It's no secret that Americans love their TVs, but any old TV will no longer suffice.High-definition TV is quickly becoming the standard, according to a Friday report from Nielsen. As of February 2009, more than a third of U.S. households had HDTVs--up from 19.3 percent in February 2008.

"Not since color TV was introduced more than 50 years ago has a new TV technology been so rapidly adopted," according to a Nielsen blog post.

Nielsen broke out its data by race, finding that Asian households were mostly likely to have HDTVs, at 41.8 percent, while African Americans were least likely, at 25.9 percent. About 34.3 percent of white households have HD, and 32 percent of Hispanic homes use the technology.

But lest you think that the streets will be littered with standard TV sets, Nielsen said that most people are simply relocating the older sets to bedrooms or other rooms to make room for their shiny new HDTV playthings in the living room.

"It's clear that despite the current economic climate, HD remains on course to become the benchmark in TV viewing," Steve McGowan, a senior vice president at Nielsen, said in a statement. "As prices of HDTVs continue to fall--a trend that might accelerate in the current environment--and circumstances such as the digital transition create new opportunities to promote the sets and programming, HDTV will continue to gain a greater foothold in U.S. television homes."