That was always my understanding of it until I read a number of articles that said it's 'always encoded interlaced', such as that article by the bloke with the porn moustache (linked above). I know a fair amount about DVD, but I've never done any video editing so the misinformation is a pain in the arse. It's good to hear it from someone who does know a bit about video editing.

It really bugs me when film sourced material is given an interlaced transfer though. One that sticks in the mind is Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, which is the most recent Viewaskew film on DVD, but is interlaced! It's not really an issue with most PAL material, unless of course we get the horrible standards conversions from the likes of Tartan Video. They ruin most of their discs by doing NTSC>PAL transfers...

Anyway, I'm sure we'll be getting dodgy interlaced transfers for the OT DVDs. Everything about this release has been a sham. You wouldn't believe the run around Fox UK gave me when I tried to get info on the anamorphic status of the discs a few months back. Ah well, at least I'm getting mine for free...