Some thoughts and words...

Up til July 18, 2006, 35 HD DVD titles would've been released to date by Warner and Universal. 5 of them on HD DVD / DVD Combo Format, 4 of them with Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio tracks included (supposedly bit-for-bit identical to the films' audio masters) and 3 titles with Picture-In-Picture visual commentary (or commonly known now as the In Movie Experience).

Most people with HD DVD playback equipment would have at least tried out a Combo Format disc or have enjoyed the Picture-In-Picture visual commentary, but sadly my guess is that no one is yet able to fully experience the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio tracks that have been in current releases and may be increasingly included in more of the future HD DVD releases.

I've heard from some readers who expressed that a firmware upgrade on the existing players may do the trick, allowing the decoded TrueHD 5.1 stream out of the analog 5.1 audio outputs instead of just 2.0 output. I do hope that such upgrade will arrive soon, if it proves to be achievable.

By the way, it seems that second-generation HD DVD playback equipment isn't that far away, the European debut of HD DVD format in the 4Q of this year will see a lineup of HD DVD players from Toshiba different in build from those release in the US. The full interview article Toshiba personnel on HD DVD's debut in Europe can be viewed via this link.

I have created another HD DVD titles release schedule which I think maybe clearer... it can be accessed by clicking here.

Another thing, not HD DVD-related; If you see a lot of pop-up or pop-under or any form of advertising while accessing this site, please note that I do not benefit from them. In fact, this HD DVD blogsite is created and updated with NO financial gains in mind. Just a special interest blog.
I guess I would like some comments or suggestions from the frequent readers of this blog. So if you have a pressing need to comment on something that is being mentioned on this blog or if you would like to contribute news, articles, new information related to HD DVD format, please feel free to e-mail me at hd_dvd_format AT yahoo DOT com (with the term 'hddvdformat' as the subject header). You could also submit your comments for each post by clicking on the 'comments' link.