HDTV question (1 Viewer)

[John Roger]

Since i am planning to buy an HD capable TV, i would like to know a few things.

1.Are there already HDTV channels?Is is available only in US?What i need to get these channels with HD resolution?

2.Are there HDTV resolution DVDs and players?I saw one playing in a local showroom but it didn't seem like a consumer product.

3.Why do HDTVs still use interlacing when progressive scan is supposed to give a better film like picture?The common high resolution of HDTV is 1080i.Though there is 780p and 1080p they are not supported by many HDTV units.
Playing 1080i on a big screen like say 60" should make it look more normal TV doesn't it??

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Nope, normal TV is not even close to HDTV, interlaced or not.

 

[John Roger]

What i mean is that interlacing would be visible on a very large screen.Isn't it?Even on a 27" TV you can spot the difference between interlaced and progressive.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

I have a 56" screen that displays both 480i/p and 1080i. I sit about 7 ft. from the screen and can notice the difference between 480i and 480p, specifically the flicker and scanlines. In order to see the scanlines in 1080i, I have to get about 3-4 feet from the screen. I don't care who you are, nobody sits 3-4 feet from a 56" screen. Interlacing is no more visible on a large screen because you sit further back from a large screen than you would a small screen (although you can sit much closer to HD than you can to the same sized NTSC screen).