As a Canadian, the study doesn't surprise me ...
One of my long standing arguments surrounding HDTV signals not being the (main) selling feature on HDTVs is what I have observed in Canada. Because of the (awful) CRTC's influence in the market, there is little competition for cable companies and as a result there is (almost) no free HDTV channels and to get a decent number of HD content (when you factor in the expensive set-top box) is very expensive. As a result, very few people who own HDTVs in Canada have any content that is displayed at higher than DVD quality on their TV.
In this environment you’d assume that HDTVs would not be that popular, but (last I heard) Canada was one of the fastest to adopt to HDTV in the western world. The main driving factor seems to be that flat-pannel TVs give the average person the opportunity to buy a very large TV and put it into their fairly modest room.
Now, if you’re watching DVD movies on your 60’ plasma or LCD TV is the output resolution of a Wii, PS2, Gamecube or Xbox really going to bother you that much?
