High-Definition DVDs bring quite a bit more than just a better picture. This fact was very apparent to me and actually quite a surprise after watching my first HD-DVD at home. It reminded me in many ways of the switch from VHS to DVDs. (Note that I have not watched a BluRay DVD which is the competing format, so I cannot comment on that.)

As I mentioned previously, I purchased an Xbox 360 so that I could watch a High-Definition DVD and see for myself what the fuss is all about. I only really thought that I would get a better picture and that was about it. As it turns out there are several other benefits of my HD-DVD player as I discovered while I watched Troy on HD-DVD. It all started when I put the HD-DVD into the player.

Here are some of the features that I discovered: 

Introduction: When I put in the HD-DVD, it walked me through all of the 'new' features that I could expect with HD-DVDs. It went on for about 5 minutes explaining what the features of my new HD-DVD were and how to use them. I'm not sure if every HD-DVD has this 'introduction' feature or not, but it was completely unexpected and extremely helpful for a first time user.

Better Video & Audio: I already expected better video and, yes, it was better. Not incredibly, but still noticeable. What I didn't expect was better audio. The introduction claimed "lossless audio". Again, not amazing (at least for Troy), but definitely better.

Complete Access to Main Menu Anytime: While watching the movie, it allows access to all of the menu items of the HD-DVD. This can come in very handy if you wanted to check a reference such as the list of actors that you can't recognize or want to check a map reference.

Access to Elapsed Time & Time Remaining: A new feature on the scene selections portion of the HD-DVD is access to the elapsed time in the movie and how much time is remaining. Since there is complete access to the menu while watching, you can easily check on the time remaining without having to try to decipher the tiny DVD player screen. I will use this feature a lot!

In-Movie Video Commentary: Many "old school" DVDs have one or two audio commentary tracks to listen to while you watch the movie. With HD-DVDs you can watch the commentary with something called an "In-Movie Experience" (again at least on Troy). When turned on, in addition to the audio commentary, there is a small video box (like a picture-in-picture window) that displays on the screen. It positions itself so as not to interfere too much with the movie. The video shows behind the scenes footage, pictures, video commentary and anything else related to making the movie watching more interesting.

I'm sure that I might be missing a couple of features as I didn't do extensive research. These were just the items that stuck out to me. Those of you who thought all High Definition DVDs were about was a better picture, hopefully you learned a little more.

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