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[milanbaros]

Can someone please tell me once and for all why movies on dvds are more widescreen than a widescreen tv? Why would anyone want to lose picture size?

 

[Willco]

Not all movies are. It has to do with aspect ratio. You're not losing picture. 16:9 is the common aspect ratio for widescreen television broadcast, and many anamorphic DVDs will fill the entire screen. As so, it's the standard for widescreen sets. However, you will still get small black bars with 2.35:1, but I would dare say that most films are not filmed in that aspect ratio, which is a determining factor for the current 16:9 standard.

 

[Alcibiades]

Can someone please tell me once and for all why movies on dvds are more widescreen than a widescreen tv? Why would anyone want to lose picture size?

I can explain this without getting technical:

That;s because there are generally 3 different sizes for film/video.


First, the regular old TV size:
One is let's say SQUARE (TV shows and some very old films, fits on old regular TV's).


Then, the two used for film nowadays:

One is RECTANGAL (when you go to the movies)
The other is SUPER-RECTANGAL (also at the movies: this one is even "thinner" than the first rectangal)

Old TV's fit in the SQUARE picture just fine. New widescreen TV's are made to fit RECTANGAL. But since some movies are SUPER-RECTANGAL, they aren't "wide" enough to fit even on a new widescreen TV.

This is not perfect explanation, but if you want the technical details, google and you'll find 'em.

 

[Solo]

Youre not "losing picture". Your "widescreen" set shows a 1.78:1 ratio, which is what the majority of TV shows these days are shot in. Meanwhile, the majority of films are either 1.85:1 or 2.35:1, hence the black bars. Why do people have such troubles getting this?

 

[jett]

Can someone please tell me once and for all why movies on dvds are more widescreen than a widescreen tv? Why would anyone want to lose picture size?

Movies can be filmed in a wide(lolz) variety of aspect ratios. Most movies use either "flat"(1.85:1) or "scope"(2.35:1). Widescreen TVs have an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, closer to "flat"...that means scope movies will always have "black bars", because they are just fucking wider than your TV. You're always going to get black bars anyway, be it for most epic films or for old tv shows/movies(which are filmed in academy, meaning the size of any regular TV).

And...you don't lose picture size. Jeezus.

 

[Solo]

Keeping on this tangent, why has there never been 2.35:1 sets made? Surely theres a niche market for real wide sets? Id snap one up in a second. Then it would be vertical bars FTW.

 

[jett]

Not that I want to defend HDDVD, but the dramatic leap from VHS to DVD on small TV sets was not that dramatic either. I doubt many people could tell the difference between a new VHS tape and DVD's on a screen smaller than 26 inches.

Are you fucking nuts? The differences is obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes, yes even on TVs smaller than 26 inches.

 

[jett]

Keeping on this tangent, why has there never been 2.35:1 sets made? Surely theres a niche market for real wide sets? Id snap one up in a second. Then it would be vertical bars FTW.

I dunno. The powers that be suck dick for choosing 16:9 for widescreen TVs.

Spoiler

p.s. I FUCKING HATE IT WHEN MOVIES ARE FILMED IN 1.85:1

 

[Solo]

Yeah, Spielberg loves that ratio. Thankfully his last few films hes gone back to scope.

 

[pestul]

Wow, nice how everyone jumped on that dude when his question was completely valid. I think many first time widescreen adapters are kinda peeved when they first realize that most DVDs still don't fill thier entire $2000 screen fully.

 

[Lord Error]

p.s. I F****** HATE IT WHEN MOVIES ARE FILMED IN 1.85:1

So you prefer 2.35:1 and bigger black bars on your TV when you buy a DVD?

 

[Solo]

Who cares about the fucking bars? Are you so insistent on having your TV screen filled that you want movies butchered to fit it?

 

[Lord Error]

Who cares about the fucking bars? Are you so insistent on having your TV screen filled that you want movies butchered to fit it?

How is the movie butchered when the director originaly made it in 1.85:1 ratio? You see what he's intended you to see, and it fills the screen better.

 

[Solo]

Its not, but you still have the "dreaded black bars of death", which people bitch about endlessly. Your post sounded like you were a member of that camp.

 

[jett]

So you prefer 2.35:1 and bigger black bars on your TV when you buy a DVD?

