I just got my Samsung hlp5063 HD TV, I don't know the best way to go for HD, in fact I don't know much about it at all, I NEED the NFL sunday ticket, but other than that are some, all, none, of the programs in HD format. Am I better off getting and HD tuner??? Any thoughts, I am clueless. Perfect example of buying on impulse, then saying "what do I do now" HD antena?? thoughts appreciated. Jon

Hi Jon,

I'm generations behind you on this topic, but I'm sure somebody smart will be along.

I understand that DirecTV has an (expensive) Tivo box that will receive and record HD. Also, rival sattelite company Voom claims to have the most HD offerings. Your local cable company may have HD offerings, also.

Finally, AntennaWeb is a good resource, especially for the concept of whether getting HD off-the-air in your location is a realistic proposition.

Good luck! Let us know how things work out!

I would think the first thing to do is find out which local stations are broadcasting in HD, and what HD services your local cable company offers.

HDTV ON The Air (You'll find other good info at this web site also)

Then, if you already have Directv, examine what they have to offer.
DIRECTV HD

I would think they offer more than you could get off the air.

If you're really HD crazy check out Voom

An alternative might be WOW Cable TV provider if it's offered in your area.

Agree w/ the previous posts. There are several ways to get into HDTV, you just have to be "prepared" cause it's not straightforward. You'll probably have to do more research than you do w/ the Axiom purchase!

Check the link above to see which Over the Air (OTA) channels you get for free. Do that in combination w/ antennaweb.org to make sure that you're even in the range w/ an antenna. What types of programs do you watch? You'd need to check the respective networks to see if those transmit in HD, not all shows are in HD. AND, not all HD is the same format/ratio/quality/etc.

You can get subscriber HD from DirecTV, VOOM, various cable vendors, etc. Voom seems OK, they have more content, but it's still a small company. Cable vendors can probably get you an HD box for cheap.

What do I have? As of last Thu, I have the "god box", HD DirecTivo. I CANNOT live w/o Tivo, so this was a no brainer for me. Any Tivo user will attest to this. I'd argue that Tivo users are more fanatic than Axiom users. Kinda reminds me of the early Apple Mac days... $$$ yes, but I got a little bit off on sale at Magnolia. There are a handful of HD DirecTV channels, but there's a lot of OTA in the SF Bay Area. The Olympics have been quite good, 6' under was also nice. Anything on HDNet is spectacular (yes, bikini destinations too...), as well as DiscoveryHD. More channels to be added, schedule is TBD. Upcoming is supposedly NBC, Bravo, and Fox.

If you don't watch a lot of the HD channels, it may not be worth it for you. If you want it for sports, you'll definitely appreciate it. I've watched soccer (which I hate) only because HDNet's feed is so clear. Ditto for Formula I racing. However, I can't imagine NOT having DirecTivo for football, or any sports for that matter. How can you forward through all the commercials? Plus, on game day, the ability to flip between 2 games, while pausing as well, is unreal.

BTW, my HD Tivo is connected via DVI to my Panasonic 42" EDTV plasma. HD is still stunning even if it's not a full HD display.

That's my 2 cents...

You can get more info at avsforums.com too.

jon - welcome. If you have surfaced after diving into the pool, help is on the way

If you want HD, you WILL need a receiver to receive it. Options:
1) DirecTV or Dish network. Both have HD selections along with a gang of other channels. Check both of them out. I believe they each have a package that includes an HD receiver.

2) VOOM. I read not so Customer oriented stories about them at the AVS Forum (a place you should really spend some time for research)

3) Cable company.

4) Antenna.

I've listed these options in the order I would prefer . Have tried them all except VOOM and I love my DirecTv. If there is no HD receiver available with any of the options, you will need to buy one. Figure $300-$700 depending on bells & whistles.

Also, you can simply get a receiver, or you can get a receiver / TIVO combo so you can record some shows.

Also, as a newbie, avoid the dreaded "what if" and get what makes you happy. Upgraditis is a very expensive itch to scratch.

Good luck with it and post questions as you need to. All of us started somewhere with this madness and the folks here have a rich tradition of overachieving at spending other people's money.

