Q: Why HD DVD?

We asked the HD DVD Promotion Group to give its side of the high-definition DVD format competition. Here's its list of things to keep in mind if you're thinking of adding HD DVD to your entertainment setup.

1. HD DVD offers the high-definition experience at the most affordable price: Recent deals have included :36 Toshiba players at Wal-Mart and Best Buy, and HD DVD players have been available starting under :200 with seven free movies.
2. HD DVD boasts six times the resolution and pristine audio quality (up to 7.1 surround sound) compared with standard DVD.
3. Superior audio is guaranteed on every HD DVD player because of the format's mandatory support for next-generation audio technology including Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD. Even if your current home theater sound system doesn't support the new audio technologies, you'll still get the best quality audio experience on it because any HD DVD player can decode them.
4. All HD DVD movies are encoded at 1080p so you can enjoy them on any 1080p HDTV or projector, even if you own a 1080i HD DVD player. How? Because the deinterlacing process that produces the "Full HD" 1080p picture quality of the source content is handled by the HDTV, rather than from inside the player.
5. For gamers, Xbox 360 offers an affordable HD DVD player addition that can be found for as low $169, with at least six free HD DVD movies-one in the box and a mail-in offer for five free flicks.
6. Every HD DVD player is guaranteed to have picture-in-picture and content storage capabilities, along with an Internet connection to deliver innovative web-enabled features that connect your entertainment experience with online communities and special features.
7. Only HD DVD offers combo discs (standard DVD version on one side, high-def version on the other) that can be used in any DVD player throughout the house or even in the car.
8. Today there are close to 400 HD DVD movies to choose from, with titles like Transformers, Shrek 3, The Bourne Ultimatum and a five-movie Harry Potter box set. Some retailers have started to offer select titles for under $17.
9. You can get HD DVD on PC notebooks from Acer, HP, Gateway and Toshiba with prices starting below $900. Five million HD DVD-enabled notebooks are expected in the market by the end of 2008.
10. HD DVD is the only next-generation high-definition format approved by the DVD Forum, the same organization of companies that brought you the original DVD format.