Nero

I just caved in and finally ordered Direct TV HDTV. Now the TV I have was bought a couple years ago and at that time was highly reccomended as a good Panasonic 47" HDTV (I beleive now you would call it a CRT HDTV??) Anyway Component DVDs look very good on it.

I was going to wait until I got a sony SXRD but I don't have the money for 1 right now. The TV I have only has 2 component connections (no HDMI or anything like that) so I'm gonna have to have the DVD, XBOX 360, and HDTV share time between the 2 connections. But I decided I just had to see what HDTV is like. I want to watch some baseball games this year in HDTV.

My question is to people who do have HDTV, how good is it going to look on my TV compared to what I'm used to? Hype me up on this, did I make the right descision in not waiting and just going for it now, with my current TV?

Augustes

I have only watched football on My HD set but its a night and day difference from broadcast SD.

redford

Sports is probably the biggest difference and biggest reason to get HD. I found most regular TV shows and movies to be marginally better in HD, but sports are a huge difference.

Nero

Thanks! It's coming in this Thursday so I look foward to checking out some ESPN HD as soon as I get it!

Nimbus

Keep in mind that a lot of the stuff on ESPN HD isn't actually HD.

redford

Why have a special channel that has "HD" at the end and not be "HD"?

How about the National Geographic "HD". .

I'm mainly getting this for Cubs games. All home games on WGN here are broadcast in HD. I view the other channels as a bonus. So which channel should I immediately turn it to for some HD sports? I know all local channels should be in HD.

Augustes

ESPN is the most obvious choice, but as noted sometimes they do switch to SD. Most of the networks do too, by the way. Not all local programming is in HD nor will it ever "have" to be.

Sports look awesome in HD, baseball in particular. Like being there almost except the beer and dogs aren't a rip-off.

Nero

Sports on HD are fantastic. Baseball is great, but football and hoops (as well as golf) actually benefit even more with HDTV than baseball IMHO. The widescreen aspect is a huge help in hoops and football as the camera pans horizontally most of the game. Baseball is different, though the increase in pixels are the main benefit there. Most stuff on ESPNHD will be HD and any BIG EVENT certainly will be. ABC/ESPN/Disney still simply doesn't have enough national trucks to carry everything everywhere in HD. But they add HD trucks whenever possible and it definitley gets better month by month.
Also check out Mark Cuban's channels HDNET and HDNET movies. Movies always widescreen, always OAR and some great movie choices. Great stuff.
You'll love the whole package. Also, how about a receiver with 2 component inputs/1 output. You need a receiver for the whole 5.1 surround sound available with your Cubs games anyway. You hook the dvd player and HDTV box into the receiver (then one component from the receiver to the TV), then run your XBOX 360 component straight to the TV. Everything ready to go. I love XBOX 360 with the upgraded HD graphics on Halo 2. Can't get enough of that.

Nimbus

I do have to agree; basketball and hockey benefit greatly from HD due to the layout of the game and the left-right panning. I am a so-so hockey fan and not a basketball fan though so my baseball comment was more an affirmation of quality of baseball than a condemnation of basketball.

Augustes

Sports is IMHO the single best reason to buy HDTV. I mean, tv is nice, but the difference is not as big as it is with sports where seeing lines and numbers and small details make a big difference. Don't get me wrong, it is nice having HBO HD since the Sopranos are getting ready to start