Australia's Ten Network is set to broadcast sport in glorious high definition next year, finally give us a taste of what couch potatoes can expect from the digital revolution.

Next year Ten will broadcast its Saturday night AFL match in HD, as well as all games from the Rugby World Cup in France, reports The Australian.

High defintion sport could take digital TV to the masses.

This could be the shot in the arm digital television needs in Australia. If content is king, sport is the king of kings - just ask any media mogul. Rupert Murdoch wanted to buy Manchester United to ensure broadcast rights for his pay TV networks, while Kerry Packer went as far as inventing World Series Cricket just so he could televise it. The promise of high definition sport should win more fans for HD television - expect a marketing blitz before the Rugby World Cup.

High definition sport will also finally offer a chance to put the latest high definition televisions to the ultimate test. Sport looks terrible on even the latest and greatest LCD televisions - the close ups of the players look great but the long shots of the play look shocking. It's like watching low-res video over the internet - everything becomes pixelated and the players are surrounded by a blurry halo when they move. Sometimes the ball isn't even the right shape. The blur is even worse if the screen has a slow response time. If you paid thousands of dollars for a such TV you wouldn't be happy come the footy season.

When sport does look bad it's hard to know what to blame, the television or the standard definition broadcast signal. I used to blame the signal, then I saw how good SD sport looks on Pioneer's exquisite 50 inch Pioneer PDP5000EX, a 1080p plasma retailing for a measly $AU15,000. Having seen this plasma in action, now I think LCD televisions are just not up to the job when it comes to sport. Once sport is broadcast HD they'll have no excuses to hide behind.

High def footy - blood, sweat, tears all in glorious detail. Bring it on.