Do you have a small laptop with a beautiful LCD display? Active matrix is now the standard for laptops and, as a result, the quality of images on most laptops is comparable to most desktops.

Why should you let your TV and your desktop have all of the fun with high-definition programming? High-definition (HD) programming allows you to view movies and television as they were meant to be viewed. Almost all TV viewers who have the opportunity to view HD broadcasts say they strongly prefer them to standard digital and analog broadcasts. Many TV's now come with HD tuners standard and it is very easy to find HD tuners for PC's. Unfortunately these have only been available as PCI cards traditionally. PCI cards require you to open your computer and install the card on the motherboard - this is not an option for laptops.

Take advantage of USB 2.0 to watch HD programming Now you can use your USB 2.0 port, which comes standard on virtually every laptop manufactured today, to watch HD programming. Note that USB 1.1 is much to slow to stream video without a lot of choppiness. This technology comes from Korea and has been available in Korea for about two years - now various manufacturers are embracing the technology and products are starting to appear on the American market which will allow you to stream HDTV to your laptop.


DVR-like attributes will be coming Along with the ability to stream HDTV to your laptop comes the ability to record programming to be viewed at a later date. This technology, commonly referred to as digital video recording or simply Tivo-ing, offers you the ability to record HD programming for playback. The USB HDTV adapters available in the US right now do feature time-shift technology, but the ability to download the programming information will require you to find a third-party service. Fortunately these are popping up all over the place to fill the pending demand.

Preston Wily is the marketing director for Sewell Direct, an online retailer of hard-to-find computer cables and accessories. Sewell Direct offers a USB HDTV Adapter from OnAir and offers a variety of other HDTV cables and accessories.

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