Quality of picture in high definition tv while playing normal dvd

[Nazeer]

I am going to purchase Sony Bravia LCD TV 40 INCH.In the showroom we can see blue ray dvd demoestration while standard dvd is only populer in saudi arabia and all the stellite reception in normal and not hd.If the clarity of pic while we watch normal sateelite reception and normal dvd is same as in normal tv i will be happy.But i have my own doubts that the depth of picure will be very poor when you watch normal reception compaired to normal tv in hd tv.I want an expert openion on this issue.I want to confirm is it the right time to purchase an hd tv while there is no hd transmission for normally viewd tv station and hd dvd is available only for selected movies.

Nazeer Marikar

[Starburst]

SD sources vary when broadcast digitally since the broadcaster can alter resolution and bitrates (to save money) however if a standard def broadcast is good quality and the HD TV has good scaling/de-interlacing then you'll get a decent result.
DVD is perhaps the best example of a SD source and when feed via component or HDMI/DVI should give you a baseline to compare to anyother SD source.

I've no idea how good or poor your SD broadcasts (analogue or digital) are so impossible to say what you will say and hence if the time is right to buy a HD TV without any HD source.
However a good HD TV with a decent SD source should still provide a visually impressive result if only for the screen size and the perfectly flat screen free of convergence or geometry issues.

As for the choice of HD TV then the relevant forums in AVF will serve you well.

[Nazeer]

Thanks very much for your advise.

Nazeer