In view of all the threads lately involving HD DVD and Blu-ray, I thought that it might be helpful to state what we know about Toshiba's HD DVD. First of all, though claiming to want a peaceful resolution of its impending format war with Sony, Toshiba still plans to launch HD DVD in the fourth quarter of 2005 for under $1000 (for all we know, that could mean $999.99, and probably does). The HD will tap out, at least in the first wave, at 720p/1080i, though 1080p is certainly on the docket. The outputs will feature both HDMI and IEEE 1394 (no word on component). The copy-protection will be AACS, as it will for Blu-ray. Both Dolby Digital Plus and DTS HD are slated to be on-board, with their lossy brethren represented as well. The player will be backward-compatible with DVD and CD. You can bet your bottom dollar that SACD won't be represented, but there's no word on whether DVD-A will find a home there.

The hi res DVD issue is getting more complicated all the time, as both contestants keep increasing disk capacity, and other alternatives loom on the horizon as possible dark horses in the race (holographic, red-laser disks, with their immense storage capability and even Microsoft's WMV/HD). As Yogi said, it ain't over til it's over, and I'm not sure whether it ever will be.

Ed