The World Cup in HD

The World Cup is coming and it's only 34 days away! That's 32 of the best teams from around the world, battling it out over 30 days, through group stages and knockout games, all to get their hands on that elusive golden trophy. That's a lot of quality football, and this year we'll get the chance to see the whole lot in glorious HD.

Meh, I hear you say. Why would I want to see football in HD? What possible benefit is it to football? Well, I could bang on about how HD has up to 5 times the level of detail of SD, and that it's broadcast with a Dolby Digital sound track, but I'm not going to hit you over the head with that old rhetoric.

What does HD mean for the World Cup? Watching the World Cup in HD is about as close as most of us are going to get to actually being there. The colours are vibrant and rich, the crowd roars as if you were there, whilst the players dance their skilful moves now shown in incredible clarity allowing you to see exactly what they're doing. And the goals; every curve of the ball; every swerve in the air; the rebounds, the deflections, everything that's exciting about football, is pin sharp and in exquisite detail.

OK, OK, it sounds awesome. How do I get it? I have an HDTV, I already have it right? Contrary to popular belief, just because you might have an HDTV, HD-ready or Full HD, it doesn't mean you're watching an HD broadcast. But it's an easy and relatively painless upgrade for most, now that Freeview has gone HD. For those of us in London, the Freeview service that you know and love began broadcasting in HD in December of last year. Unfortunately to receive the HD channels, BBC HD, ITV HD and Channel 4 HD, you'll have to either buy a new TV with Freeview HD built-in or buy a new Freeview HD receiver. Similar to the Freeview boxes that were bought to receive the digital free-to-air service in the beginning, these Freeview HD boxes pick up both SD and HD channels using only your TV aerial. If you're in London you'll have to have your TV aerial pointed at Crystal Palace, which most already will be, so once you plug the box into it and your TV you're set. A Freeview HD box will cost somewhere in the region of £100 to £180, with Freeview HD PVRs starting at about £250. There is one caveat however, if you live in a block of flats, the internal aerial feed may be filtered causing problems with the HD broadcasts. If you think you might have this problem, buy a Freeview HD box from a retailer that offers refunds if it won't work for you.

Of course Freeview HD, although the most recent service to introduce HD broadcasting, isn't the only way to get the World Cup in HD. The other free-to-air service FreeSat HD, a partnership between the BBC and ITV, currently offers BBC HD and ITV HD, with other HD channels promised in the next couple of years. As the name implies, FreeSat uses a satellite dish to pull down its signal, which is great if you happen to be living in a place with a Sky dish or other digital satellite dish on the roof. Whether you're thinking of getting rid of your Sky service or want to put up a new satellite dish, FreeSat carries loads of free-to-air channels as well as HD offerings. To take advantage of FreeSat HD you again need an HD capable FreeSat box, which starts at around £100 or an HDTV with FreeSat HD built-in. FreeSat HD PVRs are also available and they start around the £250 mark.

If you want more channels than the free-to-air services provide, then you might want to look at the various subscription services that are available. If you're in a cable area then you can take advantage of Virgin Media's HD packages with a V HD box costing you a one off fee of £49 or free on the TV XL package. You then pay for one of the Virgin Media TV packages, which range from £11.50 to £29 without a Virgin phone line. Virgin Media also offer a HD PVR box called the V+ HD, which also costs £49 but has a £5 per month extra service fee attached to it.

The venerable Sky also offers HD packages with the UK's largest selection of HD channels. Sky HD is available in a dizzying plethora of options, packages and charges starting with the £28 Sky+HD starter. That includes 2Mb broadband as well, although you'll have to have a BT phone line to take advantage of it. That'll give you the all important BBC HD and ITV HD channels among others.

And finally, if none of that's possible, your budget's a bit tight perhaps, then your best bet is to find yourself a pub with the games in HD, or take beers round to your mates place and camp in front of his massive HDTV.