I currently have Direct TV satallite service to my two standard TV's. 
We are considering HDTV and want to make sure we understand how to up
grade correctly to the satellite HDTV system.
First I understnd there are at least two types of HD televisions,
"compatable" and "ready".  One without a HD receiver and one with. 
Which type sould I consider.  (Will be have to have some sort of
converter from Direct TV?)
Next--How do we hook it up to the satellite dish?  I understand it
might require a new eliciptical dish with 3 LR (?) connections.
To recap:  Which type TV should I buy and will it require new antenna and hookup?
Thanks

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Request for Question Clarification by denco-ga on 27 Jan 2005 16:56 PST

Howdy aim1935-ga,

Are you located in a place, such as a larger urban area, where you either
can or want to access major broadcast networks' (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX) HD
(high definition) primetime programming in addition to the DIRECTV channels?

If you don't know if you have HD programming in your area, you can provide
your city/state (nothing more specific than that please) and I can check for
you.  This will help determine the type of television you should buy.  Thanks!

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

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Clarification of Question by aim1935-ga on 28 Jan 2005 14:29 PST

I live in LaGrange, Ga.  We do have Atlanta, Ga. stations here.  
I live in a rural area, no cable, currently on Direct TV satellite.
Looking to buy HDTV and want to be sure I get right set and want to
determine if a new satellite antena will be required.

aim1935-ga:

Allow me to shed some light on this for you.  Without going into the
very technical details on HDTV televisions, yes, you are correct in
that there are 2 different kinds of televisions on the market with
respect to HDTV.  One will actually have the HDTV reciever built in. 
The other will require that an HDTV receiver or tuner be hooked up to
it to receive HD programming.  Beyond picking what television typ,
this gives you an additinal 2 options for receiving HDTV.

If you choose the first option of getting an HDTV with the
receiver/tuner built in, the only thing that you'll need to do is hook
up a HDTV antenna to receive the "Over-the-Air" (OTA) HDTV
programming.  This is the HD programming that is sent from an HDTV
radio tower into your home.  This will give you your local channels
(ABC, NBC, Fox, etc) in HDTV depending on when they come online with
that.

You didn't supply me with your actual zip code, so I had to try 3
different zips based upon your city and state.  Based upon the
following 3 zip codes, 30240, 30241, and 30261, the only HDTV channel
you can receive OTA is PBS.  My reference was http://www.checkhd.com. 
Until your local area starts to setup their HDTV it may bea  while
before you can start receving HD programming OTA.

The only problem with this scenario is that you wont get any of the
premium HDTV programming available through DirecTV.  These channels
include HBO, ESPN, TBS, Discovery, TLC, etc...

The second option will give you the most HDTV programming available,
but will require you to upgrade your DirecTV hardware.  These
requirements include upgrading to the oval, 3 LNB satellite dish and
upgrade to a DirecTV reciver that has an HDTV tuner.  Not only will
you receive network (ABC, NBC,...) HD programming, but you will also
be able to get the premium (the ones I previously mentioned) HD
channels not available OTA.

In my humble opinion, I think that you should pick a television set
that is HDTV-Ready, or one where you have to hook up your own
receiver.  You will save a couple hundred dollars on the price of the
set that you can then put towards upgrading your DirecTV equipment to
be HDTV compliant.

I hope that helps!