While Apple continues to deny developers access to MPEG-2 hardware decoding, Elgato is working hard to improve its digital TV software.

Elgato's EyeTV is one of the slickest Mac-based PVR packages around, but it's always been hampered by Apple's refusal to open up the full power of Mac OS to developers. Apple allows QuickTime and iTunes to take full advantage of the new NVIDIA graphics chip when playing video from the iTunes store, using hardware decoding to offer an exquisite high-def picture. Meanwhile third-party digital TV software such as EyeTV is forced to decode MPEG-2 digital television pictures in software, even though the job could be offloaded to the NVIDIA hardware for superior results. The NVIDIA graphic chip is up to the job, but Apple would rather its efforts went towards playing content you've bought from the iTunes store.

Trying running Elgato's EyeTV on a Mac mini hooked up to a 50-inch high-def television and you'll see that the image isn't as crisp as a TiVo or even a Windows-based media centre leveraging hardware decoding. Each time a more powerful Mac mini is released I try the same test and I'm always disappointed. No matter how much processing power and RAM you throw at MPEG-2 HDTV decoding I'm convinced that - on a big television - it will never look as good as hardware decoding.

Thankfully the boffins at Elgato are still working hard on EyeTV to offer the best possible picture. They're planning to offer a 64-bit MPEG-2 software decoder as part of the next EyeTV update - which could come as early as next week. Hopefully it will improve the HDTV picture even further. I still don't expect it to match hardware decoding, but every little bit helps.

The EyeTV update will also offer compatibility with the new EyeTV Netstream (pictured above) - a network-based dual TV tuner than lets you watch digital television on any computer on your home network. Elgato took me through a Netstream demonstration this week and it looks very impressive, especially if you own a notebook and what to watch TV around the house without the need for a USB tuner.

Apple is obviously obsessed with an iTunes-centric lounge room, but it's great to see developers such as Elgato still trying to squeeze more from the Mac.

Dedicated Boxee hardware sounds awesome, but will the home entertainment heavyweights blow Boxee Box out of the water?

Don't get me wrong, the Boxee Box looks like a great device and I'm thrilled to see D-Link working hard to bring it to Australia with some local content deals. I'm just wondering if there'll be much of a market for it.

If you're an multimedia buff you've probably already got an IPTV solution. It might well be Boxee running on a computer or a hacked Apple TV. Perhaps it's something else running on a media centre, Apple TV or even PlayStation 3. You're probably using a VPN to tap into foreign services such as Hulu and Netflix. If this sounds like you, an Australian-centric Boxee Box probably doesn't hold much appeal (except for the cool remote control with a QWERTY keyboard on the back).

If you're a mainstream consumer just stumbling into the world of IPTV, I think Sony's Bravia Internet Television service is more likely to catch your eye - although probably running on a Sony Blu-ray player rather than a brand new television. When Sony ramps up its IPTV offering for the PlayStation 3, it might be enough to drive you into the PS3 camp. Even the Apple TV might look attractive - its iTunes store integration is a thing of beauty, but the lack of access to free Catch Up TV services such as Network Seven's brilliant Plus7 is obviously a drawback.

I like the idea of the Boxee Box, but I think if Boxee really wants to hit the big time it should focus on getting the Boxee interface onto existing devices. Apparently that's exactly what it's doing, with plans afoot for a Boxee Blu-ray player, according to NewTeeVee. "Step two for us is Blu-ray, step three would be TVs and game consoles," says Boxee's vice president of marketing Andrew Kippen.

It sounds like Boxee is putting the pieces in place for a major lounge room push, but it faces some stiff competition.

Sony's IPTV deal with Network Seven's Plus7 marks the next major step in the way Australians watch television.

As I said last week, I'm very impressed with Plus7 and it puts Nine and Ten's efforts to shame. I ended up calling on Plus7 this week after my TiVo skipped a beat and for some reason failed to record Lost on 7TWO. I'm taking the "28 day 7TWO Lost challenge", to see if I can tolerate time-shifting free-to-air rather than using the BT channel.

