In a world where cable and satellite companies are competing to get you to spend upward of $100 a month or more for TV programming, it may come as a shock that you can get crystal-clear digital TV for free. OK, not exactly free--you"ll need a TV or monitor, a digital ATSC tuner, and an antenna--but there"ll be no onerous monthly fee assessed by an oligarchical media conglomerate. It"s a safe bet, though, that you already have a TV or two, and you may still even have that rooftop antenna lashed to the chimney. Just add an external digital tuner--such as the Humax HFA100 ($229 list)--and you"re good to go.

ATSC tuners such as the HFA100 will appeal primarily to owners of HDTV-ready TVs who want to take advantage of high-def local broadcasts. Its price is low enough, however, to attract a few owners of analog sets who want to check out digital broadcasts but don"t want to invest in an HDTV just yet.

That bargain price--similar boxes cost hundreds more just a couple of years ago--had us prepared to lower expectations, and the simple feature set is in line with the price. For example, there"s no built-in DVR or upscaling DVD player (the latter is included on LG"s more expensive LST-3510, for example) on board, although Humax has included the essentials. In addition to the ability to decode all 18 ATSC digital-broadcasting formats, the HFA100 can output video in high-definition (1080i or 720p), DVD-level EDTV (480p), or good old 480i. Simply put, that means it can receive any standard or HD digital broadcast and display it on any TV, from a brand-new 50-inch plasma to that 15-year-old Sylvania that"s sitting in the corner of your garage.

Despite the HFA100"s small confines (2.7 inches high by 12.25 inches wide by 9.5 inches deep), its back panel is packed with a full arsenal of jacks. HD video is available from component, VGA-style RGB, and HDMI outputs, while coaxial and optical ports deliver digital audio. Older TVs, meanwhile, can make use of the composite and S-Video connectors, as well as the twin analog audio outs. Significantly, the analog video and audio outs remain active no matter what HD output the resolution is set for-- component or RGB/HDMI. That means you can be watching Lost in 720p high-def resolution on your HD monitor while simultaneously recording it in standard definition on a VCR, a DVD recorder, or a TiVo. The HFA100 also features an RS-232C port, so it can be controlled from external devices (for advanced home-automation installs or switching channels during timer recordings, for instance).

The Humax is no harder to set up than a standard DVD player. In addition to making the requisite connections from the box to our TV and our A/V receiver, we screwed a small indoor antenna to the RF connector on the rear panel. The HFA100 offered a guided setup mode that walked us through a series of simple menus. The mode ends by quickly scanning the wireless spectrum for any and all digital TV channels in the area and adding them to the lineup.

Minutes afterward, we were up and running, flipping through a variety of digital programming from Seinfeld reruns to the NCAA basketball playoffs. We compared the sumptuous high-def picture of the game on CBS to the same program on our cable system"s HD feed; the over-the-air picture delivered by the Humax was just as good, if not better, than the cable version. Moreover, the HFA100 finally lets us see what our favorite WB shows look like in HD, since our cable company has yet to add that channel to its line-up.

The HFA100 has another trick up its sleeve in the form of a rudimentary electronic programming guide (EPG). Yes, its level of detail varies from station to station (our ABC affiliate lists simply "DTV program" for every 30-minute block, for instance, while the CBS station includes titles and short episode synopses) and the guide extends only a few hours into the future--but for a freebie, it isn"t half bad.

With its easy setup and near-universal TV compatibility, the HFA100 has a lot to offer, especially for DTV newcomers, but there are a few shortfalls that may irk enthusiasts. A rear-panel toggle switch limits HD output to the component outputs or the RGB/HDMI out, but not both simultaneously. And the resolution through those connections must be locked in through a button on the front panel, not the remote. Furthermore, there"s no option to pass the native resolutions of each station (say, 720p for ABC and Fox, and 1080i for NBC and CBS). That means you"re stuck relying on the HFA100"s ability to process the video, rather than off-loading the duties to your HD monitor--even though the monitor probably has a better video processor.

The HFA100"s technical quibbles aside, it"s the limitations of over-the-air DTV and HDTV reception that may pose bigger obstacles. As with all broadcast receivers, the Humax is only as good as the antenna to which it"s connected. We got impressive reception with a $7 indoor RadioShack aerial, but we were just a few miles from the broadcast towers atop the Empire State Building. Better antennas, rooftop models in particular, should yield improved results, but be sure to check AntennaWeb to determine which stations are theoretically available in your area. And remember that, even in the best-case scenario, you"ll be limited to the old-line broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, PAX, PBS, UPN, the WB, and the requisite smattering of independent and Spanish-language stations)--kiss HBO, Comedy Central, and MTV good-bye.

For most people, the biggest turn offs about the home cinema dream are cost and clutter. Which just so happen to be the two issues Humax’s LP40-TDR1 LCD TV tries especially hard to address.

