None of this will enable anyone to distribute high definition video that can be played on any existing SD DVD player.  Perhaps some models could be reved up by means of a firmware upgrade, but many probably cannot.  People who watch videos on their PCs might have any number of options, but the real deal comes only when viewed on a big screen HDTV.

I'd like to think that BD player and media prices will come down.  But Sony and Panny did not entice and subsidize the big studios for nothing.  By defeating HD-DVD, they hoped to lock in higher prices.  Meanwhile, SD DVDs are cheap, many are suckered by "1080p upscale," and so nothing short of programmed demolition of existing SD DVD stocks is likely to change consumer behavior--at least for the next 12 months.  The watershed moment may be next December, if a major studio releases some kiddie blockbuster in BD only.

Meanwhile, I suspect that some smart person is investing in a company that makes home media servers with 10 TB capacity for HD movies that will download overnight for an all-in cost below BD.  Could that be the eventual titan that brings down Sony and Panny even more decisively than they beat Toshiba?