I don't give a shit about black bars.

 

[mrklaw]

Keeping on this tangent, why has there never been 2.35:1 sets made? Surely theres a niche market for real wide sets? Id snap one up in a second. Then it would be vertical bars FTW.

16:9 is supposed to be the best ratio to provide a natural field of vision for our eyes. Scope (2.35:1) is generally only used for blockbuster movies or ones with 'big' cinematography. It doesn't really suit movies with lots of character action - eg talking heads - too much right and left means you crop the heads too much to fill the screen. if you watched your soaps or dramas in 2.35:1 all the time it would be fatiguing.


anyway, even if you had a 2.35:1 TV, other ratio movies would still have black bars on the side.

I just don't get the obsession about filling the screen. The screen is just a frame on which to view the TV program/movie. Sometimes the picture is the wrong shape for the frame. No biggy.

 

[Alcibiades]

-apparently, Paramount has moved Tomb Raider and Four Brothers to June 27th, while keeping U2: Rattle and Hum for May 30th. A few weeks ago, stories mentioned that Paramount's first release was going to be the U2 video, so this definitely follows what was said a while ago.

-Universal has put on their website dates of June 13th for Happy Gilmore and Rundown, and Friday Night Lights and Pitch Black for July 11th.

-There are rumors that Warner's next titles are going to be released very soon (as early as May 2nd), but many disregard this because there isn't even a way to pre-order any more of their titles yet and no boxart has surfaced. Matrix, Batman Begins, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are named for May, making things even more unlikely as Warner seems to be holding off on major films...


For my part, I decided to pre-order from a link on the avsforum to a discounted player (by the time I ordered on Tuesday the $50 off coupon wasn't working on Crutchfield, and I couldn't find my gift card anyway) but that dealer (Hi-Def Lifestyle) hasn't gotten their shipment yet. They are an authorized dealer but their reps say the shipment is being held up at customs and won't pass through until Monday. I'm pretty pissed off because I'd have my player already if I hadn't mulled about getting one for so long and pre-ordered on time, and because my last day here in college is probably May 6th (day after my finals) since I gotta take off for E3, so I'm not even gonna get to enjoy the player for myself much, not to mention show some titles to my friends. I'll have it for a few days at most here in college (on Final Exam study week no less >:| ), then have to wait 'till mid-May to hook it up back home, which kinda sucks since I'll be kept very, very busy by my family there. I'm getting it almost a hundred dollars cheaper ($440 + $10 shipping) than I would if I bought in-store with tax, so that fact is helping me in my patience.

Ah well... I used a Target gift card to order Last Samurai and Serenity ($45 - $25 card = $20), so hopefully they arrive right before I get my player (which ships in the middle of next week).... I can't wait to check out this monster.

Also, based on the fact that Pitch Black has been announced, I may just delay my purchase of Chronicles of Riddick a few months. In addition, I think I may shorten my "to-buy" list a bit until late summer, when hopefully there has been some price drops on some (though I'll still make some purchases on release week, like Batman Begins)...

 

[Alcibiades]

Currently Available
Apollo 13 (Universal)
Doom (Universal)
Last Samurai (Warner)
Million Dollar Baby (Warner)
Phantom of the Opera (Warner)
Serenity (Universal)

5/2
Goodfellas (Warner)
Swordfish (Warner)

5/9
Assault on Precinct 13 (Universal)
Cinderella Man (Universal)
Jarhead (Universal)
Rumor Has It (Warner) <- Hybrid
Training Day (Warner)

5/23
Bourne Supremacy (Universal)
Chronicles of Riddick (Universal)
U-571 (Universal)
Van Helsing (Universal)

5/30
U2: Rattle and Hum (Paramount)

6/13
Happy Gilmore (Universal)
Rundown (Universal)

6/20
Four Brothers (Paramount)
Tomb Raider (Paramount)

7/11
Friday Night Lights (Universal)
Pitch Black (Universal)


Pricing:

Universal - 34.99 List
Warner - 28.99 Catalog, 34.99 New Release, 39.99 Hybrid New Release

 

[Solo]

What a shitty lineup. The least they could do is dig up a classic or two, restore em, and release em.

 

[Willco]

What a shitty lineup. The least they could do is dig up a classic or two, restore em, and release em.

