Hi vinrex...I spoke to an Engineer from NTL in OCT abd he advised NTL were "Working on it" but as yet had not released the service. they also have a note oin their phone systems when you call to report a fault explaining they do not as yet support HD and poor picture quality on the newer large screen HD sets is "Normal".
NTL started trialling their TV Drive HD PVR cable box in Glasgow and Teesside before Christmas and have already begun to rollout installations across the country, although customers in some areas may not be able to order theirs for a few months yet.
We're in South Yorkshire and have TV Drive fitted just before Christmas. It has some HD channels and the sound is 5:1 surround on the HD channel. The engineers said that they are fitting about 5 a day and there are countless fitting teams in the area.
I think it all depends on where you are. You will be better off getting the TV drive box as it has all the optical and Phono connections that the normal box is missing for you to hook it up to your amp and receive the proper sound signal.