With the coming of HDTV broadcasts (albeit slowly), comes proponents that want an HD-DVD format. From the standpoint of recording, the HD-DVD format has some minor possibilities, but recording is better accomplished through other devices (see Feb 2002 Spot Light). On the idea that movies will look better on HD-DVD over the current DVD standard, the gain won't be that much.

Compression, Compression, Compression
Yes there are many DVDs that you can see the compression of the DVD format called MPEG. Overly compressed video on DVD looks noisy and has major color banding. This is strictly a software issue where it's more the fault of the DVD masterer than the format itself. Proof positive of this is that DVDs exist today such as Training Day, Saving Private Ryan, and Cast Away that look very much like HDTV.

Even more proof is the new "Superbit" DVDs coming out that remove features in order to make room for higher video quality. Pop any of these "Superbit" movies in a good progressive-scan DVD player attached to an HDTV, and you'll see image quality "similar" to HDTV quality video. The word "Similar" is used because HDTV is capable of showing the small details profoundly better due to the increased resolution the HDTV format offers.

Sweating The Small Stuff
Overall, the DVD format will be the perfect home movie format for years if not decades to come. It's in a form and size consumers are comfortable with, and it's compact enough to make storage of your DVD library fairly easy.

One thing the DVD format can't compare to HDTV is the small stuff. A example of this is during any war movie like The Patriot or Saving Private Ryan; with DVD the little soldiers in the far distance look like little blurry objects if your try to really look at them (from your normal sitting position). Due to it's immense resolution, HDTV can show these little blurry people in full detail, but that's only if the director kept the entire image in focus. Truth be told, many directors pull focus by blurring all but the fore and mid-ground elements in the frame. So in many cases, HDTV's extra resolution can be wasted showing small blurry people as the small blurry people the film maker intended them look like.

HDTV Broadcasts
Progressive-scan DVD players already look better than HDTV broadcasts of the same movie simply due the fact that HDTV broadcasts have to be compressed in a general compression scheme wherein every scene of the movie is compressed at the same level.

DVD, on the other hand, is variable compressed wherein every scene is analyzed individually and compressed at different rates. This allows DVD to use more space for scenes that need it, and less for those that don't.

The difference in compression alone is what makes the current DVD format better than an HDTV broadcast of the same movie. It's only when you move to a closed format such as HD-VCRs with variable compressed movies that you start getting a better picture than the current DVD format offers. When you realize most people that move to DVD won't even consider moving back to a HD-VCR dinosaur that offers a major loss in features for minor image improvement over DVD that you begin to understand that HD-DVD and HD-VCR are DOA.

HD-DVD
It goes without saying that there would be a general improvement among all movies with a general HD-DVD format simply due to the fact that a lot more data can fit on the disk with less attention needed for compression. All a masterer would have to do is tell the computer to compress the video at a moderate level, and as long as everything looks decent who cares, right...wrong!

The fact that current DVDs can look just as good as an HDTV version of the same movie says a lot for the current DVD format. People should demand that all their DVDs be compressed of the highest quality. The largest indicator of HD-DVDs fate may lie with DVD-A and SACD. Consumers generally view the standard CD format as an infallible format, and thus the upgrade path to the better sound quality offered by DVD-A or SACD is either slow or nonexistent.

The current DVD format with it's well received form factor, penetration into millions of homes (faster than any consumer electronics product ever mind you) could easily make the HD-DVD format DOA. The need for HD-DVD isn't there, and the desire among consumers is highly questionable. Don't hold your breath on HD-DVD, the format will never come to be.