That costs a lot of money. They'll wait until there's a standard format to start dumping money into high quality restorations and new bonus material.

 

[Solo]

Well, still, at least release something half decent. Id buy Army Of Darkness over any of these titles!

 

[Willco]

Well, still, at least release something half decent. Id buy Army Of Darkness over any of these titles!

You should buy Army of Darkness no matter what!

 

[.hacked]

Currently Available
Apollo 13 (Universal)
Doom (Universal)
Last Samurai (Warner)
Million Dollar Baby (Warner)
Phantom of the Opera (Warner)
Serenity (Universal)

5/2
Goodfellas (Warner)
Swordfish (Warner)

5/9
Assault on Precinct 13 (Universal)
Cinderella Man (Universal)
Jarhead (Universal)
Rumor Has It (Warner) <- Hybrid
Training Day (Warner)

5/23
Bourne Supremacy (Universal)
Chronicles of Riddick (Universal)
U-571 (Universal)
Van Helsing (Universal)

5/30
U2: Rattle and Hum (Paramount)

6/13
Happy Gilmore (Universal)
Rundown (Universal)

6/20
Four Brothers (Paramount)
Tomb Raider (Paramount)

7/11
Friday Night Lights (Universal)
Pitch Black (Universal)


Pricing:

Universal - 34.99 List
Warner - 28.99 Catalog, 34.99 New Release, 39.99 Hybrid New Release

sweet, picked up Doom and Apollo 13 yesterday. Hope amazon updates with more preorders.

 

[sportzhead]

Wow, what a garbage list of movies. Right now HD-DVD is a waste of money. Just get Comcast and HBO HD and be done with it until they actually start to make an effort to release good movies.

Edit- Comcast has a HD On-Demand movie section now. Just watched The Fifth Element in glorious HD the other night. Also watched Collateral (great movie) on HBO HD over the weekend.

Comcast HD >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Current HD-DVD price and movie lineup

 

[JPRaup]

Pretty good list

would buy:

Currently Available
Apollo 13 (Universal)
Doom (Universal)
Last Samurai (Warner)
Million Dollar Baby (Warner)
Serenity (Universal)
Goodfellas (Warner)
Assault on Precinct 13 (Universal)
Cinderella Man (Universal)
Jarhead (Universal)
Training Day (Warner)
Bourne Supremacy (Universal)
Chronicles of Riddick (Universal)
U-571 (Universal)
Van Helsing (Universal)
Happy Gilmore (Universal)


Netflix also just updated there list:

 

[TheWolf]

wtf, my cable provider needs to get HD OnDemand.

 

[mrklaw]

Wow, what a garbage list of movies. Right now HD-DVD is a waste of money. Just get Comcast and HBO HD and be done with it until they actually start to make an effort to release good movies.

Edit- Comcast has a HD On-Demand movie section now. Just watched The Fifth Element in glorious HD the other night. Also watched Collateral (great movie) on HBO HD over the weekend.

Comcast HD >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Current HD-DVD price and movie lineup

yeah, except HDDVD is supposed to look better than broadcast HD

 

[JPRaup]

yeah, except HDDVD is supposed to look better than broadcast HD

and IIRC some of the HBO HD broadcasts are not OAR

 

[Alcibiades]

Currently Available
Apollo 13 (Universal)
Assault on Precinct 13 (Universal)
Cinderella Man (Universal)
Doom (Universal)
Full Metal Jacked (Warner)
Goodfellas (Warner)
Jarhead (Universal)
Last Samurai (Warner)
Million Dollar Baby (Warner)
Phantom of the Opera (Warner)
Rumor Has It (Warner) <- Hybrid New Release
Serenity (Universal)
Swordfish (Warner)
Training Day (Warner)
Unforgiven (Warner)


5/23
Blazing Saddles (Warner)
Bourne Supremacy (Universal)
Chronicles of Riddick (Universal)
The Fugitive (Warner)
U-571 (Universal)
Van Helsing (Universal)

5/30
U2: Rattle and Hum (Paramount)

6/6
Constantine (Warner)
Firewall (Warner) <- Hybrid New Release
Guitarscape Planet (Concert Hot Spot)
View From Space With Heavenly Music (Concert Hot Spot)
Perfect Storm (Warner)

