Hi,
Not sure all host countries have HD capability yet. Most probably do, but I'm just guessing.
There may also be some sort of licence fee that the BBC will have to pay to host countries for the extra benefit of HD images. This will have to be passed-on to Bernie, that could be a stumbling block me thinks. I can't see BBC wanting to take those fees on their chin, it's not in their interests.
On the cost side of things, BBC already provides their HD channel FOC, well, part of the licence fee - no extra sub's required. All you need is the necessary equipment. Freesat, Sky & Virgin all do HD boxes which would show the BBC HD channel for no extra cost.
Freeview viewers are getting HD in-time for the football world cup this year, but be warned, only NEW Freeview HD enabled boxes will give HD. Existing Freeview boxes (even TV's with built-in freeview tuners) will not give HD images.
Here's a full explanation :-
http://www.commtexx.co.uk/in_the_news_49.htmlIf you MUST have HD, get Sky/Virgin/Freesat. BBC HD is free from that point-on. Or, wait until May/June, get a Freeview HD box then.
Personally, we have upscaling, and if your TV gives a good SD image, there's not a major difference. Yes there is a difference, just wouldn't call it a 'major' one, that's all. Another point to note, Super-HD is coming, but probably not for a while yet, gotta 'milk' everyone for HD yet. When that happens we'll all be upgrading TV's, etc yet again. Hmmm.
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/show ... p?t=425526Upscaling will give you 1080i, that's 1080 interlaced lined, 540 odd lines, refreshed with 540 even lines, over and over.
Usually, HD can be 720p or 1080p, although only a Blu-Ray disc (or xBox360) will give you 1080 lines with progressive scan (p). As far as i know, there's no broadcaster in this country that transmits 1080p. We bought a HD InFocus projector last year with a 7ft screen (horizontal 7 ft) - the HD pictures are more noticeable on that compared to SD images, the 42" Fujitsu plasma is harder to distinguish. (assuming you have a good SD source signal) F1 thru the projector is superb btw.
A much better explanation of HD TV and resolution can be found here :-
http://www.cnet.com/hdtv-resolution/Happy reading.