I was VERY surprised the other day when watching my HD DVD copy of Erin Brockovich to see the Columbia logo come up including the word 'Sony'.
Of course, the film was a Columbia/Universal Pictures joint effort which is how it made its way onto HD DVD but even so it did raise a chuckle to see the Sony brand.
As for why I have an HD DVD player? Well, I have an Xbox 360 already and the drive was dirt cheap. Also, HD DVDs are region free so I can buy them from Amazon.com without worrying if they will play on my machine and they are cheaper than Blu-Ray discs which are not region free. I have contemplated getting a PS3 but the region coding means I would be locked into only discs from region B. There is a list of discs which are not region coded but it is a bit worrying compared with the total lack of region coding on HD DVD. I wouldn't have got into DVD in the first place if not for region free players. There are some region free Blu-ray players out there but they cost crazy money and I doubt they will stay region free.
In addition to the Xbox I have an upscaling DVD player for use on my 120" HD front projector. The picture looks a little soft but is pretty watchable. Does it compare to HD DVD? Not really. Colours are weak and fine detail is lacking. Apart from watching an IMAX film, HD DVD at home is the only time I have had a sense of vertigo when watching footage filmed from the air. DVD has never done that for me.
In the end, I'm busy building up a nice collection of HD DVDs and intend to get a BD/HD DVD/DVD combi player when the price drops but I didn't want to just live with standard def movies when HD ones are available and the difference is so marked. It would be nice if the combi player was also region free for BD but if not I guess I'll have to get a region A one and have it region free for HD DVD and DVD. The choice of BD movies here in NZ is laughable and the cost is crazy and reeks of price gouging.