In practice, dedicated DVD players are much higher quality than a PC decoding DVDs and doing a TV-out, even a dedicated S-video tv out. Trust me, I've tried it. Logistically most people don't have a pc located 3 feet from their entertainment center (3 feet is the svideo limit). A lot of pc's capable of dvd's don't have y/c out as well.

And!! Sorry Spud, interlacing does not mean you lose half the resolution. When interlacing occurs, half the resolution lines are drawn, then the other half is drawn staggered a small amount. This is done in half the time as well so effectively you get full resolution. Effectively, the lines are drawn like this:

time1 time2
frame1 frame2
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progressive looks like this:

time1+time2
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Flicker is associated with this technique because as the phospher glow from the first pass will typically fade slightly on the second interlace pass.

If you're anal for DVD quality the PC is not quite there yet. Nopers!

Calvin