So that was the World Cup in HD then

The BBC's terrestrial HD service looks alright, but it still sucks when the Germans win. When are they going to do something about that?

Here's a photo we took of the screen that doesn't really illustrate the HDTV picture quality at all, but at least shows we put the effort in:



Basically, HDTV looks good when you pay attention to it or sit unusually close to the screen, or if you rapidly switch back and forth between the HD feed and the regular analogue picture. There's loads less digital blockiness, and it almost looks as good as an old CRT image!

There's a bit of weird bluriness on the grass, but close-up shots and slow-mos look amazing. So yes, it's good and loads better than standard-def pictures blown up to HD resolutions, but it's no way worth paying £300 and an extra tenner a month for.

Like everyone says, the leap from PAL standard to HD just isn't as pronounced for us as it it is for the Americans and their rubbish NTSC system, so, frankly, we'll be watching the rest of the World Cup in Normal-D just to get around the hassle of having to use a separate bloody remote control.

THE PEOPLE WE FEEL SORRY FOR ARE:
We feel sorry for everyone who bought a new "HD Ready" LCD or plasma, then expected that would mean they get HDTV. People really do think that - we've read posts on proper, serious tech news forums where people ask questions like "Can I get an HD signal through SCART?" and "I'm connecting with the red and yellow leads, is that HD?" - these people aren't necessarily stupid, just not yet ready to make the HD leap.

So, the people we feel sorry for are people who've spent £1000 on an HD Ready TV, and are now wondering why everything looks so much worse than it did before. Don't worry, normal people, it'll all be better in time for World Cup 2010. Probably, if you've got Sky.