Here's some great news: You may already own an HDTV and not know it. If you have a computer with a display that supports 1,280-by-768-pixel resolution or higher, you can watch high-definition programming. Here's how: HDTV content from the major networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS, and more) is broadcast free of charge over the air. The HDHomeRun lets you harness this programming, and the Elgato Eyetv 3 software for Mac can convert TV recordings into formats you can watch on a variety of devices. This interesting gizmo grabs broadcast HDTV signals, pipes them to your Mac or PC, and comes with the software you need to record, view, and share programming.

The HDHomeRun is similar to other TV tuners on the market in that it has two coaxial inputs that connect to TV antennas or cable television. When reception is available, the device receives free over-the-air standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) broadcasts, plus unscrambled SD/HD cable television from a coaxial cable. What makes the HDHomeRun truly unique is that instead of connecting to your computer via USB or an internal PCI slot, it's the only tuner that connects to your network via Ethernet. If what you really want is to watch HDTV on your laptop, at, say, the park or in an airport, you'll want to stick with a product that uses USB, such as the Artec T14A Digital TV Tuner. And scrambled HD cable channels (HBO and Showtime, for example) can be viewed only through a pricey PC equipped with an ATI CableCARD reader; there's no Mac option. But if you want to deliver SD and HD programming to multiple computers on your network, the HDHomeRun will do the trick.

The 11.2-ounce HDHomeRun measures 1.3 by 7 by 3.9 inches (HWD), and it's about the size of a hardcover novel. Setting up the device might prove challenging to some. The best-case scenario is if your cable television service's coaxial line or TV antenna connection is next to your router, and your computer is wired into the router. If your TV signal isn't located near your wired or wireless router, you'll need to run an Ethernet cable from your TV signal (connected to your HDHomeRun) all the way to your router. If you plan on connecting to a wireless network, uninterrupted video with smooth playback isn't guaranteed. During testing, I found that the only way to enjoy stutter-free video was with an 802.11 draft-n network device broadcasting at 5 GHz—specifically, the pricey Linksys WRT600N.

On the software side of things, an included utility is required to help your Mac or PC find the HDHomeRun on your network. If you're using a Mac, you'll also need to install the included Elgato EyeTV software. On a PC, I tested the HDHomeRun with Window Media Center, which is included in Vista Home Premium and Basic. A word of caution, though: On my Vista PC test system running Windows Media Center, I had to shut down Norton Internet Security's firewall in order for WMC to see the tuner consistently. I never had problems finding the device, however, on my Mac running OS X 10.5.2.

Whether you're using a Mac, a PC, or both, the major hoop to jump through (besides the initial hardware and software setup) is getting HDHomeRun to pick up a broadcast signal through its TV antenna or coaxial cable connection. Using a TV antenna in my apartment, I struck out and saw nothing. Then I brought the components up to my building's roof, which faces the Empire State Building (the landmark structure has a signal repeater to broadcast many network stations). In this location, I was able to clearly pick up ABC in HD and SD, CBS in HD and SD, NBC Weather Plus, and a few other less-exciting SD channels.

When I plugged the HDHomeRun into my Time Warner Cable coaxial feed, reception on all network channels was available (ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC, PBS, and WWOR– all in HD!). Unencrypted cable channels came in, too, including A&E, TBS, even TNT-HD.

I tested the HDHomeRun on a MacBook Air running Apple's Mac OS X Leopard with Elgato's bundled eyetv software and on a Dell XPS M1530 laptop using Windows Media Center. Both environments provided a rich TV viewing and video-recording experience. The main difference between the two set-ups is what you can do with content after you've recorded it.

Eyetv looks and acts like iTunes (see slideshow for details.) You can even browse your recorded files in Cover Flow view. Eyetv also includes an easy-to-use guide that lets you schedule recordings. The HDHome Run has dual tuners, so you can record two channels at once. The software also has two excellent features: First, you have the ability to convert recorded video into a bevy of formats at SD and HD resolutions (H.264, QuickTime, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and DivX, to name a few). This means you can convert video for popular portable media players such as the iPod, Zune, and PSP. This is particularly important since eyetv records video in a proprietary format. Second, eyetv lets you access recorded video remotely through a Web browser. Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Apple's Safari Web browser are supported, making the iPhone and the iPod touch compatible, too. The maximum video resolution that eyetv will stream is 640 by 480 pixels (full screen) and 480 by 360 pixels (widescreen) in H.264 format. The iPhone's EDGE data connection doesn't provide enough bandwidth for smooth video streaming at the highest resolutions, but over Wi-Fi, video playback is gorgeous and fluid.

If your aim is to be able to record HDTV on your Mac and play it back on an Apple TV, it's possible, but no easy feat. What's more, files that the eyetv software converts don't look as good as video meant for the Windows ecosystem. In order to get eyetv's recorded files to play on an Apple TV you have two options, and neither is favorable for HD viewing. You can export to an H.264 file at 1,280 by 720 pixels and 24 frames per second. While the images look sharp, the loss of frame rate (original files are recorded in 30 fps) results in jerky video. The other option is converting the file to an H.264 file at 30 fps but at only 960-by-540-pixel resolution. This video quality is easier to watch since it won't stutter, but the lower pixel count results in a much softer image. Eyetv can also output an H.264 file that is 1,280 by 720 pixels at 30 fps, but Apple TV can't handle it--the device's video playback limit is 1,280 by 720 pixels at 24 fps.

On my Dell XPS M1530 laptop running Microsoft Vista, I tested the HDHomeRun with Windows Media Center (which is included in all versions of Vista except Enterprise and Home Basic). Video performance was just as peppy and smooth as in eyetv on the MacBook Air. In Media Center, the HDHomeRun records video in the Windows DVR-MS file format only. And you can't burn video to a DVD or copy files for playback on other computers, which is a drawback. You can use Microsoft's Zune software to reencode recorded video into WMV files that Zune portable media players can handle.

Another trick: Use the HDHomeRun to leverage the Xbox 360's Windows Media Center Extender function. This feature allows your networked PCs to display all of their Media Center content on your TV when connected to an Xbox 360. And there's no converting or waiting. You can even control the HDHomeRun to view or record live programming through the Xbox itself. HD playback through the Media Center Extender looked fantastic on my test HDTV set (the HP Pavilion md5880n) and looked identical to the original recording.

There are numerous ways, aside from the HDHomeRun, to enjoy TV on your PC. If you want, for example, all your premium cable channels on your PC, you'll have to shell out for a PC equipped with an ATI CableCARD reader. And if you're looking for remote access to your TV channels, especially your scrambled programming via PC, Mac, or smartphone, the Slingbox SOLO gets the job done (just not in HD). Nevertheless, the HDHomeRun is the only way to share over-the-air HD and SD TV between Macs and PCs, and reencode your video for a host of mobile devices.

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Watch the Elgato HDHomeRun Video Review!