I tried running the HQV tests last week on my Denon DVD player, just for kicks. Though I like the idea of repeatable/scientific/numeric testing and results, I did have some issues with the testing process. First, it is impossible for me to test only the DVD player or only the TV, because my DVD player does not output 480i, and my TV is a 42" "768P" plasma, and I've never seen a DVD player that can output 768P. So, both components needed to do some scaling/processing no matter what I do. On top of that, I also had problems interpreting pass/fail/partial of several tests. This is probably the type of thing you get better at the more you test, but in the race car scene, for instance, I could see the DVD player lock onto the cadence, but the car moves fast enough that in a few frames the car moves from pass to partial and then to fail position, and I can't get my eye to judge which score would best fit my player. Similarly, I could see a bit of jagginess with the moving lines tests, but since my output looked different enough to me from the 3 shown samples onscreen, I couldn't score that reliably (it was either a pass or a partial). I had similar issues with the noise reduction tests (how much is reduction is enough, how much loss of detail is enough?), etc. In summary, I think there is still some subjectivity and difficulty in the test process, but probably much less in the hands of a seasoned expert with different equipment.
