What do I need?

To receive HDTV signals, viewers need the following three pieces of hardware:

HDTV receiver
HDTV receivers are available from companies such as Wela , Quali-TV and Pace. Those viewers wishing to receive pay HDTV programmes may also require a specifically compatible receiver.

HDTV displayDisplays capable of showing HDTV programs include LCD and Plasma screens as well as DLP displays. Beamers (front projection CRTs) and PC monitors may also be capable of showing HDTV pictures. The standards for HDTV displays are 1280x720p (1280 pixels wide x 720 progressive lines) and 1920x1080i (1920 pixels wide x 1080 interlaced lines), both running at 50 or 60Hz. The display has to be fitted with a YpbPr, DVI-I or HDMI digital interface, and the interface has to support HDCP copy-protection-encoding. Genuine HDTV displays will feature the official ‘HDTV ready’ label.

DVB-S PCI card
To enable viewers to watch HDTV programs on a PC, a DVB-S PCI card is required. These cards are sold by manufacturers such as Hauppauge , TechniSat and Pinnacle.