[quote]What you and I need to do, is question the manufacturers motives for providing us with DVD's minus the extras, or HD DVD's that are encoded poorly (with clearly visible artifacts present on-screen - you know the sort, those blocky, slow-to-clear parts of the background...). Given that the source material is Uber Def (note to self: copyright that!) compared to SD, why are HD DVD and Blu Ray producers not taking full advantage of the extended capacity to provide us with a truly revolutionary experience in home cinema? Surely this is what we are supposed to be parting with our hard-earned cash for - to buy all this amazing new hardware???[/quote] Actually, you're EXACTLY making my point! The companies aren't even making full use of the space on normal DVD's, so why would they bother using the full space of a Blu-ray disc or HD-DVD?

I don't quite see your problem, since both blu ray and hd-dvd can play normal dvd's. Try stuffing an VHS in a dvd player... I do however have a problem with the expensive cables they try to sell you when you buy a new tv or dvd player.

[quote]I don't quite see your problem, since both blu ray and hd-dvd can play normal dvd's[/Quote] I have several problems with the way publishers are acting currently: 1. They remove the extra's from DVD releases to push blu-ray/hd-dvd. No other reason, just to push the new formats. If these new formats are so great, why aren't they capable to be promoted with their own special features? Why do those of DVD have to be taken out? 2. They release movies on dvd without using the full capacity (thus lesser quality than could be delivered) and then shout that blu-ray/hd-dvd give better image quality 3. I've check Warner's Hi-Def site and didn't find ANY specifications of the encoding they use for blu-ray/hd-dvd releases. Only that they're "hi-def" which is a VERY broad word as is shown in the comments above. 4. How long, do you think, it will take to see dvd-support turn to zero once hd-dvd/blu-ray gains enough market share? Then we'll be back to the beginning of the DVD-era, paying A LOT of money for mediocre releases (currently, blu-ray/hd-dvd releases are up to €10 more expensive than DVD already) [quote]I do however have a problem with the expensive cables they try to sell you when you buy a new tv or dvd player. [/quote] There's actually a reason for buying expensive cables. For a decent surround set for instance you need thick cabling to send the sound without any loss. HDMI cables have higher bandwidth so if you've got an amplifier that supports it (and not just has the connector but actually uses the bandwidth) you have better quality. Expensive cables aren't a novelty. If you use a SCART, composite, gold connectors, thick cables or thin, ... it's all got an impact on the quality you get.