New Televisions for the New-Home Set

A half-century or so ago, the choice in televisions was limited. Only black-and-white sets were available, and the largest screens were 24 inches. The set was encased in its own cabinetry and nestled among the rest of the furniture in the living room.

How things have changed. Today, a homeowner who wants to purchase a television faces mind-boggling choices.

There are different types of televisions, an enormous range in screen size, and nuances in picture quality and resolution to satisfy the most persnickety movie buff or the sports nut who wants to watch instant replay with minimal blurring. And there's a price to fit almost every homeowner's budget.

The old-style set, called a cathode ray tube, or CRT, is more compact than it was 50 years ago, but relative to the newer sets, it's heavy and bulky. It still occupies floor space, either on a table or in a sizable armoire.

A liquid-crystal diode television, usually called an LCD, and a plasma set are, by comparison, extremely compact. With circuitry tucked behind the screen and a depth of about 6 inches, they can be hung on the wall like art. Screen sizes can range from 7 inches to 60 inches.

A rear-projection set is bulky and big, but it's the most affordable option if you have your heart set on a 61-inch screen.

If you're building a house, a critical difference between the old and new televisions is the wiring. It can be concealed behind the walls if you plan ahead and tell your builder where to put your cable outlets.

Where might you want a television in your new house? A recent interview with Dave Wilson, a home technology integrator in Orlando, suggests that there's a set for every household activity. Though you could have one in every room, some locations are more sensible than others.

For example, you may be spending a fair amount of time in the laundry room, especially if you have young children or do laundry every day. A television can be a welcome diversion as you sort loads and fold clean clothes, and, most of all, as you iron (surely the most odious chore of them all). As most laundry rooms are compact spaces, Wilson recommends a wall-mounted, 15-inch LCD.

Another spot you might not have considered is the master bathroom. Wilson's clients often want one there so they can catch the news and weather as they start their day. In the past, he rarely did it because of the challenges and cost involved in trying to install one of the old-style clunkers -- you had to steal space from an adjoining room to create a niche big enough to house the TV.

With the new, compact, wall-mounted sets, however, you can put one almost anywhere in a bathroom, including behind a mirror, Wilson said. The decision for today's homeowners is how many sets in your master bathroom and where.

In some bathrooms, one set will suffice because you can see it from both vanities and the tub. But Wilson said it's not uncommon to install three because the vanities are quite separate and the tub is in its own alcove. To avoid cacophony when both spouses get ready for work at the same time, they have to agree on the station, he added. The set by the tub could be watched during a relaxing soak on the weekend or at the end of a workday. Maybe no one would watch an entire movie, but it's a nice place to watch the evening news or perhaps one show, Wilson said. He uses a 15-inch LCD in the vanity area. For the tub area, many homeowners want a bigger screen, and he's installed LCDs as large as 46 inches.