Perhaps there is some genius here on the lotto board that knows the answer to this question.....How can these new HD-DVD's being released actually be 'true' HD-DVD IF the movies were never shot in HD? The original source would have to be HD. I would think for you to actually get the best HD picture, then the movies would actually have to be shot in HD. Can anyone help me out on this info......it seems to me that I would need to wait for movies that are shot in HD before buying a HD-DVD.

I could be wrong...just wondering.

I am the proud owner of a Toshiba HD-A1 player, and if you have a big screen there is no question, you must get one of those things!

You think DVD is sharp?  You have no idea until you watch the same thing on HD-DVD.

The source material for most HD-DVDs (or DVD or video tapes) is film.  Starting several years ago all films were transferred to HD tape in 1080p format before being transferred to regular DVD or whatever.  So when they transfer that same movie to HD-DVD, it is already in its native 1080i format.

So what you've been seeing on standard DVD is down-converted video, not the way it was archived.

The other thing that HD-DVD dramatically improves is sound quality.  HD-DVD has two "lesser" formats, which are called Dolby Digital+ and DTS-HD, which are both twice as good as the best DVD soundtrack.  (Actually they are better than twice as good.)

However, HD-DVD also offers something called "TrueHD" sound, which is pure uncompressed (loss-less) 5.1 (and 7.1) sound.  It's not possible to hear better sound unless you're the guy mixing the sound on the original mixing board, because it's literally a copy of the sound with no compression at all.  If you have a good sound system it just rocks.

There are two things about the Toshiba HD-A1 which are annoying, but neither is a show-stopper:

1. The remote is pretty bad, which very hard to read labels, and all the buttons are the same size.  That's not a problem if you have a universal remote, because you won't use the original remote anyway.
2. The player is actually a real computer inside, so it does not turn on and start playing a disc immediately.  After you press the power button, it takes about 30-45 seconds to be "ready", and after you insert a disc it takes another 20-30 seconds for the disc to be ready to play.

The slow start-up is probably the most annoying thing, but for me it is no problem at all, next to the incredible quality.  Last week I watched "End of Days", which is the first TrueHD 5.1 disc, and it is just tremendous.

I've been looking for a good HD player. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Thanks for the info Todd.......I've got a pioneer plasma almost 3 years old now.....I may wait for the Playstation3 with the blue ray HD to be my introduction to HD-DVD. I've seen some HD programs looks like National geographic and the picture is AWESOME.

I have a Samsung 42" plasma and an LG Upconvertor DVD player. I'm not a video genius or anything, but I love the quality it puts out. Is it true HD? I have no idea  but I'm happy with it.

Years back when I was heavily into audio systems, we used to run a certain green magic marker around the edge of a CD. This would dramatically improve the sound quality. I wonder if this would work with DVD's......Todd?

Toshiba HD-A1

Yeah, I think if you're going to get a Blu-Ray player, it is best to get it by getting a PS3.  Regular Blu-Ray players are just too expensive, for little or no gain over HD-DVD.  (Actually, Blu-Ray players are actually worse than HD-DVD right now, and they are twice as expensive.)

For those who are not aware, High Definition DVDs are the new format war, with two competing formats: Blu-Ray and HD-DVD.  They are two distinctly different formats, and they will not work on the other's players.  Both formats offer basically the same features and quality specifications, so it is almost purely a difference in disc specs.

(Blu-Ray theoretically offers more storage capacity on each disc, but in reality they have not been able to successfully deliver higher capacity discs yet, so the point is moot.)

In independent side-by-side testing, HD-DVD has produced better looking and sounding results than Blu-Ray so far.  I'm sure Blu-Ray will eventually catch up, but so far they have squandered their position, and many people are abandoning Blu-Ray.  Sony has a good chance to turn this around when PS3 arrives, but things are not looking good.

If I eventually decide to get a Blu-Ray player eventually, it will probably be in the form of a PS3.  But by the time that comes out, there may be no reason to even get one.

Definitely not.  I would not make any marks at all.  The sounds produced by HD-DVD is better than 99% of all audio systems can produce, so upgrading your sound system is the best way to improve the sound.

EDIT: I forgot to answer your first question.  Upconverting regular DVD is NOT high definition.  You will notice a huge difference by getting a real HD-DVD player, and using HD-DVD discs.  Upconverting offers a little dit of improvement, in that it plays at your monitor's native video format, but true HD-DVD offers so much more detail.  You'll really be amazed.  If you've ever seen a real HDTV broadcast, it's even better than that.

EDIT #2: You need an HD-DVD player to play HD-DVD discs.  They won't work in a standard DVD player.  However, you can play standard DVDs in a HD-DVD player.

Oh god, here we go AGAIN.............

Should I get VHS, or Beta ?   LOL 

That's exactly right!  It is really sad how history is repeating itself.  If Sony ends up losing again this time, it has only itself to blame.  However, for the consumer, Blu-Ray does not have the advantages over HD-DVD that Betamax had over VHS.

This whole thing may be a plus for consumers, though, because it is causing supporters of each format to try as hard as they can to be innovative and come out with new features, so they can beat their adversary.