The issue is that what you see on your friend's TV screen can't possibly compare with what you experience itself. On screen, there's no immersion. The 3D space is still 2D. When you're in the VR world, though, your brain is tricked into all sorts of things that a TV screen can't possibly match. The low resolution looks okay at first, but the same tricks your brain plays on your eyesight soon makes it second nature. Your sense of proprioception - awareness of yourself and body in space - is fooled into accepting that the virtual movement is the same as physical movement and vice-versa.
It's like a photo of a landscape versus being immersed in the space itself. It really does need to be experienced to be believed.