Ok, so when I switch from an HD channel to a non-HD channel it goes black, then the program thats on comes on for a millisecond, it goes black again, then it comes on fully. Has anyone else noticed that when the program of the non-HD channel flicks on for that millisecond (now this may be my imagination) it appears to be in HD even though the channel itself isn't HD and doesn't look anywhere near HD once it comes on fully?

If it isn't my imagination, what causes this to happen and is there anyway to make non-HD channels to appear HD all the time but not break the law? Hopefully I explained the situation so its understandable lol, I confused myself there for a second. Thanks guys!

What you have explained is probably just your tv switching from an HD mode to a non-HD mode. It changes from, say, 720p mode to 480p mode. Nothing special.

If it isn't my imagination, what causes this to happen and is there anyway to make non-HD channels to appear HD all the time but not break the law?

You don't say what type of content delivery service you subscribe to (or perhaps its OTA)... so its hard to know the specific answer to your question. I have a Bell HD PVR, and it stays locked on 1080i full time, and upscales any signal to that resolution, and also optionally resizes or applys black or grey bars to any incoming signal that otherwise wouldn't fill the screen.

What that means is the STB is doing all the video processing work instead of the TV. In your case, it sounds like your TV is doing the work, and it apparently does some funny things when asked to switch formats (say from 480i ("standard TV from last decade") to 480p (which is ED TV, and what a lot of mid-range DVD players can produce) to 720p or to 1080i.

Since you mentioned HD, I am presuming you have some sort of a STB, so hunt through its menu's to see if there is an option to control the video output. On the Bell 9242 its called "HDTV Setup" and there you can set the TV output resolution and also the aspect ratio 16:9 or 4:3.

This is usually the TV reformatting for the SD signal from an HD one, as indicated by asif9t9. Some TVs do this more than others. If you configure the STB to output just one format (as indicated by PlaceHolder, then you probably won't see this (but the PQ may suffer). Some TVs take much longer to do this reformat than others (say 10 seconds), while others can do it in a couple of seconds.

The fact that the picture looks better is probably an optical illusion - the SD channels are not HD. Perhaps the picture is smaller and appears to be clearer and then doesn't look as clear when it's full size.

This can also sometimes be a function of the type of connection used. Component Video can be different from HDMI which does the "handshake".

Have a look at the following post, useful for those new to the forum:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=57741

To test, change the output of your Motorola STB. Hit POWER on the remote to shut the box off, then hit the MENU (SETTINGS) buttons. You'll see the options there. Change it so it only ever outputs 1080i or 720p. And disable "4:3 Override".

Hit POWER to go OFF and ON again and then change around your channels to see what happens.

Thanks asif9t9, turning off the 4:3 override fixed the change over delay and seems to make the picture clearer as 57 said. Thank you everyone for your help, it's very much appreciated!