Peter Pachal

You've gotta wonder what Freud would say about all these TV makers trying to outdo each other with the biggest screen. Then again, you also have to admit that an 80-inch plasma TV is never just an 80-inch plasma TV - not when it's the biggest you can get. Taking plasma into the 80s is the (holy crap!) $150,000 Samsung HP-R8082, whose screen has 1,920 x 1,080 pixels.

NUMBERS GAME The hot spec on HDTVs this year is 1080p resolution, and the Sharp Aquos LC-37D90U 37-inch LCD joins the crowd with a 1,920 x 1,080-pixel screen and a 1080p input. That means it will not only show every last detail of a 1080i HD signal, but that the display is pretty much future-proof - until they start broadcasting holograms.

ROOM WITH A CLUE The downside of having an entertainment room is that it demotes your other rooms' status. But not if you set up a multiroom system, and Sonance's C4630SE can spread the joy to six other areas in your house.