Will Blu-ray and HD DVD be backwards compatible with DVD?
Players and discs of both formats can be backwards compatible with DVD; however, it’s really up to each manufacturer to decide if they want to make their products backwards compatible with DVD. Just as DVD hardware supports both CD and DVD, most of the new hardware is expected to support DVD and BD or HD DVD. Several leading consumer electronics companies (including Sony, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Pioneer, Sharp and LG) have already demonstrated products that can read/write CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs using a BD/DVD/CD compatible optical head. Toshiba, NEC and Microsoft have announced products supporting HD DVD/DVD/CD read/write capabilities.