6/13
Happy Gilmore (Universal)
Rundown (Universal)

6/20
Four Brothers (Paramount)
Tomb Raider (Paramount)

7/11
Friday Night Lights (Universal)
Pitch Black (Universal)


Pricing:

Universal - 34.99 List
Warner - 28.99 Catalog, 34.99 New Release, 39.99 Hybrid New Release





not sure exactly what the 2 music dvd's on June 8th but it seems they are stuff you'd play for atmosphere and not to watch (like a virtual aquarium or some decoration)


View From Space amazon.com info:

Product Description
Eight hours of music all on one disc, HD DVD or Standard Definition . . . the greatest classical music ever recorded, in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, provides the heavenly soundtrack to this spectacular view of our planet captured in stunning High Definition clarity by the international crew of the space shuttle Endeavour. The Earth, as never seen before, accompanied by the timeless music of Vivaldi, Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Pachelbel, Strauss, Grieg, Bizet, Debussy, Rossini and more. Over eight hours of music on one DVD.


Guitarscape Planet amazon.com info:

Product Description
A Guitarscape Planet blends the magic of a virtuoso concert performance by premiere guitarist Muriel Anderson with stunning scenes of natural beauty filmed planet wide. All captured in state-of-the-art High Definition and mastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. Muriel is accompanied by seven time Grammy winning drummer, Paul Wertico of Pat Metheny fame, Les Paul Trio bassist Nicki Parrott and renowned cellist, Julie Adams.

 

[Beavertown]

Any sales data been released yet? How well are the players and movies selling?

 

[SupaFlySoccerMom]

Any sales data been released yet? How well are the players and movies selling?

The players are still selling out all their shipments from what I've seen and who I've spoken to. Movies... well, I heard those aren't doing so great, mostly because of the selection.

 

[Alcibiades]

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/musicandvideo/hddvd/default.aspx

12 Monkeys
2 Fast 2 Furious
American Pie (Unrated)
An American Werewolf in London
Animal House
Army of Darkness
Awake
Backdraft
Batman Begins
Battlestar Galactica (2004) Season 1
Bikini Destinations (TV Series)
Black Dahlia
Blazing Saddles
The Blues Brothers: Extended Edition
The Bone Collector
The Breakfast Club
Braveheart
Breaking and Entering
Bubble
Casino
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Children of Men
Conan the Barbarian
Constantine
Dante's Peak
Dawn of the Dead (Unrated)
Dazed and Confused
Decameron
The Deer Hunter
Derailed
Discovery’s Historic Mission
Dracula (1931)
Dune Theatrical
Elizabethtown
End of Days
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
Fast Times and Ridgemont High
The Fast and the Furious
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Fearless
Field of Dreams
Firewall
Forest Gump
Four Brothers
The Fugitive
Frankenstein (1931)
Friday Night Lights
Ghost
Grease
Grind House
Happy Gilmore
Harry Potter
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
The Hulk
The Interpreter
Italian Job
Killshot
King Kong (Deluxe Edition)
La Cité des Enfants Perdus
La Grande Vadrouille
La Haine
Land of the Dead (Unrated)
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
L'armée des Ombres
Last Legion
Le Cercle Rouge
Le Lauréat
Le Pacte des Loups
Le Pianiste
Les Trois Jours du Condor
The Libertine
Lucky Number Slevin
The Matador
Matrix
Meet the Fockers
Meet the Parents
M:I:3
Miami Vice
Miami Vice Season 1
Mrs. Henderson Presents
The Mummy (1999)
Ocean’s Twelve
Out of Sight
Passion of the Clerks
The Perfect Storm
The Polar Express
Pitch Black
Pulse
Ray
Red Dragon
The Rundown
Scary Movie 4
School for Scoundrels
School of Rock
The Scorpian King
Seabiscuit
Sin City 2
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Spartacus
Spongebob Squarepants
Spy Game
The Thing
Traffic
TransAmerica
Two for the Money
U2: Rattle & Hum
Unforgiven
Unleashed
Voyage au Bout de l'Enfer
Waist Deep
The War Within
Waterworld
Wolf Creek
Young Hannibal

I'm interested in a quite a few...

