My TV (Panny TX-32LE8MK) also looks good when i set byond output to 1080i....
but when i set it to 720p, it became a bit blurry and picture not so sharp.... 

I have followed this thread and V1 thread closely.

After observations, finally called Astro CS this morning to subscribe the Astro Beyond, I was told ESPN HD will be made available very very soon in Jan. Hopefully within 24 hours, I would receive call from Astro to arrange for AB installer. and AB installation within 10 working days.  Cheers.

I even asked Astro CS is any privilege for pioneer subscribers like myself (member since 1998 :haha ), she told me that Astro may have promotions for loyal subscribers.  I wish they will keep to their promise, they should not aim for new subscriber but also to 'maintain' their existing subscriber though there are the sole satellite TV service provider currently.

Funny leh. I thought Copy Protection Failed error only occurs when using HDMI. When nothing connected to HDMI port usually no problem one. Unless you have a poor quality/broken HDMI cable connected to the TV as well or the TV has damaged HDCP chip.

But yeah, in this case, on the HDMI screen, the screen go black with copy protection failed screen, but on the composite screen it will still show picture with an irritating "Copy Protection Failed" box if set to fullscreen or "Copy Protection Failed" error on the top letterbox bar if the decoder is set to output downscaled widescreen HD in letterbox mode.