Great info guys, I have learned quite abit here, your input is invalueble, that's cool. I can't handle trying to communicate with the 18 yr. old "best buy" mentality. I have to lean to Direct TV as a football fanatic, and certain entertaning expectations people have come to EXPECT from me, the Sunday ticket is the only way one it comes to NFL, they have the exclusive rights - very smart on their behalf. What kind of costs did you encounter with direct TV HD/Tivo packages/promotions?? Sundays here are Bud, grillin, and football, and a "lil" racing mixed in, but football takes priority!!

You can check the tivocommunity.com as well.

A few months ago, you could "convince" the DirecTV retention dept to give your the $399 HD package (triple LNB, install, HD receiver) for $99. You had to have at least 2 yrs of service. I had less than that but they gave me it for $199. You have to use the rentention dept and some good convincing w/ the CSR. I gave the argument of cable being available for cheaper, which is true. Don't know if this still works. Recently, I have heard somepeople being able to get a 6 month credit on several premium channels. YMMV.

BTW, you won't find the HD Tivo on sale for much. It's been hard to come by, only now is the stockpile filling back up.

You can also go the SD DirecTivo route, I've seen them as cheap as $49, even thru DirecTV. Or troll ableshopper.com for periodic deals.

btw, I've read recently that DirecTV's exclusive broadcast rights to NFL Sunday Ticket goes through 2005, and that their satellite exclusive rights (meaning excluding cable) run through 2007. I would expect the cable companies to bid very agressively on Sunday Ticket for post-2005.

Separately, Comcast has reached an agreement with NFL Networks to carry the NFL Network. Football 24x7x365...what a country.

Both are good developments if you are a cable customer (like me) or an NFL owner (not me).

Go Pats!

Just noticed that I've officially made 'addict'. Keep in mind this is small, 40 post addict status and not major, 300+ post addict...therefore I find it perfectly acceptable to continue to live in a state of denial.

one slight snag in the Hidef game is Tivo...I think another poster mentioned there are some forth coming options in the DirectTV world, but the boxes will be $$$. Comcast offer a pretty good deal for hidef boxe... i think it is 5 dollars extra than the regular ones.

I actually reverted back to the regular box because i did the tivo thing. UFB. Tivo, REALLY is what everyone claims. It changes the whole television watching paradigm. I do miss ESPNHD,but I'm adjusting back ... the game never ends. you made the right investment... HD will be on just about all main broadcast in the next couple years. Good luck with your decision. But, taake a look at Tivo!!

Why did you have to switch back to regular broadcast from HD after having bought a TiVO? I know that the HD signals are copyprotected so that you wouldn't be able to record HD channels, but weren't you still able to get standard broadcast channels?

Are you a DirecTV user or a cable user?

The reason for the questions is that I am a Comcast customer, have HD, and am thinking about getting a TiVO box as well. Can't see getting rid of HD at this point though. HD was a big reason my wife went along with the idea of replacing the TV in the first place.

I am not an expert, but when I got home with the tivo box... I started to integrate it into my setup. The HD comcast cable box I have use RGB component outs to the tv monitor. And, while it has other options (e.g., svidio -- comcast doesn't have all these extra component working with thier current firmware... e.g., the USB ports are not live etc...until they rev these boxes to turn on all this functionalilty... Of course, this could of been my error or a purposeful attempt at comcast to wait until end of year when they offer their own DVR application...inside thier boxes...

I have Hi-def in my basement where my axioms are and so when it comes time to see the terps beat Duke in Hidef -- I'll be down there. so, it didn't hurt too bad.

Tivo is really nice... I've caught up with TNG which I haven't been able to watch for close to a year... it's fun -- I'm getting all the Olympics I want and I'm fast forwarding through all the commercials. It's worth the twelve bucks a month -- NO doubt. I hope I didn't confuse you more... like I said, im no expert. I almost got the S-video working, but the menu interfaces didn't work properly. Then you have the 3 secound audio synch to worry about if you'rre going through a AV reciever. The fun never ends!!!!

