BD quality question

[ghostcat]

how would BD compare to HDTV 1080i or p compared to WMV-HD

[Blue]

There was a fantastic web site that had simulations of the various standards (hopefully someone here has the link and will post it). Until you see all the standards on the same display it's VERY hard to tell. The 1080p that I saw at a demo was stunning (the max resolution of BD) 1080i at 60 fps basically = 1080p at 30 fps (yes there are a few issues with 1080i especially for fast moving objects.
Just be aware at the moment there are very monitors / projectors that support 1080p - as there is no commonly available source. This is about to change. In 35 days there will be 1080p source (limited but plenty to follow) this will encourage the display providers to unleash their 1080p products. about 18 months ago there were only a handful (less than 10) of projectors listed on projector central's database that were 16:9 let alone 720p and most were priced for the commercial market. now well over 120 and most of them are 720p. There are about 15 1080p projectors listed. Within a year I bet there will be 100+ 1080p projectors listed. 1080p will be worth it, but you will need a big wallet or patience.
As for WMV-HD how was the picture encoded? WMV is just compression, just like the trusty old MPEG2, the resolution is variable

[erdega79]

Should be much better but will become obvious only when they start using full dual layer discs of 50GB to put enough bandwidth to differentiate from the cable hdtv