Good post. I am hooked on HD. I record alot of the movies on HBO and Showtime HD. I get the great HD picture (which is breathtaking compared to even the digital cable feed) and dolby 5.1 audio which is also available on my cable system if you invest in a fiber optic lead. I plan to do this until the HD DVD thing works itself out. I can live with the picture quality of regular DVDs until then. I would sure pay a couple of hundred bucks for Hi-Def DVD but not a grand.
I watched the replay of the US Open on ESPNHD last nite. Nothing like watching golf (or any sporting event) in HD. I hope the weekend telecasts on the broadcast network is also in HD. I have those set to record so it will be a good weekend of playing and watching.
Definitely agree on the pricing on the blu-ray/HD-DVD players at this time. I didn't pay much more than that for my TV.
I'm pretty sure that some of the hi-def movies on the movie network are actually up-converted DVDs, but some are definitely HD transfers. And some of the original programs, like Stargate Atlantis, or Rome, look absolutely fantastic in HD.
As far as sports go, they look great in HD. I'm not even a soccer fan but I've been watching some of the World Cup series in HD, and it looks great.
Oh, btw, I watch a 34" HD tube TV from about 5-6' away, and I can definitely tell the difference, but quality anamorphic DVDs DO look almost as good as HD - just lacking a little of the crispness and detail. But then my TV "only" has a horizontal resolution of about 1000 or so (34" Panasonic 1080i widescreen direct-view tube). My next TV will probably be a flat panel (LCD or plasma or maybe one of the new technologies coming along) of 40" or more, with full HD resolution (1920x1080).