Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's often better than a 5 Mbps 1080p
Since DVDs are ~5mbps mpeg2, no, no it isn't. 5 mbps h264 is dramatically better. Now, when compared to blu-ray ... That's different. Very, very different.
I would take crisp 480p over a gooey, artifact-softened 1080p for most content.