It has an NTSC/ATSC tuner and that is HD capable, but it depends a lot on how you're connected, if you're using an antenna, then you will get the HD channels.

Cable is a different ball game, on my IQ506t, the version of Vista does not support HD Cable channels (clear QAM is the magic word)However Windows 7 does, and indeed I get beautiful HD channels.

If the IQ526 has the OEM Vista "TV pack" then you can get cable HD channels, but I don't know if HP ever made that commitment. Keep in mind that's HD local channels only, you won't get any digital cable channels that require authorization via either a cable box, or CableCARD.

Non-HD channels will look like crap, but then they do on a 22" LCD also, analog 480i channels just don't ever get beautiful on digital display devices :(

Diane

Arora13 said: so you're saying if i upgrade to windows 7 and use my HD cable box with my PC ..everything will look a lot better?

Not at all, I never said the cable box was a good idea, in fact I don't know how to get anything better then 480i composite into a Touchsmart without additional items such as a component USB device/tuner.

 I'm saying that with Win7 you can get the "clear QAM" local HD stations off your cable, and those will look great. 

If you want the rest of the channels over 100, you need a cable box, and a way to get its output into the Touchsmart, and mine only has composite inputs, not component, and that means 480i, and that means standard definition.

Look for USB tuners that accept COMPONENT input, those should be able to accept the higher res input of your cable box, but I don't know how that will interact with Media Center.