I realised about 10.30pm Wednesday that the TiVo had failed to record Lost at 8.30pm and I was about to head over to Isohunt when I thought it might be worth checking Plus7. There was Lost, ready to play. I used my Media Centre to watch it full screen on my 46-inch Bravia and the picture was shabby but watchable - certainly not as crisp or smooth as a decent BitTorrent download. Plus7 drops in one advertisement at every ad break that can't be skipped, which is annoying but bearable if you mute the sound. I'd much rather do that than pay Apple $2.99 an episode from the iTunes store.

Of course Plus7 is designed for watching on a computer, not a big television. Sony's "Bravia Internet Video" IPTV service looked much sharper on the big Bravias at this week's launch in Sydney, all but indistinguishable from an SD broadcast. I'm guessing it's encoded at a higher rate than the clips on the Plus7 website.

Shows from SBS are also available via Sony's IPTV service and negotiations are underway with the ABC's iView - which would be brilliant. The Freeview consortium is also working on its equivalent to iView, which hopefully will come to the Bravia Internet Video service as well. Sony is even working on a Movie on Demand service, which would be the icing on the cake.

Bravia Internet Video will also come to the PlayStation 3 and Sony Blu-ray players later this year - which is great news for people who don't want to buy a new television just to access what is clearly Australia's best free IPTV service. It's just one more excuse to buy a PlayStation 3, and I might finally cave in later this year (just don't tell my friend Al, a diehard PS3-fanboy, or I'll never hear the end of it).

The truth is that your average person doesn't want a computer in their lounge room, no matter what the entertainment benefits. As Sony makes IPTV available directly from its televisions, Blu-ray players and games consoles I'm certain IPTV will see mainstream adoption in Australia - perhaps turning people away from piracy. Sony and Seven have thrown down the gauntlet, let's see how the other networks and manufacturers respond.

After dragging its heels on Catchup TV, Seven has blown the other commercial networks out of the water with Plus7.

I'm the first to complain when Network Seven screws over viewers of shows such as Lost, so it's only fair I should praise the network when it does something right. Seven's Plus7 Catchup TV service has been online for a few weeks and it certainly puts Nine and Ten's efforts to shame.

Plus7 doesn't just provide a handful of local shows, "highlights" or TV shows broken up into painful 6 minute clips. Plus7 actually has full episodes of all the big shows you actually want to watch, such as Lost, Heroes, Cougar Town, Grey's Anatomy, Scrubs and Desperate Housewives. You've got the option to watch episodes full-screen and the quality is surprisingly good. Each episode has a Seven watermark on it and the video pauses sometimes to screen an ad - there's only three or four per show but you can't skip them because they're not actually part of the main video stream. It's still far less painful than trying to watch shows on free-to-air TV.

Episodes tend to go up on Plus7 the day after they screen on free-to-air and stay online for 7 to 28 days depending on rights. If you happen to miss an episode of your favourite show, Plus7 is certainly a viable alternative to the BitTorrent channel.

The occasional advertisement aside, I'd say Plus7 is a worthy competitor to the ABC's iView. The icing on the cake would be unmetered content deals with a few progressive ISPs such as iiNet and Internode - fingers crossed. It's services such as Plus7 - which give the viewers what they want in an easy-to-access format - that are the networks' best hope in the fight against file-sharing.

Following in the steps of Network Ten, ABC viewers will no longer be able to watch their favourite shows in high definition.

Australia's national broadcaster is preparing to launch a 24-hour news channel later this year, but unfortunately the ABC is running out of digital channels. We've already got ABC1 (main), ABC2 (repeats) and ABC3 (kids) - so the ABC has decided to ditch high-def simulcasts of its main channel and screen constant news on ABC HD. So anything that screens on the ABC will no longer be available in high-def.

At times it's hard to see why Australia even bothers with high-def television broadcasts. Last year viewers paid the price for Ten's 24-hour sport channel. Ten now screens poker tournaments in high-def on One HD, while high-def dramas and sci-fi languish in standard-def on the main channel. I wonder if the ABC will continue to make local programs such as Bed of Roses in high-def, now that no-one will be able to see them in high-def.

ABC chief Mark Scott conceded this week that 24-hour news is not the best use for the ABC's high-def channel and hopes to reshuffle the channels in the future. Lets hope it's sooner rather than later, for the sake of everyone who has spent good money on a high-def TV.