My eyes have seen the glory of the coming of HDTV.

Though about 8 million TV sets capable of displaying the superior images produced by high-definition technology have been sold, according to the Consumer Electronics Association, my HDTV viewing has been limited to prolonged visits to home theater merchandisers.

At Tweeter, I stood transfixed before a Pioneer Elite flat plasma screen showing Game 1 of the Philadelphia Flyers-Tampa Bay Lightning series, and I don’t even much care for hockey.

But for all its superiority over regular TV, HDTV isn’t perfect. Don’t buy an HD set until you read these warnings.

Warning No. 1:

You can drive yourself nuts trying to decide which type of high-definition TV to buy. All have their strengths and weaknesses.

There are so-called “flat panel” TVs known as plasma and LCD TVs. They can hang on the wall, they look cool and they’re expensive.

And there is a new breed of projection televisions known as “micro display” TVs that come in cabinets that aren’t as bulky as traditional rear-projection cabinets.

Picture-tube TVs, also known as “direct view” TVs, are among the least-expensive high-definition sets – at about $800 to $2,500 – but also among the smallest. The largest is a Sony 40-inch model that’s not widescreen like most high-definition sets. It costs $2,500. The largest widescreen tube televisions are 34 inches.

The upside to tube, TV experts agree, is that it still produces the best picture of all the technologies. The downside is the biggest tube sets are heavy at 200 pounds or more and bulky at about 2 feet deep.

Rear projection sets are less expensive, inch for inch, than many tube TVs and the screen sizes can be made up to 82 inches, according to the electronics association. But the picture quality suffers in bright rooms. And with sunlight streaming in, forget it.

Micro-display projection TVs look better in bright light than traditional projection TVs and they look better when you move from side to side and up and down. They aren’t as bulky as traditional projection televisions because their cabinets are about half as deep.

The alphabet soup of micro-display sets includes technologies called LCD – not to be confused with LCD flat panel TVs – as well as DLP and LCOS. They all cost more money inch for inch than traditional projection televisions.

Warning No. 2:

Be aware that not all plasma TVs are high definition. Non-HD plasma sets are commonly called “EDTV” for “enhanced definition” and are a few thousand dollars less than comparably sized high-definition models. With a clarity level somewhere between DVD and true high definition, they’re not anything to scoff at. But if you have your heart set on high definition, they may disappoint.

Warning No. 3:

If you buy a super-expensive plasma HDTV now, you may rue the decision at Christmastime. Several TV experts predict prices will drop, perhaps in the thousands of dollars on the more expensive sets, by next holiday season.

Warning No. 4:

HDTV signals may not be available from a cable system in your area. HDTV is available through cable systems and satellite television services, including DirecTV and Dish Network. You can also get HDTV signals over the air with an old-fashioned antenna.

Warning No. 5:

If you get HDTV from a cable or satellite provider, it will cost you.

Not only do you pay a premium for a high-definition set, you also pay extra for the high-definition programming.

Warning No. 6:

Not every program on some high-definition channels is telecast in high definition. Which leads us to …

Warning No. 7:

When you watch a non-HD show on an HDTV, the picture quality could look worse than it would on a regular television. I was enjoying yet another hockey game in high definition recently at Tweeter on a 60-inch Sony Grand Wega LCD projection TV ($5,500). I wanted to know what DVD, which is not a high-definition technology, would look like on the set. The salesman popped in “Finding Nemo.”

The meant-to-be vibrant colors looked pale and the edges of the images looked fuzzy instead of sharp. A cable news channel looked worse. The “Finding Nemo” DVD and cable TV looks much better on my old-fashioned TV at home.

Warning No. 8:

The widescreen shape of most high-definition TVs has only partially solved the problem of those annoying dark bars that are on the top and bottom of your TV screen for some programs.

On a widescreen, bars appear on the right and left side of the screen for all the shows past and present produced to fit regular TV screens.

Warning No. 9:

If one image is left on your screen, or part of your screen, for too long, it could “burn in” and leave a mark.

Warning No. 10:

Plasmas are expensive to mount on a wall, which is their raison d’etre.

Figure on about $1,000 in addition to the cost of the TV, if done professionally.

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Sets that can display HDTV:

-Tube TV

Description: The oldest TV technology.

Pros: Still the best-looking picture, dependable, relatively inexpensive. Top of the line Sony 34-inch goes for $2,500 but you can get 30-inch wide screens for about $1,000.

Cons: Largest screen size is only 40 inches; bigger sets are heavy, deep and difficult to move or place in cabinets.

Technology: Electron beams create a picture when they hit phosphors coating the front of the cathode ray tube.

-Cathode Ray Tube or “Traditional” Rear Projection TV

Description: Tried and true technology that doesn’t whip up the excitement flat TVs do. Bulkier – many are about two feet deep – than newer, thinner projection TVs that don’t use tubes.

Pros: Relatively inexpensive. Widescreen sets over 50 inches are available for less than $2,000 from several manufacturers.

Cons: Picture fades in a bright room and when the viewer watches on an angle or even when sitting on the floor.

Technology: Image originates in a cathode ray and is projected onto a larger screen.

-Slimmer Rear Projection TV

Description: Starting at about 15 inches deep, not as bulky as traditional, tube-based projection TVs.

Pros: Picture looks crisp in brighter light and at wider angles than with traditional projection TVs.

Cons: More expensive than traditional projection TVs. A 42-inch Sony is $2,800.

Technology: Instead of a tube, these TVs take images created with liquid crystal display and other technologies and project them onto the big screen.

-Flat Panel TVs

Description: As thin as 4 inches, they can hang on the wall.

Pros: Sleek; picture looks bright from various angles and heights.

Cons: Very expensive. A 42-inch Sony plasma and a 37-inch Sharp LCD go for about $6,000 each. Larger, high end plasma sets can sell for well over $10,000; LCD sets don’t get much bigger than the 37-inch Sharp. Some manufacturers sell “Enchanced Definition” for thousands of dollars less but they do not offer a high-definition quality picture.

Technology: There are two kinds. Plasma sets use neon and xenon gas and an grid of electrodes to produce a picture, LCD uses liquid crystals.

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(c) 2004, The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.)

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Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

AP-NY-06-02-04 0620EDT