The difference between 576i50 (PAL equivalent, free version of the main private channels) and 720p50 (that's what German public service uses for "HD"; it's not actually 1080p, although they use a pretty high bitrate) is pretty stark, the difference between 576i and 1080p is even more obvious. Although TVs don't really have a neutral setting and try their best to mess every image up as much as they can.