When you have little or no floor space for a big-screen TV, then it's time to turn to the latest video display technology: flat panel displays. These displays, utilizing either LCD or plasma technologies, are thin enough to hang on a wall -- and present a full high-definition picture.

Flat panel displays are so thin because they contain no picture tubes or projection devices. Plasma displays contain glass, gas, and electrodes in a thin sandwich; LCD displays, like the ones used in laptop PCs, are made from millions of tiny liquid crystals, sandwiched between thin layers of glass or plastic.