i subscribe regular cable, the cheap $12 cause i don’t watch TV much, it contains the main channels like nbc, abc, fox, cbs, etc + some local cable. 

sometimes when you watch sitcom like will n grace, scrubs, joey, at the beginning, it says that this can be viewed at HDTV where available, or something like that

my Q is let say you buy a HDTV ready TV.  so if u use that HDTV ready TV, will u be able to watch the sitcom in HDTV without using converter?  my understanding is ‘no’, but i might be wrong.  i hope i m wrong, so i can use any HDTV ready TV without subscribing to the service.  the cheapest subscription i see is $45 and i won’t pay additional $33 just to watch HDTV since with $12 one, i rarely turn on my TV…

personally i never watch HDTV before, ever. how is the quality compare to regular?

As far as I understand most HDTV ready means you need to buy another box. Someone told me that theirs is HDTV ready and gets HDTV but not in the same way (quality) as if they bought the box…I sort of didn’t believe that.

Erik

“HD Ready/Capable” means that the TV is capable of displaying a HDTV quality picture which includes SDTV (Standard Definition, basically a digital version of a regular resolution broadcast), 720p, and/or 1080i (might be interpolated depending on your set). HOWEVER, you must have a HDTV tuner in order to actually receive and decode the signal. The Tuner may be an OTA (over the air) ATSC one or a QAM based one (via your cable provider or satellite provider)

“HD Built-in” means that the tuner/receiver is built in and “should” be able to display HD content. So, you can receive OTA ATSC signals without any problems. Not all current HD Ready TVs have QAM ability so you’ll still need a tuner box from your provider or need a special chip from your provider to add QAM abilities.

That’s correct.

Yes, you’ll need a tuner. I’m not sure about console based tuners…I’ve only tried a computer based one (ATI’s HDTV Tuner card) and once you’ve seen HDTV content it’s very very difficult to watch regular TV. I will not recommend ATI’s HDTV Wonder…don’t buy it unless you want headaches. It was a great idea but it has way too many flaws and is insanely difficult to setup…and doesn’t display all content properly.