Much like the conventional approach to driving a car and our understanding of how the Internal Combustion Engine works (or not depending on your point of view) very few people understand entirely what happens behind the screen of a TV or do they? The word television is derived from a mixed usage of Greek and Latin roots meaning in literary terms �far sight� and being derived from the Greek term �tele� meaning �far� and the Latin �vision� meaning �sight� or �to view in the first person�.

As in most industries, along with technological development and innovation has arisen a large range of technical descriptions and phrases that if the truth be known confuses most people.

Perhaps it would be best now to move on to the latest developments within the industry and concentrate our coverage upon digital television, what it actually means; formats, bandwidth and an explanation of the technical jargon and terminology used.

How would we define exactly what Digital TV is? Digital television is much more flexible and efficient than conventional analogue television and digital signals provide a much clearer picture, much better sound quality and a far greater choice and availability of programming.

So what do all of the terms surrounding Digital TV mean? Let us look at this whilst analysing one of the newer LCD TV�s available.

The LCD TV that we shall use for our illustrative purposes here is the Hitachi 32LD9700 LCD TV.

It is essential that we are familiar with the following key items of information.

The first item we need to consider is the Screen Resolution of the TV In this case it refers to the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed.

Whether the TV is Hi-Definition Ready would be the next thing to look at. By Hi Definition Ready we mean that is the TV is ready and suitable to take advantage of the latest Hi Definition TV pictures that more and more programmes are being broadcast in.

We would need to look next at what types of connectors are used to connect the various peripherals that go to make the entire Digital Package work.

We are referring here to the exact nature and number of the Scarts Sockets and Plugs in use. Here the definition of SCART refers to �Syndicat francais des Constructeurs d�Appareils Radio et Television (SCART).

The final item we would look at would be what is the nature and number of the High-Definition Multimedia Interfaces (HDMI) being used. The High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a licensable audio/video connector interface for transmitting uncompressed digital streams between digital audio/video sources such as set-top box, HD DVD Player etc.

The 32LD9700 is a 32in LCD TV and the prices for these are around 1000 pounds sterling or 2000 US dollars. The resolution of the screen is 1366 X 768 and with regards to being HD Ready the answer is yes. The Hitachi has 3 (2 RGB) scarts and the type and number of Multimedia interfaces the 32LD9700 uses is HDMI and 2. The type of Tuner for this TV is Analogue and Digital and the Hitachi is available from a wide variety of outlets.

All these points being taken into consideration, how would we view the Hitachi 32LD9700?

The most obvious place to start with as far as TV's are concerned would be the picture quality and our score here would be 10, and closely tied in to the picture quality is the sound quality and our score for this would be 10. Taking a look at the number of relevant connections and their availability, our score would be 8. As far as overall features are concerned we would give it 10 and for ease of use and overall value for money we would give it, 10 and 10 respectively.

The overall verdict would be WOW what can you say but that this is one of those TV's that excel in almost every thing it is supposed to do. Described as a "Superb All-rounder", there is not much that this TV does not achieve. If you can get your hands on one of these then go for it.

Please bear in mind the prices that are quoted in this article and take note that they are there purely for illustration and though valid at the time of the writing of the article may vary from time to time and also depending on the time of year when you make your purchase.