It's the 1950s, and TechMan Sr. walks into Bob's Appliances down the street to buy a TV. His choices are black and white (no color yet), a DuMont or an Emerson, and a cabinet of walnut, cherry or oak. Oh, and he can buy a motorized antenna so he doesn't have to climb on the roof to adjust it.

Flash forward to today.

TechMan walks into the Electronics Corral, the big box next to the mall, to buy a TV. Up sidles a salesman wearing the Electronics Corral uniform, a cowboy hat, boots, jeans and a Western shirt. His badge says "Cowboy Bob" (here, all the salesmen are cowboys).

Cowboy Bob starts asking rapid-fire questions. Here are the choices he presents:

Old standby CRT or thin-screen? If you pick CRT, it can't be made bigger than about 36 inches, but they're a bargain, and flat screens don't offer a big advantage over the traditional curved screen.

Size of screen? Anything from 5 inches on a tiny portable to 100 inches on a monster projection. Plasma screens are available up to 65 inches at last count, and LCDs right now top out at about 42 inches, although a few are slightly bigger, and bigger ones are on the way.

Resolution? Television pictures are made up of horizontal lines. CRTs have 480 lines. Thin screens can have 780 lines (780p) or 1,080 lines (called 1080p.) Of course, the more lines, the more expensive.

If you choose transmissive and thin-screen, the question is: LCD or plasma?

LCDs use the same technology used in laptop computer screens. They have made great leaps recently, so be careful about buying an older model. They have less glare but also less color accuracy, especially in the deep blacks. But that is getting better.

Plasma screens have the best range of viewing angles but can have glare problems. They tend to be slightly cheaper than other thin-screens.

Want projection? Front or rear?

True front projectors can create wall-sized pictures but need a dark room to look good. Rear projection microdisplays tend to have poorer viewing angles and color saturation but also are getting better fast.

If projection, LCD, DLP or LCoS? DLP uses microscopic mirrors and LCoS is both reflective and transmissive, using both LCDs and a reflective surface.

OK, you've made your choices. Ready to buy? Wait. You've chosen your screen; now you must choose your signal reception.

Digital or analog? By the year 2009, major broadcasters will cease broadcasting analog signals, although you can still use your old TV with a set-top converter box. Many TV stations already broadcast digitally.

So you go for digital. HDTV or not?

Although most people with sets equipped for HDTV receive high definition TV over cable or satellite, many broadcasters are beaming out HDTV signals. With an antenna and an HDTV tuner, you can get HDTV over the air. In fact, the quality of broadcast HDTV is better because it does not require the compression of cable or satellite.

TechMan tells Cowboy Bob, "Give me a thin-screen, 1080p. Let's see, I think 42 inches would be big enough. Make it an HDTV plasma."

Cowboy Bob asks, "What kind of sound do you want and do you want parental control or other features? How about the ability to use a cable card? What about HDMI inputs?"

TechMan's head is spinning. "Cowboy Bob," he says, "too many decisions. Just give me a DuMont with a cherry cabinet and rabbit ears."