Can HD-DVDs be played on a regular DVD player? Please provide credible source!?

Question

Can HD-DVDs be played on a regular DVD player? Please provide credible source!?

Answer 1

HD-DVD's require a HD-DVD player to play them properly.

However there are some HD-DVD's with a second DVD content on the same disc (two versions of the same movie on a single disc). Such discs (hybrid discs or combination discs) are hard to come across but they can play on regular DVD players. The content will obviously be not HD when played on a regular DVD player.

(One such example is - 'Rumor has it' by Warner home video)

Answer 2

no dude are you kidding me

Answer 3

I work in the Home Theater department at a major electronics retailer.  Your question is actually one of the most commonly asked questions that we get.  In my store, we make sure to tell all our customers that even though your TV is HD, and you may have purchased an upconvert dvd player that can do 1080i/1080p/720p, this does not mean that you can play HD-DVD's.  

HD-DVD's are a completely separate format, and have no real relation to the regular DVD's.

The term "HD" is too common and it gets some customers confused.

An easy way to think HD-DVD is like thinking about Blu-Ray.  People always know or have heard about Blu-Ray discs and players.  People automatically know that Blu-Ray is something separate and unique.  HD-DVD is the fraternal twin sibling to Blu-Ray.  It should be seen as something separate and unique, just a little different.

So many times people have gone to stores that don't provide customer service *cough* *Circuit City* *cough* and they don't get all the right information regarding what their units can/can't do.

So to answer your question, no, I'm sorry, but you can't play an HD-DVD in a regular DVD player.  To play your HD-DVD, you need to purchase a specific player from Toshiba (Either the A-30 or the A-3 models) that are specifically designed for the HD-DVD format.  If you did purchase this player, it also gives you the benefit of playing your current DVD collection in an upscaled/upconverted picture.

There is good news:  The HD-DVD players are as low as $200 now, so the players are really dropping in price.  I'd consider it to be a real good investment.

I found it funny how at Christmas this year, my cousin did the exact same thing and got her dad Planet Earth on HD-DVD, thinking it would work on his upscaled DVD player.