HIGH DEF DVD...WHATS THE LATEST NEWS?

CES did have a prototype Philips player with dvd as well as sa-cd logos on it...so time will tell if there are sa-cd players from Blu Ray.

The latest blow to hd is Blu Ray supporter Disney buying Pixar studios.
Now you have these studios that are exclusive to Blu Ray
MGM
Fox
Disney
Lions Gate
Miramax
Columbia Tri Srar
Sony Pictures
Pixar.

Blu Ray has zero incentive to support a universal player, and no amount of hd player discounting is going to over come this huge lack of studio support, as well as the huge PS3 sales.
I don't see this war lasting long and it looks as if the studios have decided which format will prevail, if only because of the better security of Blu Ray and the PS3's potential to put Blu Ray into millions of homes quicker than all other harware manufactuers combined.

The Wall Street Journal agrees with you. They are stating that because blu-ray has a larger storage capacity just as VHS had more tape over Betamax that Blu_ray will "win the .war"

I disagree with that reasoning for sure. But I just dont see many folks running out to spend 1000 bucks on an HD DVD player before 1080P displays are even available. And I am lookin forward to seeing the cost of a blu ray Hi Def DVD disk. I do see Netflix has agreed to carry both- ( obviously they are putting the squeeze on the financially disadvantaged blockbuster)

I think as long as any players, whether Blue Ray or HD DVD, are backwards compatible with current DVD's, which people have so heavily embraced over the years, no one will really care which format takes over. Anything that's an improvment, that won't change their already comfy livestyle with current DVD tech is just fine with the public. Actually, most won't really care that their's potentially more audio or video quality by enlarge, but the added storage would be more welcome, I'm sure.
Still, sounds like HD DVD would be the likely next step, just cause it's just more info for already successful dvd format. But we'll see.
Me personally, I'd just like better pic and potential audio quality...that's all I care about. Still, I'd be perfectly happy if HD DVD wins out as well. Either way, we're potentially stepping up in performance.

In principle I agree with you Mr F-Lamb. I also think dvd-A and SACD represent a somewhat evolutionary step in certain realms of recorded audio--but it still hasnt panned out and many stores have sent the unsold stuff back never again to stock DVD-A and SACD. Lets see what happens here--

I've not seen 1080p. While it is clear that 1080i from my STB is superior to what I get from DVD, the DVD picture is still stunning. Makes me wonder if PQ will really drive a format change, or is 1080p really that good?

With a B/sR player, I should get a better picture even from my 1080i HDMI plasma set, right? So I could get the new disc player but not have to upgrade the display right away.