You have been hearing about high definition television for a while now. It's been around for nearly a decade, but you wanted to wait a little while before you got one. You wanted to wait until the price went down, and it did. You wanted to wait until "all the kinks" had been worked out before you laid down your cash, and they were. You ran out to the big electronics store, went straight to TV section then promptly stood there with your mouth hanging open, wondering whether you should get LCD, DLP or plasma. You finally decided which one was right for you. You fly home, plug in your swanky new TV, only to find that the channels aren't swanky at all.

Did that sound familiar to you? Well, don't feel bad. You are not alone in that scenario. Many people experienced the same thing. Why didn't the channels look all new and pretty like they did in that commercial for high definition televisions? That answer is a lot more simple that you probably expect. Just because your television is high definition, that doesn't mean that all of the channels are. More and more channels are becoming available in high definition, with more being adding almost daily. The only catch? You need a high definition receiver.

It doesn't matter if you are a cable customer or a satellite customer, you need that special receiver. Satellite providers like Direct TV offer those HD receivers at little or no extra cost when you sign up. If you sign up at the right time, you can get your HD receiver free; you may even be able to an HD receiver that also has a DVR or digital video recorder. How can you beat that? The monthly fee for your HD channels may be a little more, but once you watch a program in HD, you won't think twice about a few bucks.

If you don't already have a satellite provider that offers HD channels and you start comparing, you should know that Direct TV HD proudly boasts the most HD channels on the market right now, with more than 90. Dish Network can only boast 70. 90 channels in stunningly glorious high definition. It's a TV aficionado's dream come true. Imagine watching the playoffs in HD. It's like you're there, courtside with all the other fans cheering and screaming. Or what about watching a science or nature program, like the ones popular on the Discovery Channel (yes, Direct TV offers Discovery in HD)? The clarity is breathtaking. Once you watch something in HD, it can make it difficult to go back to a regular channel.

The other channels that Direct TV offers in HD range include everything from local channels, to news channels like CNN and Fox Business, to movie channels like HBO and Cinemax and everything in between. Even channels like Animal Planet and the Food Network are being broadcast in HD. There are even 15 pay per view channels offered in HD by Direct TV.