It's big, it's back, and the results are—well, pretty similar to last year's RPTV Face Off, actually. What was surprising, though, was how much closer the competitors were in this year's quasi-annual Face Off compared with last year's. When watching HD, most of the panelists said they wouldn't be too disappointed with having any of these TVs in their living rooms. Of course, by the time we had gotten to watching HD, several of the sets had fallen well behind.

As editors of Home Theater, everyone asks us questions about the consumer electronics business. This is fine—it's our duty to help those who may not have the time to spend all day playing around with really cool gear. Some questions are easy, like "How do I hook this up?" or "What does anamorphic mean?" Unfortunately, the one question we get all the time is not as simple to answer: What gear should I buy?