I’m loving this great little list of 5 Things to Do After Buying an HDTV, it makes a lot of sense. The calibration info seems especially useful. And who knew about Category 2 HDMI cables?
[Note also the bonus point from the comments – Burn it In! That little gem on its own is worth its weight in gold.]
Most TVs offer a wide assortment of inputs including composite video and audio that use yellow, red and white RCA connectors and provide the lowest quality signal and no HD. S-Video connectors that use round black connectors, are a little better, but still no HD. Component hook ups use 3 video and 2 audio RCA connectors, are still analog, but will get you HD and are the next best thing to HDMI.