HDTV doesn't look so good? Blame your eyesight!

I seem to regularly report on the statistic that, to a large portion of home video viewers, high-definition video doesn't look any better than their old, standard-definition TV. Many commenters who've dropped thousands are outraged -- outraged! -- that viewers could be so oblivious to the obviously superior video quality offered by HD sets and HD sources like Blu-ray discs vs. their old broadcast TV and DVDs. But just as many seem steadfast in their assertion that the new stuff just doesn't look any better than the old.

Now here's one possible explanation for the discrepancy between the two camps, courtesy of the Daily Mail: Bad eyes.

According to the UK's Vision Express, a third of adults and children either need glasses or should obtain an improved prescription of their existing glasses or contacts. In Britain, 60 percent of residents haven't had an eye test in the last 12 months, with 79 percent of Scots running around unknowing whether or not they're functionally blind.

Because the improvement of HD vs. SD is relatively small (in comparison to, say, the jump from VHS to DVD), even a small problem with your eyesight might account for the inability to discern any quality improvement. I can buy that argument.

Food for thought next time you find yourself at a big box store shopping for a new TV: Perhaps your first stop after you buy an HDTV shouldn't be the Blu-ray bin but rather one of those in-store opticians for some hot new specs.