Before we get to the good stuff, though, let's get a key limitation out of the way. The iPlayer only works on HD boxes, via their Ethernet ports, yet it doesn't deliver high-definition content now and is never likely to in the future.

This state of affairs is actually as you'd expect, given that the iPlayer is essentially a video streaming system constrained by the often still quite poor broadband speeds 'enjoyed' by much of the UK population.

...

While even the High Quality images aren't quite as good as a decent Freeview/Freesat standard-definition broadcast, they're certainly good and consistent enough to be perfectly enjoyable on a 42in TV, or maybe a bit more.