 

[terrene]

12 Monkeys
Dracula (1931)
Frankenstein (1931)

Would hit.

The rest is really bad, though. Blu-Ray is going to win.

Also, lol @ Sin City 2 being on the list.

 

[Alcibiades]

-Paramount has delayed their titles
-one of the music DVD's supposed to be coming out tomorrow is coming out next week instead
-Universal added a few for August
-it's likely that Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, 16 Blocks and Syriana will come out on both HD-DVD and DVD on the same date (on hybrid discs) in the coming weeks of June, as Warner said they were gonna do about one hybrid new release a week; rumors of Batman Begins, The Goblet of Fire, and Dukes of Hazzard coming out in June as well...


Currently Available
Apollo 13 (Universal)
Assault on Precinct 13 (Universal)
Blazing Saddles (Warner)
Bourne Supremacy (Universal)
Cinderella Man (Universal)
Chronicles of Riddick (Universal)
Doom (Universal)
The Fugitive (Warner)
Full Metal Jacked (Warner)
Goodfellas (Warner)
Jarhead (Universal)
Last Samurai (Warner)
Million Dollar Baby (Warner)
Phantom of the Opera (Warner)
Rumor Has It (Warner) <- Hybrid New Release
Serenity (Universal)
Swordfish (Warner)
Training Day (Warner)
U-571 (Universal)
Unforgiven (Warner)
Van Helsing (Universal)



6/6
Constantine (Warner)
Firewall (Warner) <- Hybrid New Release
View From Space With Heavenly Music (Concert Hot Spot)
Perfect Storm (Warner)

6/13
Happy Gilmore (Universal)
Rundown (Universal)
Guitarscape Planet (Concert Hot Spot)

7/11
Friday Night Lights (Universal)
Pitch Black (Universal)

8/8
Ray (Universal)

8/15
Bone Collector (Universal)
Interpreter (Universal)
Spy Game (Universal)

Pricing:

Universal - 34.99 List
Warner - 28.99 Catalog, 39.99 Hybrid New Release

 

[Alcibiades]

Currently Available
16 Blocks (Warner) <- COMBO
Apollo 13 (Universal)
Assault on Precinct 13 (Universal)
Blazing Saddles (Warner)
Bourne Supremacy (Universal)
Cinderella Man (Universal)
Chronicles of Riddick (Universal)
Constantine (Warner)
Doom (Universal)
Firewall (Warner) <- COMBO
The Fugitive (Warner)
Full Metal Jacked (Warner)
Goodfellas (Warner)
Happy Gilmore (Universal)
Jarhead (Universal)
Last Samurai (Warner)
Million Dollar Baby (Warner)
Perfect Storm (Warner)
Phantom of the Opera (Warner)
Rumor Has It (Warner) <- COMBO
Rundown (Universal)
Serenity (Universal)
Swordfish (Warner)
Training Day (Warner)
U-571 (Universal)
Unforgiven (Warner)
Van Helsing (Universal)
View From Space With Heavenly Music (Concert Hot Spot)


6/20
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Warner) <- COMBO
Syriana (Warner)

6/27
Guitarscape Planet (Concert Hot Spot)
Lethal Weapon (Warner)

7/11
Friday Night Lights (Universal)
Pitch Black (Universal)

8/8
Animal House (Universal) <- COMBO
Ray (Universal)
Unleashed (Universal) <- COMBO

8/15
Bone Collector (Universal)
Interpreter (Universal)
Spy Game (Universal)

9/12
Backdraft (Universal)
Traffic (Universal)


Pricing:

Universal - 34.99 List
Warner - 28.99 Catalog, 34.99 New Release, 39.99 COMBO New Release
Concert Hot Spot - 29.98 List



-seems like the studios are officially calling the hybrids "COMBO" discs, so I've labeled them that; these contain HD-DVD versions on one side and DVD versions on the other
-Paramount is still mum on their titles
-Batman Begins, The Goblet of Fire, and Charlie and the Chocolate factory seemingly weren't announced for June
-Universal has announced their first COMBO titles, Animal House and Unleashed and they will cost $34.99; in addition, they'll be reducing the price of their April-July titles to 29.99 on August 8th
-btw, all of these are MSRP, so as with DVD's you can find them disounted on amazon and elsewhere (most are $20 or $25, but the most expensive COMBO new releases will go up to $28)