Here is Tivo's official quote, "A TiVo Digital Video Recorder (DVR) is designed to support standard definition television broadcasts. It will not support High Definition broadcasts. It is possible to connect your DVR to a High Definition television, and to some High Definition cable boxes or satellite receivers. However, the DVR will only record programs from standard definition channels, and all recordings will be displayed in standard definition. For more information on support for HDTV, please see When Will TiVo Support HDTV?"

notice the words, "some hi-def cable boxes" It is possible to go over to your local comcast outlet and talk to a tech and see if the S-Video outs will work -- because Tivo does have S-vidio inputs...mine, unfortunately didn't work.

One other option might be to use an RF splitter split with your coax cable and duplicate source from your cable box...one to the TV monitor, and one to the tivo box. But now you'd be getting into area that might make the setup unfriendly for your wife, because you'd have to change inputs at the TV side for each method of watching.

I was hoping to get this because of football starting soon. But it was impossible because of the mature trees on my property . So much for the NFL ticket . And I so much wanted to see my Miami dolphins run all over everyone this year............Oh wait I forgot they already started to fall apart before the season started.

Yeah? Well you oughta be a Browns fan. We fell apart about 8 years ago.

I use the S-Video out on my Comcast box so that looks like a good option for me. I have available S-Video connections on the TV and receiver as well.

Think I'll take the plunge into the DVR world as soon as I get a better read on the Comcast DVR boxes they are rolling out. I got a call from Comcast recently where they had their first generation DVR available (I think it's built right into the cable box so one less box to deal with). Unfortunately that one did not allow you to watch a different channel while the recording was taking place (who would want that?). The rep indicated their 2nd generation box is due out in a matter of months, which will provide that capability. I doubt their interface will be as slick as TiVO's, but it's unlikely that there would be a phone line to deal with.

Decisions, decisions...btw, thanks for the info

so the svidio works with HDef on your comcast box...be interested to hear if you can get it working with a tivo box. and, comcast has a way of delaying those promised items like DVR to stop people from committing to another technology... but, as you said they already have one. BTW, if you have a wireless network in your house for your computers -- you can use that for your Tivo link from the USB port via wireless card, thus ommitting the need to run a phone line over.

The record and watch feature requires the a coax splitter -- one to TV -- one to the DVR box... the fun never stops.

Dear Mr. Baggins -
I think Comcast rolls out new technology to selected markets before introducing them widespread. Guess this allows them to work out the bugs in order to avoid a flood of Cust Svc calls (or one of those "nasty adventures" as a certain hobbit might say).

Great info about the wireless network (I have one). How would I get my network's WEP key registered for the network card's IP address? I know how to get computers hooked up to my wireless network, but unless I remove the WEP protection I am unclear as to how I would get a TiVO box recognized. Does TiVO provide a software interface for this?

Thanks for your replies re: TiVO. It's really helping me along in the decision making process.

If you want Tivo-like features and HD, there are 2 options. The Hughes HD DirecTivo or Dish's 921 PVR. The Dish apparently has a lot of bugs, but if you read the Tivo forums, you may come to the same conclusion. Keep it in perspective, most people post on those boards when they have problems.

I have the HD Tivo and it's great to watch 6' under, olympics and movies time shifted.

I have a friend who works in the Comcast marketing group back east and even he said not to get the "rumored" Comcast DVR.

WEP... speaking of "nasty adventures"... it would seem that if you use different wireless adapter cards in your network not all will "auto encrypt" through a simple password... a major pain to have to manually enter the long encryption codes... seemed to have gotten worse after Cisco purchased Linksys...

re: Tivo. The adapter will probably be a dongle that hangs from the USB port on the TIVO box. The software is freely downloaded from the TIVO site to install on your computer. WEP is supported and configured from your TIVO menu console. It supports up to 128 encryption in either alpha or hexi. Hope this helps.

BTW, TIVO did such a great on their interface, my wife ( the techno-phobic), is showing me how to use it. A wonderful change in my life.

Good luck in your config. I hope you get both tivo and Hidef going...

BB