i have HD and a few month old samsung 50" dlp and it looks nice but i dont think its the best thing ever. i see many people posting here that they dont watch shows unless they are in HD. why? half the time i forget to even switch to the HD channel until its 20 minutes into the show. sure i see the difference but it isnt so much that i cant watch something if its in SD. then again i dont really give a crap about the difference between vhs and dvd quality. if its a good show or movie i will watch it.

Yes.

My mother can't tell the difference either but then again she's 64 and doesn't watch much TV.

If its available in HD then I watch it in HD. If its not available in HD and it should be, then I'm kind of ticked off, but I'll watch it. If its not in HD and can't be in HD, I don't care I'll watch it anyway.

I wouldn't say that I can't live without HD but I think it looks so much better than SD and I'd much rather watch some shows in HD if I can. Especially sports.

I have 2 reasons:

1. Cost. I cannot afford $600 HDTV plus DISH deal and TiVO.
2. Closed Caption. I heard that not many shows in HD format that has CC.

Yes, it is, but if I have no choice, I'll watch something in SD. Sports in HD makes a huge difference.

dont get me wrong im not saying i HD isnt beautiful (though hereos doesnt look so great).
i just dont understand how some people wont watch a show if its not HD. its not THAT great. its also not worth 20 bucks a month that dish charges (i was going to switch to them but that killed it). luckily my tv pulls in the local HD channels free from comcast so i dont need to mess with an antenna.

yeah im pissed about the cubs not being on local channels . would have been nice to watch them suck in HD.

HD is nice to have in certain situations (sports and shows that are shot so beautifully it matters), but I don't think it's essential. I've seen plenty of it at the homes of others, but it's still the good old 27" SD tube for me these days.

I might change that when I can get a 37" flat panel for around $500.

Yes, it is. And FWIW, an HD source is a huge improvement even on an SDTV when compared to something like analog OTA or cable. I do most of my viewing on an SDTV CRT with digital OTA, and I almost refuse to watch ABC on it because the local station is not broadcasting in HD yet.

I just recently got a 46" 1080p LCD and haven't looked back. Of course, it was a huge step up in size for me, so that probably plays a part as well. But watching my favorite shows in HD for the first time has been a pretty sweet experience.

Wow. I'm surprised by some of these comments. For me the difference between HD and standard is HUGE. Every now and then when I'm watching a show like The Office or whatever I'll just switch quick to the standard channel and it's like night and day for me. Maybe some of you aren't watching on a big enough tv or something. I don't know...for me the difference is so obvious and I have a hard time watching things that aren't in HD because I've been spoiled by the quality that HD provides.

HD is a scam

$20/mo? For DirecTV and most cable cos, it's $10/mo. I'd say it's easily worth that for sure, particularly with DirecTV and how many HD channels you now can get.

Plus if you get decent reception OTA, you can always get your local HDs for nothing.

Yeah, I think we need to find out what size and type of TV people are using to view HDTV material.

For me, it has mostly been on a 46" DLP model at the home of a friend and a 54" rear projection model my parents have. They're both nice and sharp but not compelling enough to make me have a huge desire to change.

I get free HD with Cablevision.

The more I watch HDTV the more I dislike regular stuff. I love Damages but I wish FX was in HD.

You already know your answer.

You don't need Dish or a TiVo for HD. I get all my channels free, over the air.
You heard wrong.

HD makes a huge difference for me. I rarely venture outside of the HD channels when watching on my HDTV, and I almost never watch shows if they aren't in HD (The Wire and a few HBO shows are the lone exceptions).

I also get reallllly bothered when network shows are forced into standard def for the weather warnings...especially when the network forgets to flip the switch back when the warnings are done.

HD is the opiate of the masses

We just got our first HD service in May, and have been thrilled with it.

There is one place that HDTV makes a MASSIVE difference: sports. Watching NFL football on HDTV is amazing, and I've seen San Jose Sharks broadcasts over Fox Sports Net HD and with the wider aspect ratio, you appreciate hockey much more.

I do the same thing, and the difference is pretty significant, but after a few minutes, I adjust to the SDTV and it's not a big deal anymore.

I agree that watching sports in HD is nice, but the vast majority of shows are not that big of a deal (if I watched more action shows, my opinion would probably be different).