Play existing DVDs on HD DVD or Blu-Ray?

[HMBHawk]

Can you play existing DVDs on a HD DVD or Blu-Ray DVD player?

[admin]

Yes you can. And not only that, these players will all upscale the DVD to HD resolutions so they look very close to real HD movies (although you can still tell the difference). A good quality DVD upscaling player can cost more than $150, so if you can get a Blu-ray or HD DVD player for arount $250 (with up to 7 free movies), then it's a good deal.

Be warned that while HD DVDs are region-free, their DVD playback is region controlled and there's currently no legal way to get them region-freed. Blu-ray discs are region controlled, as is their DVD playback functionality, but some players (eg. one of the Samsung's, I think) have codes you can enter to remove the DVD region coding (but the Blu-ray region coding remains).

[HMBHawk]

OK. Can you play HD DVDs on an existing DVD player? My gifting and equipment purchasing are out-of-sync.

[soup]

OK. Can you play HD DVDs on an existing DVD player? My gifting and equipment purchasing are out-of-sync.

No.

[admin]

HD DVDs only play on HD DVD players. Blu-ray movies only play on Blu-ray players. Both types of HD players play DVDs, but a DVD player can't play either of these HD formats.