HDTV....will it work when i just plug in the tv?

[MACD23]

i live in a town that gets digital cable from AT&T. if i buy a widescreen HDTV, will the HDTV just work on certain channels, all channels or no channels? whats the deal?

[palebluedot]

If the TV you buy has a built in HDTV decoder built in and your AT&T cable sends an HDTV signal then it will.

However...

99% of the HDTVs are only HDTV capable or upgradable, meaning that the input is there for HDTV but you need an external box that you would connect your antennae/cable to.

As far as I know AT&T digital cable does NOT support HDTV and put the signal in their feed (at least they don't for me). I still have to get the HDTV signal over the air with a UHF antennae.

Right now only certain shows on a couple of the networks are in HDTV.

[hypeiv]

my cable company makes you use there decoder in order to get HD chans but they only charge $5 a month to rent the decoder which is much nicer than paying $300+ for a decoder.

If your tv already has a decoder and you live in the city you shouldn't have that much trouble picking up hd over the air with a good antenna