Why should you care about HD-DVD and Blu-ray disc? The simple answer is that these two optical disc formats are the best sources of top-quality, high-definition video currently on the market.

Different hi-def flavors
HD-DVD and Blu-ray can deliver HD video in three formats: 720p, 1080i and 1080p. 720p offers the lowest pixel count (its resolution is 1,280 x 720 pixels) but each frame is scanned on to your screen progressively, or in its entirety, which results in smooth edges during motion.

The 1080i format has a 1,920 x 1,080-pixel resolution, but each frame is scanned in two passes, which can lead to jagged edges around moving objects. The best of the lot is 1080p: It's both progressive and highly detailed, but not every HD-ready screen or projector is able to display it. You'll need a large screen to truly appreciate how much of a leap over 720p and 1080i it represents--we'd recommend at least 50 inches to really highlight the improvements.

But HD-DVD and Blu-ray's talents don't begin and end with rapier-sharp picture quality. They also offer the best sound available. As long as the right hardware is hooked up to your disc player, you can experience lossless Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio--new digital audio formats encoded so efficiently they lose none of the original recording's quality when they're decoded by your disc player or home cinema receiver.

The new disc formats also take DVD's interactive menus and extra features one step further. Both can incorporate complex, fully animated menus, including pop-ups that can be browsed while you're watching a movie, and both can offer picture-in-picture video--although this feature is not supported by all Blu-ray hardware currently.

Also available to both formats is the ability to drag in more content from the Web--as long as your player is equipped with a network connection, certain discs will allow you to access exclusive online content, including videos and updatable stuff such as cast bios and filmographies.

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