HDTV: High-definition TV. Digital wide-screen technology with 16:9 aspect ratio. True HDTV displays have resolution of either 1080i (interlaced) or 720p (progressive scanning lines).

HDTV capable: Doesn’t have an HDTV tuner. It’s a perfectly fine set if you have cable or satellite service. But you’ll need a digital tuner and antenna to receive local stations over-the-air.

QAM: Cable TV tuner in some HDTV sets. To receive over-the-air pictures, you’ll need an ATSC digital tuner and antenna.

ATSC: A digital TV tuner. If the HDTV has an ATSC tuner, it can receive over-the-air signals with an antenna. You won’t need one if you get programming from cable.

SDTV: Standard-definition TV. It is about the same as analog TV (480i) without the noise or interference (”snow” or “ghosting”) of analog TV.

CRT: Cathode ray tube. The familiar heavy glass “picture tube” sets common in TVs for more than 50 years. Capable of superb color, but they’re large, heavy and limited to a maximum 40″ diagonal screen.

DLP: Digital light processing. TV projection technology developed by Texas Instruments. Rich colors and strong black images.

LCD: Liquid-crystal display. Technology used in flat-screen computer monitors and some flat-screen TVs. May have less-than-perfect blacks because light shines through the LCD panels to illuminate the image.

Plasma: Plasma technology provides vibrant colors and sharp images on a flat screen, which can be mounted directly on a wall.

EDTV: Enhanced-definition TV. Not true HDTV. It’s cheaper than HDTV and a better picture than standard-definition or analog TV. EDTV has 480-line progressive resolution (480p), about half the resolution of LCD and plasma screens.

HDMI: Single digital audio-video wire to connect to your cable box.

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