Brian was tired of his older relatives calling for help with the simple task of turning on the TV, so he made a flow chart to guide them. If the text is too small to read, you can enlarge the chart here. The relevant box you are trying to get to is this one.
I've been through this problem as both the younger tech whiz and the older person who can't see so well, and I can tell you that the main problem with modern TVs is too many options and too many buttons. Someone pushes the wrong button and an unfamiliar menu comes up. Pushing more buttons doesn't help, and can change settings you didn't want to change, and you don't know how to get out of it, much less fix what you screwed up. In my house, you have the added headache of a college student who comes in for the weekend, hooks up a laptop or a game console or a video player to the TV, and then leaves without putting things back the way they were. I solved that problem by watching TV in my office.
And don't get me started on the letterbox/no letterbox disagreement between spouses.