Blu-Ray player at Bestbuy.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Bluray plays CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-RW, DVD+RW just like HD-DVD does. Neither format has an advantage over another in this area.

Kex, I wouldn't worry about 1080P. Unless you have a very large RPTV or front projection system, you will be hard pressed to see any difference between 1080I and 1080P Especially if you sit more than 10ft from your display.

[paul_pci]

For the average consumer, will the difference between 1080i vs. p even be a selling point?

[kexodusc]

Bluray plays CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-RW, DVD+RW just like HD-DVD does. Neither format has an advantage over another in this area.

Kex, I wouldn't worry about 1080P. Unless you have a very large RPTV or front projection system, you will be hard pressed to see any difference between 1080I and 1080P Especially if you sit more than 10ft from your display.

Really? I notice a modest difference between 720p and 1080i on "busy" pictures with lots of movement...720p looks better IMO. Not the end of the world, but why isn't 1080p much better? Have we reached the point of diminishing returns already?

In that case, why would anyone with a 1080i TV, or 51" set like me or smaller think twice about spending double on BluRay and several dollars more per disc? Any other benefits?

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Really? I notice a modest difference between 720p and 1080i on "busy" pictures with lots of movement...720p looks better IMO. Not the end of the world, but why isn't 1080p much better? Have we reached the point of diminishing returns already?

The point of diminishing returns lies in our eyes ability to see fine detail and a given distance. If you sit 10ft or more from the display you will be hard pressed to any differences. Our eyes ability to detect fine detail is very limited at this distance. Secondly all HD DVD and Bluray software is sourced from 1080p 24 frame sources. All regular DVD and broadcast comes from 480i encoding. Because the HD source is already progressive before encoding into the HD formats, none of the artifacts associated with current DVD technology will exist. So asides from the extra detail in 1080p which may be visible are not, both 1080i and 1080p output will look essentially the same. Unlike current video where 720p looks better than 1080i on sporting events, 1080i and 1080p sources will look pretty much alike with sports material.

In that case, why would anyone with a 1080i TV, or 51" set like me or smaller think twice about spending double on BluRay and several dollars more per disc? Any other benefits?

If you have a set smaller than 50" I would say that the picture will look crisper, but the ability to see fine detail will be completely lost on a screen that size. You should see a difference on a 50" screen. In the case the improvement in audio might be what you are looking for.