 

[Alcibiades]

finally will get my player soon, as the dealer I'm getting it from (Value Electronics) got a shipment this week; previous dealer (HiDefLifestyle) didn't get them until this past month but I waited until I settled down in my hometown again before re-ordering (canceled my order right before E3). Good thing is, I'm gonna get 2 free movies (chose Training Day and Unforgiven, they were out of Constantine which I'll order from amazon.com). I already have Last Samurai and Serenity, though I'd like to order the Firefly set and finish watching the series before I watch serenity, so I'll probably do with 3 movies for a few days. What sucks is I go back to college July 3rd for Summer Session II so I won't have much time to enjoy my player. I don't really want to take much to college in the summer since I'll be in temporary housing, so I'll probably leave my player back home and take it to college until late August when I go back for the Fall Semester. Either way, at least I'll get to enjoy it for a bit before I leave, and again between summer and fall semesters in August (have a feeling I'll fall in love with the picture and want to take it with me for summer though...)

I'll probably place an order for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (COMBO disc), Constantine, and one other movie, so I'll have a total of 7 movies to see before I leave for summer session II.

I'm probably going to be running the audio through 5.1 analog, so hopefully the Dobly Digital Plus sounds good.

Pretty excited as my only experience with HD so far is PBS in my college town and TV Azteca (from Mexico) here in the border for World Cup Soccer, both over-the-air.

 

[Alcibiades]

-Universal and Warner just announced some more titles, too bad Paramount still hasn't said anything...

Currently Available
16 Blocks (Warner) <- COMBO
Apollo 13 (Universal)
Assault on Precinct 13 (Universal)
Blazing Saddles (Warner)
Bourne Supremacy (Universal)
Cinderella Man (Universal)
Chronicles of Riddick (Universal)
Constantine (Warner)
Doom (Universal)
Firewall (Warner) <- COMBO
The Fugitive (Warner)
Full Metal Jacked (Warner)
Goodfellas (Warner)
Happy Gilmore (Universal)
Jarhead (Universal)
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Warner) <- COMBO
Last Samurai (Warner)
Million Dollar Baby (Warner)
Perfect Storm (Warner)
Phantom of the Opera (Warner)
Rumor Has It (Warner) <- COMBO
Rundown (Universal)
Serenity (Universal)
Swordfish (Warner)
Syriana (Warner)
Training Day (Warner)
U-571 (Universal)
Unforgiven (Warner)
Van Helsing (Universal)
View From Space With Heavenly Music (Concert Hot Spot)


6/27
Guitarscape Planet (Concert Hot Spot)
Lethal Weapon (Warner)

7/11
Dukes of Hazzard (Warner)
Enter the Dragon (Warner)
Friday Night Lights (Universal)
Pitch Black (Universal)

8/8
Animal House (Universal) <- COMBO
Ray (Universal)
Unleashed (Universal) <- COMBO

8/15
Bone Collector (Universal)
Interpreter (Universal)
Spy Game (Universal)

9/12
Backdraft (Universal)
Red Dragon (Universal)
Seabiscuit (Universal)
Traffic (Universal)

9/19
Dazed and Confused (Universal) <- COMBO
End of Days (Universal)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Universal)
George A. Romero's Land of the Dead (Universal) <- COMBO


*COMBO movies both the HD-DVD and DVD versions, with one version on each side of the disc.



Pricing:

Universal - 34.99 List
Warner - 28.99 Catalog, 34.99 New Release, 39.99 COMBO New Release
Concert Hot Spot - 29.98 List

 

[brandonh83]

*COMBO movies both the HD-DVD and DVD versions, with one version on each side of the disc.

Why? I mean I'm SURE there's a reason for this... I'm just not convinced that I know what it is.

 

[Alcibiades]

Why? I mean I'm SURE there's a reason for this... I'm just not convinced that I know what it is.

well, so it can be played on an HD-DVD player, but if you own another DVD player somewhere (car, bedroom, friend's house, game system), you can play the movie as well. You don't need to own 2 versions of the movie, so you save space AND money (officially adds $5 to the cost of an HD-DVD movie, but at amazon.com, seems to add $3 to new releases).