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Most likely, the program your watching is not in 1080i HD format, so it just looks like a good DVD (at least that's been my experience in these stores manned by pimple-faced clown pants wearers...)

Exactly so. If you want a true idea of what they look like, find a high-end specialty store in your area for your window-shopping, not Sears or Circuit City, and tell them you want to see a 1080i broadcast.

I don't know how hyper-critical you are, but I was visiting a friend of mine a while back ("Mr. Early Adopter", we call him), and he has an HDTV monitor, with the HBO HDTV feed from DirecTV. And watching an episode of "Band of Brothers" in 1080i and Dolby 5.1 was just amazing. Maybe better than film. No, definitely even better than film in a theater. Really.

But it's going to get much better than that. When these "movies" (hard for me to say "film" anymore) are being produced, the lighting, angles, make-up, etc. are all designed to look best on the lowest common denominator. When NTSC goes away, and the lowest common denominator becomes HD (not necessarily HD 108i, though) look for a dramitc improve in visual quality, as lighting, make-up, angles, etc. will be modified to take full advantage of the format.

Besides the economic issues, the fact that there is very little dedicated HD content for the consumer to view is holding back acceptance. I'm sorry, but "Everybody Loves Raymond" isn't any funnier in HD, and is lit, blocked, and shot in a way to maximize NTSC viewing.

I'll say no more; I have confidentiality agreements to adhere to...;)