Having watched more than a few HD (1080i, converted to 1080p) films myself, I can honestly say that the difference in quality is more than noticable.
Even walking into a local Dixons where they had a 42" LCD HDTV demo running, you could see from a long way away that there was something special about the picture. It was more vibrant, more stable, more appealing. Closer inspection yielded images you felt you could touch and interact with.
This was only a 720p unit. I have only viewed 1080 content on a 19" display (so far). Going back to DVD quality on the same display just shows you what you are missing out on.
High quality DVD video is sourced from HDTV recordings (Band of Brothers).
Lastly, viewing HDTV recordings on a normal TV does yield an image quality increase. Obviously not in resolution (which is fairly fixed for a standard telly) but in colour definition, which is greatly improved (pixel perfect!) compared to DVD (DVD colour resolution is somewhere around 320x240 pixels).
I personally cannot wait for my 45" Sharp Aquos (a 1080 capable display) to arrive. Shame I can't order one because I'm poor ;)
Even walking into a local Dixons where they had a 42" LCD HDTV demo running, you could see from a long way away that there was something special about the picture. It was more vibrant, more stable, more appealing. Closer inspection yielded images you felt you could touch and interact with.
This was only a 720p unit. I have only viewed 1080 content on a 19" display (so far). Going back to DVD quality on the same display just shows you what you are missing out on.
High quality DVD video is sourced from HDTV recordings (Band of Brothers).
Lastly, viewing HDTV recordings on a normal TV does yield an image quality increase. Obviously not in resolution (which is fairly fixed for a standard telly) but in colour definition, which is greatly improved (pixel perfect!) compared to DVD (DVD colour resolution is somewhere around 320x240 pixels).
I personally cannot wait for my 45" Sharp Aquos (a 1080 capable display) to arrive. Shame I can't order one because I'm poor ;)