Is there a Windows media player with reverse 3:2 pulldown so I can utilize HV20 in consumer manner or do I need PAL version to enjoy progressive frames out of the box without a need for prior encoding using reverse 3:2 pulldown?

Use VLC Player. It has an option to deinterlace.

for watching 24p on the fly media player classic can do IVTC to give you true 1080-24p in real time. To do this you will need to install Dscaler5 and an older version of the IVTC mod and then change the Dscaler settings in the filter options in MPC

Use VLC Player. It has an option to deinterlace.

vlc player is great. but just to be sure: deinterlacing is not the same as 3:2 pulldown (i know you know this mike, but for newbies...):

(1) deinterlacing --> making a natively interlaced stream look like it's progressive
(2) 3:2 pulldown removal --> making a natively progressive 24fps stream stored in an interlaced container actually 24 fps progressive

Is there a Windows media player with reverse 3:2 pulldown so I can utilize HV20 in consumer manner or do I need PAL version to enjoy progressive frames out of the box without a need for prior encoding using reverse 3:2 pulldown?

unfortuantely, i don't think there is aNY player that will play 24fps hdv footage with 3:2 pulldown added. i convert with software (such as cineform connect HD) first.

Ali yes there is as per my post above!!!!

you can perform on the fly IVTC in MPC using Dscaler5 and the IVTC mod