Which widescreen

It's possible to spend anything from less than £100 (#127) for a television to a staggering £13,000 (#16,507). Most peope are caught somewhere in between - usually at the lower end of that very wide scale and the big decision people are making now in their local electrical shop is whether to go for a widescreen TV or just stay with their squarish sets. The cost of widescreen sets has fallen dramatically in the last year. In the past, widescreen suffered due to the lack of transmissions in the format. The arrival of DVD and services like SKY Digital has made these sets highly desirable. A lot of BBC and Channel Four programmes are now made in the widescreen format.

Cutting edge

Technology is changing quickly so if you went and bought the latest, state-of-the-art television you would probably be at the cutting edge of technology for a very short time. Televisions have a system called PAL which was devised in the 1960s for broadcast TV. This includes the current generation of SKY digital and DVD players. PAL sets an upper limit on the amount of information (picture quality) that can be viewed. It was designed for 21" glass TVs, then the state-of-the-art. When you enlarge a PAL TV picture, you do not increase the amount of detail, you simply enlarge the fuzzy details. So the nice picture you view on your 21" becomes rather less satisfying at 42".

Flicker factor

Traditional TVs flicker because each frame is presented at a rate of 50 frames per second. In Ireland, we have become used to this from early childhood but Americans find that our TV has a objectionable flicker; they view their TV at 60 frames a second. If you're conscious of the flicker go for a TV that operates at 100 Hz instead of the more usual 50 Hz - although at present, trading up for that kind of technology is going to cost roughly twice the price.

PC v TV

While a state-of-the-art television may costs thousands of pounds, an all-singing, all-dancing PC will cost around £1,000 (#1,267). If it has all the right components it will play DVDs, CDs, and once the high-speed Internet connection is up and running, it will be able to play downloaded movies, all with a better picture quality than current televisions. It's this sort of convergence of technology that is increasingly blurring the lines between televisions and computers.

. . . v DVD

DVD is a mature technology that has become increasingly affordable. The image and sound quality together with widescreen viewing makes this the best medium for serious movie watchers. You should be seeing an ever increasing library of DVD titles in your local video rental store. For the future, watch out for recordable DVD machines which could replace VHS tapes altogether.

Small - but loud

Loudspeakers are getting ever smaller. They can be dotted around a room with just one big base unit hidden behind the sofa. These can be bought from computer stores.

Near cinema

If your room is large enough, instead of buying a television with a huge screen you can use a computer and LCD projector to play DVDs and have a near cinema experience. The performance of LCD projectors continues to dramatically improve even as the prices drop. For those who have the space, a 6 ft or larger screen is possible for less than the price of a 42" plasma at around £2,000 (#2,539). Coupled with a computer, suitably attired with TV tuner card and DVD, the results can be dramatic.

Plasma screen

The new 42" plasma screens are very expensive but will guarantee your social standing during the next World Cup. The major advantage is gained in size and weight. A conventional glass TV, at 42", would need a forklift to install and structural strengthening to your livingroom floor.

High-speed TV

Some day Irish homes will have high-speed Internet connections. This will allow the reception of digital TV on a house-by-house basis. Instead of driving down to the video shop to rent a video or DVD and then driving the next day to return it, you could simply access their Website and have your movie choice piped directly to your TV. It follows from this that TV stations would become Web-based themselves with their programme output listed as a menu choice of "video-on-demand" files. In one swoop, satellite, DVD, VHS could be obsolete. The question is when? There is no technical reason why this should not be happening now.

Charlie Clements is the MD of Rotten Row Productions Ltd in Celbridge, tel: 01 627 0154.

Emma Cullinan is editor of Select magazine