Watching TV on your computer is not a new idea. In fact, companies have been bringing regular DTV to the desktop for over a year now (see <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?289">previous story</A>). But HDTV is another matter&mdash;the high-definition specification for digital television has been struggling to get out of the chute ever since its launch in November 1998. Several factors have slowed the emergence of HDTV, with the high prices of HDTV sets a deciding factor in most cases.

S<I>tar Wars</I> fans might prefer to watch <I>Episode 1&mdash;The Phantom Menace</I> on DVD, but they aren't saying "no" to the videotape version. More than 5 million copies of the VHS version were snapped up within 48 hours after the tape went on sale April 4, accounting for almost $100 million in retail sales. The 133-minute film, which debuted last year, reached #2 in all-time box-office statistics.

The march of progress comes at a price to the environment. Old computer monitors and television sets often wind up in landfills, where they can leak lead, cadmium, mercury, and other toxic chemicals into the groundwater. The federally mandated changeover to digital television, projected to be complete within the next six years, may exacerbate the problem as millions of consumers consign their old displays to the trash.

DVD is recognized as a mainstream consumer format at this point, and several of the recent Oscar-winning and -nominated films are already available for purchase in the digital format, with the majority of the others on their way.