The HD-XA2 version of Toshiba’s HD-DVD player will aslo be able to output 1080p resolution.

You can read about that here:

http://www.tacp.toshiba.com/news/newsarticle.asp?newsid=131

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If you have an HDTV that is capable of 1080p resolution, you may want to spend the extra money and get the HD-XA2 version of the HD-DVD player.

If you have an HDTV capable of displaying 1080p resolution, but not capable of accepting 1080p resolution, like all of the HDTVs made before 2006, then you will want to buy the less expensive HD-A2 version of the HD-DVD player.

If you have an HDTV capable of displaying 1080p resolution, but not capable of accepting a 1080p signal, then you should set your HD-A2 version of the HD-DVD player to output 1080i resolution. At that point, the HD-DVD player will upconvert the resolution to 1080p, and it will look virtually identical to the HD-XA2.

If you have an HDTV that has a resolution of either 720p or 1080i, then you should purchase the HD-A2 version of the HD-DVD player. It would be a waste of money to purchase the HD-XA2 model, because your HDTV can’t display a resolution of 1080p.

At this point in time, virtually everyone will be interested in the HD-A2 model that costs half as much as the HD-XA2 model, because nearly all High-Definition televisions sold so far have been at a resolution of 720p.

Plus, all 1080p television sets will upconvert the resolution of 1080i to 1080p in a virtually perfect way.

This cost advantage associated with the HD-A2 model of the HD-DVD player is one of the main reasons why HD-DVD players have outsold Blu-ray players by such a significantly wide margin.

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HD-DVD discs use a new form of video compression technology called VC-1. VC-1 was invented by Microsoft and Intel for use in Windows Media Player 9. This video compression technology is the newest and most advanced form of video compression currently available.

Blu-ray discs use a very outdated form of video compression technology called MPEG-2. MPEG-2 is over ten-years old, but Sony insists on using it for virtually all Blu-ray movies!

HD-DVD discs and Blu-ray discs both have the option of using three different forms of Compression Technology: VC-1, MPEG-4, and MPEG-2.

Many industry analysts say that the reason why Sony refuses to use VC-1 technology is because Sony doesn’t want to pay royalties to American corporations like Microsoft and Intel.

VC-1 allows 2 hours of compressed video to be placed on a single layer of an HD-DVD that holds 15GB of data.

MPEG-2 is much less efficient than VC-1; it is very outdated technology.

MPEG-2 requires 25GB of data in order for 2 hours of compressed video to be placed on a single layer of a Blu-ray disc.

Also, Sony originally advertised that dual-layer 50GB Blu-ray discs would be released that would hold four hours of video and allow Bonus Content and Special Features to be placed on Blu-ray discs. This has NOT happened, though! Industry analysts say that this will not happen any time soon! The reason is because Sony cannot figure out a way to mass produce Blu-ray discs without a very high defect ratio that is very expensive.

Almost all of the reviews of Blu-ray discs say that they are virtually identical to standard DVD movies when DVD movies are watched on a high-definition TV that upconverts the standard DVD discs to high-resolution.

HD-DVD movies look much better than standard DVD movies. HD-DVD movies also look much better than Blu-ray movies. The reason for this is because HD-DVD movies use the much more advanced VC-1 video compression technology, but both standard DVD movies and Blu-ray movies use the ten-year old MPEG-2 video compression technology. Obviously, HD-DVD discs and the movies they are used for are much more advanced!

Two other things:

1. There are already dual-layer HD-DVD 30GB discs that hold four-hours of video that allow lots of Special Features and Bonus Content. This is a reality for HD-DVD. Plus, there are also plans to have HD-DVD movies with three layers that allow six hours of video to be placed on the disc. This is great for longer movies like Lord of the Rings.

2. HD-DVD technology already uses something had Hybrid Technology where an HD-DVD is on one side of the disc, and a standard DVD is on the other side of the disc. This allows people with any kind of player to watch the disc.

Sony claims that Hybrid Technology for Blu-ray discs is “theoretically” possible, but when you consider that Sony can’t even figure out how to design a dual-layer Blu-ray disc without a huge defect ratio, it is easy to understand why the industry analysts say that there is no realistic way that Blu-ray discs will ever be able to take advantage of Hybrid Technology like HD-DVD does.

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