The Christmas of the future will be different, but not in the way we might think. We may well still sprawl across the sofa, bloated from too many toasted turkey sandwiches, slightly dazed from alcohol abuse, flipping between The Italian Job and The Magnificent Seven. But boy will we do it in glorious, high-tech style.

Instead of having to focus on a square-ish cube in the corner of the room, viewers of the future will gaze upon a large, flat, gasplasma screen on the wall. The tinny speaker sound of today's televisions will be replaced by full stereo, the jerky VCR replay overtaken by smooth DVD reproduction, the shape elongated to wide-screen.

There will be no more World Wide Wait for Internet pages to load onto a small, separate computer screen, the family of the future will see the Web pages immediately, be able to look at video clips instantly. The telephones of today will also be replaced - by models that at last allow vision as well as sound.

Most people have been reading these futuristic fantasies for decades, and have become accustomed to placing them in the same category as Star Trek's teletransportation device - that is, it will be very handy when they actually invent it.

But this time it is different. This time, it has already started. True, large, flat-screen TVs are still running at more than £10,000, but widescreen TVs are down to £1,500, and falling.

"Widescreen is no longer a technology of the future, it's very much the present," says Mr John Ward of Philips Ireland. "In Japan you can no longer get a traditional four-by-three set, it's all widescreen. In France, there's also strong penetration. We're a bit behind."

Philips does not own the DVD format - all the major manufacturers have agreed the system and are producing their own players - but Mr Ward reckons the technology will sell itself. A disc is exactly the same size as a CD, but it can hold up to eight hours of wide screen, digital, home cinema video, with full Dolby sound.

"You can have subtitles, different languages on the disc, possibly different endings, different camera angles - the problem they are having is that the discs are so large they are trying to find different ways to make film more interactive than it is. You'll be able to go in and look at the director's notes and ending, or the studio's cut. You might put four endings on each disc," Mr Ward says.

The DVD system was launched about 18 months ago in the United States, and has proved very successful there. Manufacturers began their campaign in the Republic only a few months ago, but shops report good sales of players and discs to go with them.

"DVD has certainly taken off, and the range of films coming out for it has increased dramatically," says Mark Duffy of Peat's in Dublin.

From the new year, films will be available for rental at the video stores.

There is one problem; for the moment, you can't buy a DVD recorder. This suits the software companies and the film-makers - it makes illegal recording impossible - but retards the growth of the technology.

"If you have a digital copy of something, you have a perfect copy," says Mr Ward. "Until the hardware or software manufacturers have some way of protecting the likes of the Hollywood studios, they are not going to want to release discs which can be copied."

However, industry analysts say it will prove impossible to hold back the tide of demand for such recorders, and that by 2002 or 2003 there should be such products on the market.

In the meantime, there could be a VHS vs Betamax-style clash, between DVD and the familiar, older CD format. CD recorders are now available in the shops at around £299, and a blank CD costs £4. This allows people to make compilations of their favourite tracks, all in perfect digital quality.

The music industry believes that the main reason so many people were willing to abandon vinyl and tape for CD was the vastly improved sound quality. But there is no significant difference between listening to music on DVD and CD.

The advantage DVD has over CD, though, lies in the video capacity.

"We have DVDs here - for example Queen's Greatest Hits, which is their double album. The sound is perfect, just like a normal CD, but it has all their videos on it as well," Mr Duffy says.

At Sony Ireland, Ms Claire Ferron sees this syndrome across a broad range.

"Our strategy for the future is the convergence of audio-visual and IT products," she says.

Sony has already launched a laptop computer with a connection for mobile phone, she adds, and plans to use the same technology for mini-disc data that can then be edited on the screen.

Mr Duffy of Peat's can see the convergence happening already: "We have PC DVD drives and they connect up to your TV so you can watch it on your TV as well as on your PC monitor."

In the US, Philips will soon launch a Webaccess television.

"Your television could become the main focus of information within the household, whether it be Internet, the telephone, banking, entertainment through cinema or programmes or whatever," says Mr Ward.

Underpinning all this hardware will be more software. The dream of video on demand - as in "I want to see episode 87 of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, right now" - may be some years off. But digital multi-channel is already with us through Sky.

"You'll have an on-screen TV guide. You'll select whatever film you want to watch, pop your credit card in, and it will give you access to the programme," says Mr Duffy. "They'll probably run the films starting every quarter of an hour."

The trouble is, there may still be nothing better to watch than The Magnificent Seven.