While others are mentioning DVD players with great upconverting and DVI, I'll throw one into the mix.

The Momitsu v880, as advertised by HKFlix here at DVD Talk. Got one for Christmas. It's also a great DivX/Xvid player, a macrovision blocker, and of course, region free ntsc/pal...

Gil, then it might be your tv. I have a Sony wega 36 inch. and is calibrated. I read too about the dark scenes and blocks. The player plays bright so just lower the brightness.

Thanks for the help with my questions guys. I am going to make sure that my DVD is set to 16:9 ratio (hopefully this is easy since I no longer have the manual). I have some more questions for you (keep in mind I am home theater retarded).

Unfortunately my DVD player is not progressive scan. I have been working my way through the many threads on these topics (I did the recommended search for 1080 in the hardware forum). It seems that the majority opinion is that a progressive scan DVD player makes a big difference and is worth the upgrade. Is this true?

I tried to calibrate the tv by myself but I probably should purchase a calibration disc. I am assuming that this is a DVD that helps you through the process. What is the best one to choose (or are they all the same)?

Also are there any good links you can provide about HD-DVD technology? I am wondering if I should wait to purchase a new DVD player, or if these things are going to be too pricey.

Anyways, this thread has been helpful, I am slowly submerging myself into the world of HD technology.

As a side note, does anyone else get completely overwhelmed by the complexities, multitude of options, and lightning speed advancement of this type of technology? I remember there was a time that I considered myself more than able to hook up any type of home theater equipment. I feel old and I am still a week away from reaching thirty!

I had HD for about 6 months via my cable company (MediaOne) before finally having it disconnected. ABC was the only major network (of CBS, NBC and FOX) that they offered and the picture wasn't any better than it was on my non-hdtv set. I did enjoy game on ESPN in high def but finally decided that the cost for what I was getting just wasn't work it.

I think the stations I got were:
ABC
PBS
Bravo
ESPN
Discovery
HD-Net (movies if I remember correctly)
HBO

Have you heard of Voom? The movie channels are not the only way to get a lot of HD. 30 channels, HD all day long. Most are movie channels, but then there is a live music channel, extreme sports channel, monster movie channel, westerns channel, an HD animation channel. Not to mention all the channels the cable company charges you extra for, ESPN, Discovery, TNT HD, et. al. Locals are also in HD. Plenty for me, but anyway... I have also read that bandwith is an issue. And always will be for cable companies. You are more likely to get a better signal from a satellite dish. But, I'm not sure how well that holds water. Interesting theory at any rate.

Couple of other things. Almost every show(non-reality), on from 8pm-11pm, is in HD on the big three networks. There are some exceptions, like Scrubs. It isn't in HD because they don't film it in HD. You can't make something hi def when it wasn't filmed that way. Leno is also HD, which isn't in the 8-11 time slots. But if reality shows are your thing, then yes you will be disappointed in HD.

I second the nod to the Momitsu V880. Just got it a couple months back. Upconverts to 1080i. Not a huge difference in pic quality(not as drastic as say going from a standard dvd to progressive scan), but I watched a dvd on a different player the other night and it did seem softer than what I had been watching on the V880. A professionally calibrated tv would probably help more than my fiddling with a calibration DVD myself. Region Free as well. Plays all kinds of computer files as well.

Yes I heard about Voom but satellite isn't an option for me because of trees. Even if it were, I doubt I'd go with Voom just to get as much HD content as possible. I mostly watch primetime network shows, movies on the premium channels, and some of the HBO and Showtime series. I don't watch a whole lot of PBS and INHD which I would bet show similar programming to a lot of what Voom offers.

I would disagree, as I see Voom very much as a movie-centric service. PBS and InHD are not. Instead of betting , you could always go to their website and look at what they offer.

Re: Voom
They have every(well about 95%) channels your cable company has, AND 30+ channels in HD, AND locals in HD. It is hard to beat. I am getting quite impatient with the release of their DVR box though. That is why I signed up last summer. I read that they are supposed to give the prime deals to current customers as a reward for getting them off the ground. Instead of the typical give all the sweet deals to new customers to fatten our bank roll method.

It was supposed to be out back in the fall. I called last week and they said March, but they had no details like price, lease, trade in on old receiver or anything like that. So I doubt March is going to happen.

I love it. Well I did over the summer when everything was in re-runs. Now I have a tivo and catch watch everything on that though the season pass. It is just too easy. So I don't usually watch a primetime show in HD anymore. Time is more valuable, and Tivo gives me that right now.