In terms of cost, you can get your hands on the LP40’s still very rare, subscription-free built-in Freeview Playback system, plus its big old 40in LCD screen, for the extremely aggressive price of £690. That’s less than many ‘vanilla’ 32in LCD TVs. So are we looking at the bargain of the year, or what?

If you’re the sort of person who just likes to get a lot of sheer hardware for your buck, the LP40’s design will have you on cloud 9. It really is a brute of a thing, featuring a much wider bezel than is common these days, and sticking out round the back a country mile versus the increasingly skinny efforts of most of today’s ‘flat’ TVs. People with dodgy backs should also note that it weighs a relative ton.

There is, at least, one potential performance benefit to the TV’s bulk, though, since its speaker system is so large that it’s almost a separate element, sitting half an inch or so below the main screen like some kind of these new-fangled ‘sound bar’ thingies. If this audio approach can’t deliver a richer sound performance than the increasingly invisible speakers found in the majority of flat TV rivals, we’ll be very disappointed indeed.

Craning our necks around the LP40’s substantial rear uncovers a nasty surprise: just one HDMI input. Convinced we must have missed something, we checked the TV’s sides out for more, but to no avail. The LP40 apparently doesn’t think that its owners will want to add more than one of such various HDMI sources as an upscaling DVD player, an Xbox 360 Elite console, a PS3 console, or an HDMI-sporting PC. Er, cheers.

You’ll note that I was careful to exclude a Sky HD box from the list of HDMI-sporting sources I provided a moment ago, for the simple reason that anyone buying a Freeview Playback TV will surely only be getting one because they’ve made a conscious decision not to go the Sky digital TV route.

This same argument perhaps defends another limitation of the LP40: its native resolution of 1,366 x 768 rather than the full HD resolution we’re increasingly starting to expect on screens of 40in or more. After all, Freeview channels currently only broadcast in standard definition, so it arguably makes sense for a Freeview-focussed TV like the LP40 to only have to ‘rescale’ terrestrial digital broadcasts up to 1,366 x 768 rather than the more processing-intensive (and therefore potentially more messy) 1,920 x 1,080 level.

And so unlike LG’s Freeview Playback TVs, which DO record the direct digital stream, there’s potential for the Humax system to reduce the picture quality as it goes through the process of converting the digital bitstream into something its HDD can recognise. Hmm.

In other ways, at least, the Humax Freeview Playback system is pretty much on a par with that seen in LG’s impressive rival sets, with such functionality as Series Link setting, pausing live TV and ‘chasing’ live broadcasts all possible. You also get the same weakness versus Sky’s Sky+ or Sky HD receivers, though, in that you can only record one digital channel at a time, not two.

If I had to pick between the LG and Humax sets in terms of ease of use, though, the Humax would come second, with neither its onscreen menus nor remote control feeling quite as intuitive when trying to make and navigate recordings as those of the LG sets.

Starting our tests of the LP40’s performance with its recordings, our fears about the ‘non-direct’ recording of digital broadcasts are realised. For even using the TV’s top-level HQ recording mode, recorded pictures look noticeably grainier and noisier than the original broadcasts – a far cry from the pixel for pixel perfection of LG’s Freeview Playback sets.

The lack of recording quality is unfortunately emphasised by the fact that the picture quality from the LP40’s screen with original Freeview broadcasts is actually very respectable. Not least because noise levels are actually rather well suppressed for such an affordable TV, with surprisingly little grittiness or MPEG fluttering to divert your attention from what you’re watching.

The general lack of noise during standard and high-definition sources suggests, too, that the LP40’s image scaling is pretty effective for a budget LCD TV.

One final little gripe most obvious while playing games is a tendency to leave a small ‘trail’ behind fast-moving objects or scenery elements. Though to be fair, this sort of lagging error is hardly rare in the affordable LCD world.

What is rare in the affordable LCD world, though, is sound quality as good as that of the LP40. That ‘speaker bar’ effect delivers fully on the promise suggested by its size, pumping out more power than half a dozen normal LCD TVs put together, and fleshing out Apocalypto’s action scenes with some impressive dynamics together with a much greater bass-to-treble extension than we’re used to hearing from a flat TV. Excellent.

For its money, there’s no doubt whatsoever that the Humax LP40-TDR1 has a lot to offer in terms of general picture quality, some of its features, and sound quality. But before you all rush out to buy one, don’t forget that its recordings are fundamentally flawed, while its provision of just one HDMI is frankly ridiculous.

We test every TV we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.

This budget Freeview box has long been one of our favourites and, and not just because of its name. Humax’s ‘fox on the box’ is a talented performer with a neat and tidy design that benefits from above-average build quality and decent looks.

TV experience in sharp resolution. The Humax presents its new HDTV receiver for a razor-sharp image on the TV. Anyone who has had an SD receiver until now experiences a completely new TV feeling.

Humax has been able to provide excellent quality with its receivers for years. Let yourself be impressed by the quality of the Humax HDFox. Thanks to the 12 V connection, you can now also enjoy HD picture quality when camping.