Why don't you have HDTV yet? It's a combination of business and political factors. Early proposals for HDTV involved analog technology dominated by Japanese firms. The government delayed implementation to allow American digital technology to be developed. Then a long study process was undertaken to choose the best technology available (and resultant patent royalties).

Who makes money on HDTV? The Government. Unfortunately, broadcasters didn't see a business model for broadcasting HDTV. The U.S. government did, however. They hope to auction off the old TV channels for new communications services once the transition to HDTV is complete. Thus, they required broadcasters to start transmitting HDTV in the largest U. S. markets, with a phased implementation over the next few years to all of the U.S.
To make more money, the "H" in HDTV might go away. Along the way, HDTV became DTV - Digital Television. Digital signals can be compressed for transmission over a smaller channel than an analog one. That compression allowed high-definition, theater-quality images to be sent in a standard TV channel. Broadcasters realized that the same technology could be used to send four, five, or more television programs in their one DTV channel instead of a single HDTV signal. In fact, this technique has been used for years by all the Direct Broadcast Satellite systems, such as DirecTV and EchoStar. Market conditions make it attractive to send several standard definition programs instead of one real high-definition one.
To see HDTV-like programs today, you'll probably need to go to a movie theater So, if you're using a DBS service, effectively you already get DTV, though not in the widescreen format. DTV, like DBS, offers better perceived quality to the consumer because there are no ghosts or noise, and most viewers don't notice the motion artifacts yet.

Will broadcasters offer true high-definition programs over their DTV channels? With a few exceptions, such as PBS and HBO, the answer is not yet. Currently, you see the same old standard TV program "upconverted" or rebroadcast in the DTV channel - not a real high-resolution version. I've seen HDTV sets for sale in markets where there are no DTV broadcasts - the set was fed standard definition signals from a DVD player.

Which comes first - the channel or the set? With all this history behind us, you'd think we're ready to implement HDTV, or at least DTV, now. Well, its still a chicken and egg problem, with broadcasters complaining there's no market for programming because no one has a DTV set; and set manufacturers says no one will buy a set without programming.

Don't plan on watching HDTV while driving Recently, a new round of government-media-manufacturer fights have emerged over the standards used to transmit a signal. Some media firms are complaining the existing U.S. standard is not as good as a European one. A small glitch in the plans of American engineers is that there is no way to get DTV on a mobile platform, such as a car, train, boat, etc. Don't plan on HDTV over cable - they are several years behind the broadcast industry.

I would personally recommend a HDTV. It is going to be the best you can get in about two more years.