Legend Digital LHD2

After a relatively slow start in Australia, high-definition digital television is finally starting to take off. The current crop of widescreen LCD and plasma televisions is purpose-built for displaying high-definition content, but most don't feature inbuilt HDTV tuners. In order to receive high-definition content at home, you will need a compatible digital TV receiver.

Enter Legend's High Definition Digital TV Receiver LHD2. The silver box measures 37 x 24 x 7cm, and weighs almost 3kg. The front face features navigation, standby and control buttons with a master power switch on the back panel. LEDs are present to indicate power status, and there's an infrared receiver and four-character display to provide channel and output information. As with Legend's standard definition digital receiver, the LHD2 features a door on the front face with nothing behind it. It doesn't affect the operation in any way, but it would be a turnoff for the style conscious.

The bundled manual is thin and light on detail, though it does adequately explain the functions and how to use the device. It does have one handy feature: a menu tree that illustrates how to access each function in the system on-screen menu.

The menu is well laid out, and it takes just a few minutes to set up the device (including scanning for channels and selecting the output). The unit offers S-Video, composite, component, VGA and DVI outputs, with the latter three providing high-definition output right up to 1080i. The VGA, DVI and component connectors also offer the ability to display a 720p progressive scan image on compatible televisions. S-Video and composite is limited to displaying at 576i (regular PAL resolution). The rear panel also offers an antenna input and output, S/PDIF digital audio, and a serial port for updating and troubleshooting (which is only of use to the factory).

The machine worked well during operation, successfully detecting all local channels. High-definition digital content looked stunning, and there was no sign of background noise or interference in the decoding.

The Legend device is relatively inexpensive way to receive high-definition digital TV at home, and the one-year warranty should provide some peace of mind.