection. When shopping for an HDTV, make sure it has HDMI connectors on the back.

HSDPA: An awkward name for a new high-speed cellphone network being deployed in the U.S. by Cingular Wireless. Its full name is High Speed Downlink Packet Access, and it’s intended to compete with successful high-speed networks from Verizon and Sprint called EVDO, or Evolution Data Only. All of these new networks allow Internet access at about the speed of a slow home DSL line, which is a big boost for cellphones. If you care about email and Internet access on a phone, and you are using Cingular, get a phone that can handle HSDPA.

Quad Band: A cellphone that handles all four bands, or frequencies, used in various countries by wireless phone companies adhering to a world-wide standard called GSM. Examples are Cingular and T-Mobile in the U.S., and Vodafone and Orange in Europe. A quad-band phone can be used on any GSM network anywhere, so if you travel overseas a lot, you may want one.

RAW: A file format for digital photographs that is uncompressed and largely unmodified by the camera’s chips, and therefore includes every detail of the color and image. It is prized by professional photographers and serious amateurs, who look for cameras and photo software that can handle the RAW format. But it produces enormous files, so most users should ignore it and stick with the very good, very common compressed photo format, called JPEG or JPG.

Shared Memory: A computer configuration in which the video circuitry lacks its own dedicated memory and must share, or drain off, a portion of the computer’s main memory. This is common in lower-price computers. It’s fine, but it reduces the amount of memory available to the nonvideo functions of the computer, so you may want to add extra memory to a PC of this type.

WAN: Any wide-area network, such as a cellphone network, that can be used to send and receive data. It is distinguished from a LAN, or local area network, such as the wired and wireless networks deployed inside a business or home. Some computer makers use the term for the built-in cellphone modems in their laptops.

Good luck with your gift shopping. Don’t get trapped in the tower of babble.

Email me at mossberg@wsj.com.

Unfortunately, shopping for a television set is much, much harder than it used to be. The TV aisles in your local electronics store are like exotic galleries packed with confusing acronyms — LCD, HDTV, DLP — and staffed by clerks who often are either clueless, or so geeky, that they can’t help much. This is not a great situation when you’re spending thousands of dollars on a TV, not the hundreds people used to spend.

So, here’s a rough, quick guide to buying a television this holiday season. Our aim is to provide a very basic cheat sheet so you can at least wade through the basics and talk to the salespeople intelligently. For greater detail, we suggest buying one of those glossy magazines that covers new TVs in depth. Even if you don’t actually purchase the set at a store and instead opt to buy it online, we suggest visiting the store to see the TV so that you can judge its performance in person.

There are two basic types of big-screen TVs — flat panels, where much of the technology that creates the image is actually embedded in the glass screen itself; and projection sets, also called microdisplay sets, where the front screen is just a sheet of plastic and the key technology that creates the image is in the back of the set.

42″ Samsung HP-R4252 Plasma TV. Price: $3,499.99. For more info: www.samsung.com.

Within these two broad categories, competing technologies are slugging it out. There are two main types of flat-panel sets — LCD and plasma — and three main types of projection sets. Most new TVs are “digital,” meaning they can deal directly with the computerlike signals produced by newer TV transmissions. Older sets are considered “analog,” and were designed for older TV transmissions. Digital sets can display analog TV signals, but not always very well. All U.S. TV transmissions are due to convert to digital signals in the next few years.

HDTV versus ED and SD

Many big-screen TVs are capable of receiving high-definition television signals, or HDTV — the most detailed, and best-looking, television available. But some cheaper digital models can only display lesser-quality pictures called Enhanced Definition, or ED. Others are stuck at standard definition, or SD, which is even worse.

So, just because you have a big-screen, digital TV, that doesn’t mean it’s an HDTV. Make sure any set you choose can handle HD signals. Also, many HD sets don’t actually contain an HD receiver, or tuner — the component that actually pulls in the HD programming. They are merely “HD-ready,” meaning they can display HDTV if you connect them to an HD receiver, like a cable or satellite set-top box that is able to receive HD signals. Others have an HD receiver built in, though it’s usually limited to over-the-air HD broadcasts, which require an antenna, and can’t pick up cable or satellite transmissions.

Flat Panel Screens — LCD and Plasma

LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and plasma screens allow for large TVs that are very thin. If aesthetics are your biggest concern and you’re interested in buying a TV that can be attached to a wall, you should buy one of these two types of screens. They also offer some of the best-quality pictures available.

