But with regards to TV's, theres still tons of 4x3 CRT SD televisions out there, they are by far the majority, and maybe people in the LA area are more up to date with technology but elsewhere things are not quite advanced--but they are getting there. Flat-screen displays have already taken over and 16x9 displays are on the verge of taking over as well. Most people can't yet afford a plasma display of any kind, but the lower-quality ancestors of LCD displays are pretty much within the grasp of most people by now. HD displays are still too expensive for most, especially considering that even fewer have the capability of displaying HD content (which would require satalite/digital cable and/or Blu-Ray players, which are far too expensive for your average home right now) but thats changing with startling speed that has really surprised me. Soon all of these advancements will merge--by 2010 you will probably be able to buy a 30 inch flatscreen LCD HD display for well under a grande, and thats when it will really penetrate the middle-class market and then slowly spread into the lower-income households as prices continue to go down with the mass-adoption.
But as for a new transfer--the problems on the 2004 disk are inherant in the telecine itself, the actual film. It was made in HD, which is why the HD broadcasts are the same crappy 2004 image with crushed blacks, super-saturation and weird colourings--i hate to say it but theres a good chance this is what we'll see on Blu-Ray. The only thing that would change this is if Lucas went and did more changes--a reasonable thing--but then this would likely push back the release date as well.