I am – Hercules!!

Questions, we get HDTV questions.

I see little difference between a TV picture and an HDTV picture! Why would I replace my beautiful DVD collection with this bogus new HD-DVD format?
Why, indeed? If you really can’t see a significant difference between TV and HDTV, save your money, friend. In fact, the really good news for you and those like you is that HD-DVD is already driving the cost of old-school DVD way downward. Best movies ever, super-cheap on DVD. Want a new DVD copy of “2001: A Space Odyssey”? $8.99. “The Godfather”? $13.99. “Jaws” (Widescreen 25th Anniversary Edition)? $10.58. “The Wrath of Khan” (Director’s Edition)? $8.36. Pretty sweet for everyone, this HD-DVD era, if you were to ask me!

But do you, Mighty Hercules, see a significant difference between TV and HDTV?
Some will tell you HD is the most important development to hit TV since color. I’m with them. Going from the standard definition format (used for VHS, Laserdisc and DVD) to high definition is like getting your first prescription eyeglasses, or wiping a thick layer of dust from your window. VCRs and DVD players are modern miracles, no question. But once you spend a little time with an HD signal, you really get a sense of how much visual information is lost in the transition from 35mm to standard definition. HD lets you read EVERYTHING on Professor Charles Xavier’s classroom chalkboard, not just the stuff written in really big letters.

Can I play my old DVDs on the HD-DVD player?
I’m told yes, but keep in mind that Homeland Security does not force you to turn in your old DVD player when you buy an HD-DVD (or Blu-ray) player. My HDTV set has multiple inputs that allow me to pipe in DVD and HD signals simultaneously. Chances are, yours does too.

Won’t the HD-disc format, like the laserdisc format before it, almost certainly fail to catch on with the mainstream?
I give HD-DVD much better odds than laserdisc, which truthfully didn’t represent anywhere near as dramatic an upgrade in picture quality. Also? The calendar below demonstrates that new HD-DVDs are priced about the same as regular DVDs, offering a lot more visual bang for the buck. Good-size HDTV sets are down to $700. And the HD-DVD players rolling out into the marketplace this week and next cost only $500, which is about what the early DVD players cost. (I’m less certain about the prospects of the rival Blu-ray format rolling out this autumn. Blu-ray players are expected to sell for $1,000 per unit, and the Blu-ray discs, one hears, are expected to sell for more than their HD-DVD counterparts.)

But aren’t Blu-ray discs better for video games?
I don’t know from video games. But unless the Blu-ray videogame players play movies in HD, this strikes me as an unrelated issue.

Alright already! I must go now to buy a skinny HDTV to hook up my HD-DVD player so I can play these HD-DVDs I so covet. Do I go with plasma or LCD?
I’ve spent many an hour at Circuit City, squinting at monitors and pondering this very question. Here’s a helpful recent article that compares and contrasts the formats.

Should “Serenity” be my first HD-DVD purchase ever?
I’ve heard worse ideas! It’s got that script by Joss Whedon (he wrote the exciting cartoon about the talking toys you know!) and space battles by the Zoic special effects people. If, like me, you’ve seen the new “Battlestar Galactica” on the Universal HD Channel, you know how spectacular those Zoic space battles look in HD. Much better than the space battles in “Phantom of the Opera”!!

Speaking of which, here’s what else you have to choose from at this, the dawn of the HD-DVD era:

Herc’s Puny HD-DVD Calendar

April 18
Chronos $16.99

The Last Samurai $19.98

Million Dollar Baby $19.98

The Phantom of the Opera $19.98

Serenity $24.49 <--- NEW!!

April 25

Apollo 13 $24.49 <--- NEW!!

Doom $24.49 <--- NEW!!

May 9

Assault on Precinct 13 $23.99 <--- NEW!!

Cinderella Man $23.99 <--- NEW!!

Jarhead $23.99 <--- NEW!!

May 23

The Bourne Supremacy $23.99 <--- NEW!!

The Chronicles of Riddick $23.99 <--- NEW!!

Van Helsing $23.99 <--- NEW!!

U-571 $23.99 <--- NEW!!