Will hd dvd be backwards compatiable?

[Battlestar]

Does any one know if hd dvd will play in a standard dvd player? I know you would have to probably buy a special player to get the most out of it, but I was just curious to know what about playing a hd dvd on a nomal television?

[Dutch]

David,

Toshiba and Memory-Tech have developed a new dual layer disc with the upper 4.7 GB layer for normal DVD players, and the lower 15GB layer readable only by HD DVD players. Unfortunately it appears a bit of a compromise for both formats for anything over an hour or so duration. Not what we really need, I think.

Steve

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/041207/3/1srp3.html

[Tejstar]

The quick answer is that HD-DVD will definitely be backwards compatible whilst Blu-ray can be, it depends whether the manufacturers include a red laser into the deck.

[RichMercer]

I think he's saying 'are the HD discs playable in a non-HD player' to which the answer is no.

[Battlestar]

Originally Posted by RichMercer

I think he's saying 'are the HD discs playable in a non-HD player' to which the answer is no.

Yep that is was I was asking, but will an hd dvd player be compatibale with a standard television or plasma? if not, anyone who wants to take full advantage has got to buy both havent they

[Kirk]

Thanks for the info Dutch, interesting news.

I personally cannot see the point in making the new discs playable in standard DVD players. Surely the only necessity is to ensure that the new HD Players can read our existing DVD discs?

I for one do not wish to ditch my existing 400+ DVD's for the new HD format, however I would be happy to move to the new format if I can still playback my EXISTING discs and then from that point buy new HD media for anything new......anything else is useless.

Anyway, I guess we will all find out next year

[Dutch]

Kirk,

Both HD DVD and Blu-ray players will play standard DVDs.

David,

The new HD players will likely have component outputs, but will be limited to 480p and 576p only. Even so, they would still provide an increase in PQ to a standard DVD.

Steve

[Kirk]

Excellent!!! I shall get off my soapbox now

Cheers dude,

Kirk

[RichMercer]

Originally Posted by Dutch

David,

The new HD players will likely have component outputs, but will be limited to 480p and 576p only. Even so, they would still provide an increase in PQ to a standard DVD.

Steve

Surely it can't be called a HD player if it doesn't output at least 720p? It might play HD discs but will only output SD?

[Confucius]

I think what he means is that they will likely play DVDs at 480p/576p via component outputs.

I would expect HD players to have the option to output HD discs at a 'standard' resolution to allow for people to upgrade their display at a later date. I would also expect them to be able to scale 'standard' DVDs and output them at either 720p or 1080i.

[Dutch]

Rich,

Confucius is right, HD discs will be able to be output at various resolutions (480i/p, 576i/p, 720p, 1080i/p) to allow connection to legacy displays, but HD resolutions won't be available from component output, only HDMI or DVI-HDCP. I hope this is clearer.

Steve

[RichMercer]

Yes, I see what you're saying now.

Thanks for clearing that up.