The actual technology in these two screens is quite different. LCD TVs are like the screens on laptops or flat-panel computer monitors. They work by passing current through tiny liquid crystals. Plasma TVs work by stimulating a captive gas with an electrical charge.

45″ Sharp AQUOS LCD TV, LC-GD7U. Price: $5,499.99. For more info: www.sharpusa.com

Both technologies are rapidly becoming cheaper, but they are still mainly distinguished by how much they cost at certain sizes. LCD TVs are a bit thinner and much lighter than plasmas, but, at large-screen sizes, they are prohibitively expensive. By contrast, plasmas aren’t efficient to make at small-screen sizes.

So, for people with typical budgets this holiday season, the only affordable flat-panel TVs today more than 40 inches in size will almost certainly be plasmas. Buyers of flat-panel TVs under 40 inches will very likely wind up with an LCD.

In general, both technologies deliver vivid, intense pictures. There are differences, but these have been narrowing, as the competition drives improvements in both camps. For instance, plasmas were long superior in viewing angle — the ability to see the picture well from the side — but some LCDs have caught up and even passed plasmas on this score.

Early plasmas had a risk of “burn-in,” a situation where a logo or fixed text might remain visible even after you change channels. But this has been almost eliminated in new sets. Early LCDs showed ghosting during fast-action shots, but, again, this has been greatly eased in newer sets.

TV geeks will see differences among the two technologies in areas such as contrast, color saturation and brightness. But these things vary among manufacturers and models, and most viewers won’t notice fine distinctions. The best way to choose is to go to a store and compare with your own eyes, without worrying about techie jargon.

These two types of TVs will definitely set you back; LCDs come in prices ranging from $450 for 13 inches to $5,500 for 46-inchers to $21,000 for a 65-inch set. Plasmas go for about $2,200 for a 42-inch set and $12,000 for a 63-inch plasma screen. Yes, we’re still just talking about televisions here.

Projection TVs

If you’re shocked by the prices of the LCD and plasma sets, you might find projection televisions a little more your speed. They tend to cost less than the flat-panel models, but still deliver a handsome picture.

These sets aren’t nearly as thin as the flat panels, because they need depth internally to project the image they create in the back of the set. But if you don’t mind sacrificing aesthetics, you’ll find some good options in this grouping.

Projection TVs can be divided into three main categories: CRT (cathode ray tube) rear projection; LCD rear projection; and DLP (Digital Light Projection) rear projection. The first two are also called “microdisplays,” because they use tiny display chips to create the image in the rear of the set.

50″ Samsung HL-R5087W DLP Rear Projection TV. Price: $3,699.99. For more info: www.samsung.com.

CRT sets use the oldest and least advanced of the projection technologies, though they still offer good color and sharp pictures. Their screens range from about 42 to 65 inches, but their cabinets are notably deeper than the other types of projection sets, taking up a lot of space. They are, however, the least expensive of the projection TVs, costing about $1,800 for a 51-inch CRT.

LCD rear projection uses a rather slim cabinet; for example, a 55-inch screen only has a 20-inch deep cabinet. They range in size from about 42 to 62 inches. These sets use tiny LCD screens and project the picture they create onto the large, front screen. A 55-inch LCD rear-projection set will run you about $3,000.

DLP rear projection comes in screens measuring 42 inches and up while still boasting relatively shallow cabinet sizes. For example, a 61-inch DLP can have a cabinet of 19 inches. This technology uses a chip packed with tiny mirrors to create and project a TV picture. It generally costs more than a CRT, but is still less expensive than a plasma or flat-panel LCD TV. The images produced on a DLP are noted for their sharp blacks and grayscales. We found a 50-inch DLP for $2,200.

More Confusion

Like computers and cellphones, digital TVs are improving rapidly, so that a cheap model on sale may use last year’s technology. Also, some regular old analog TV sets are being touted as “flat screen,” because they use a flat piece of glass to encase old technology. But they are not “flat-panel.”

The connectors on all these TVs can be horribly confusing. But you may want to get two new types of connectors — HDMI, which supposedly simplifies connecting components without any loss of quality; and CableCard, which allows you to get some, but not all, cable networks without a bulky set-top box.

Our best advice is to shop around, and to buy the set that matches your budget and looks good to you in the store. All the jargon and expert opinions in the world matter less than your own taste.

• Email: MossbergSolution@wsj.com