I currently watch Dish Network standard definition programming on my old 25" CRT TV.
If I splurge for a new 42" LCD HD 1080p but don’t pay for an HD receiver and HD programming will I be improving my viewing experience. Or will I just be viewing crappy pictures on a bigger screen?
The advantages I anticipate are a bigger easier-to-see screen that hangs on the wall allowing me to dump the old clunky entertainment center.
But will the HD highlight flaws of the SD signal, or will it look okay?
Depends. Some signals look better, and some look worse. And it depends on the TV and how it’s set up. On my TV, analog signals tend to look really crappy, and the digital ones look much better. If that holds for you, then you should be OK once we switch over to all digital. But HDTV is soooooooooo much better than SD, that you really should avail yourself of the benefits. If you have cable or dish, the added expense is quite small.
Also, depending on where you live, you may be able to get at least your local channels in HD over the air for free. It’s less convenient, though, and the cost of an antenna might be equivalent to the charge from Dish for a year or more’s HD programming (no idea how much Dish charges for that, but if you live on the fringes of the broadcast coverage area, you might need a substantial antenna to reliably get HD over the air).
IMHO, if you’re going to buy an HD TV, you really should spring for HD programming in one form or another. Compared to the cost of the TV, it’s a drop in the bucket.
I will just add that SD != analog. A digital SD signal can look pretty good on an HD set. An analog signal, not so much, although it does depend on the electronics in the TV.
However, I would not recommend buying an HD set if you aren’t going to view any HD content, certainly not a 1080p. No point. It won’t look much better than your current analog set, and you should still be able to continue to receive an analog signal from Dish, although you might need an additional set-top box (not sure what Dish’s policy will be; for example, at the switchover Cox cable will require a converter box for analog sets even if they are cable-ready).
If you want a digital set but don’t want to pay for HD content you could go with a a 720i, although my sense is that the market is shifting over to 1080p as the mainstream choice.
There is also Enhanced Definition TV (EDTV) assuming they still sell those. And do they make standard definition flat screens? If all you want is a bigger screen for SD cable, there are cheaper alternatives to 1080p.
We just upgraded our SD service to HD (got an HDTV for Christmas), and our monthly bill came down by $30! We have it all (phone/internet/TV) bundled through Verizon (FiOS), and apparently this “bundle” is cheaper than the previous “bundle” we had. Whodathunk?
You’re right that the TV manufacturers are trying to move the market to 1080p, but unless you have a ginormous TV set, or you plan on sitting about 2 feet away, your eye will not be able to tell the difference between 1080p and 720p. 1080p is, in sets at 50" or less, an absolute waste of money. Don’t fall for that marketing gimmick.