Mike Wood

It's only fitting that our video measurements be displayed in an obscure, almost-illegible triangle. Three-sided geometric shapes have always been somewhat mysterious objects, implying power or fear. Our measurements can do both. In this, our second attempt to explain to you, our faithful readers, what the ancillary boxes labeled "HT Labs Measures" mean, we'll discuss what our detractors call the triangle of death, why we use it in our display measurements, and what it means to you.

Unless you're looking at a powered speaker (with built-in amplification), the power-handling rating (which is often incorrectly referred to as the number of watts a speaker has) will tell you little about how the speaker integrates into your system, let alone how it sounds. This isn't to say that the spec is useless. After all, some people like to play music really loud—I'm talking head-near-the-speaker-stack-at-a-rock-concert loud. In those rare cases, this specification may be useful. However, for the rest of us, this is probably the least necessary information, even though it's usually the most common question we get about speakers.

In this age of high-definition/digital television, it might seem odd for us to be reviewing NTSC (aka analog) displays. After all, digital television (DTV) and its subgroup, high-definition television (HDTV), are the way of the future, destined to replace our analog NTSC system. However, even if you consider the current crop of digital programming adequate enough to warrant purchasing one of the newer, more-advanced ATSC (aka digital) displays, they're still fairly expensive. If you're looking to spend more than $3,000 on a display, we strongly suggest that you consider DTV or DTV-ready products. However, for those of us who didn't cash in our Internet stock options in time, there are some good deals to be had on big TVs, and, as usual, Home Theater is here to point you in the right direction.

Digital, digital, digital. The generic term for the numerical representation of sounds and images is definitely the buzzword for the new millennium. Samsung, a relative newcomer to the U.S. rear-projection market, has taken that buzzword to heart and taken a bold step forward, creating an almost all-digital chassis for their rear-projection displays.