Once you've seen sports in HD you really can't go back. On TrueVisions they sometimes have the same event on an HD channel and on an SD channel. The SD channel is like looking through Coke bottle bottoms.

But if you can't tell the difference, or do not have any HD content, then it goes without saying, an HD set would be a waste for you.

I agree 100% with that, I only have the True Gold package but now I will have to upgrade so I can watch more HD channels. It's like day & night, a huge difference in picture quality.

IMHO once you see HD on a decent sized screen, you will never want to go back.

I have a 40" Samsung at present and debating whether to upgrade to 46" or 55"

The latter may be overkill in my living room, though I am sitting 3m from the screen

I agree with the others, once you've had HD on a big (in my case 55in LED) screen you can never go back to SD. As regards the Japanese companies i doubt if it will be long before Panasonic and Sharp stop making tvs and Sony has completely lost the plot.