According to this article, a sub-$200 HD DVD player from a major consumer electronics manufacturer may be just around the corner.

Toshiba hasn't made an announcement yet, but recent posts on AVS Forum by a forum member who works for Wal-Mart state that a new SKU has appeared in the Wal-Mart system for a Toshiba HDA2-W, priced at $198. It is likely that Toshiba has offered incentives to certain retailers in the past, as their second generation hardware sold for well below MSRP at certain outlets. This would mark the first time that a Toshiba branded HD DVD player sold for under $200 MSRP.

Toshiba was quick to attack pricing on their hardware, and when HD DVD was at it's weakest point, price was likely the only thing selling players. HD DVD has strengthened it's position in the last couple of months, and a $198 stand alone player from a quality manufacturer is a notable milestone.

In Format War 101 we ran down what Blu Ray and HD DVD do and elaborated on the features.

Format War 201 focused on the history of the two formats, and exclusive relationships the two sides have forged with content providers and retailers.

Now it's time for the third and final semester of this elective course, and I'm going to tell you what I really think about the whole thing. First, I just want to say that movies taken from good transfers that receive quality encoding treatment on both Blu Ray and HD DVD look fantastic. As a film lover, I couldn't be happier. I definitely find myself buying titles that would otherwise be rentals for me, because I am so impressed with the video and audio fidelity the two formats are capable of providing.

Beyond whatever reason you favor one format or the other, I hope we all agree that it's the movies that really count here.

LG's second generation combo player, the LG BH200, will be the first Blu Ray player to support Blu Ray Profile 1.1.

All new Blu Ray player models that ship after October 31, 2007 will have to adhere to Blu Ray Profile 1.1. Blu Ray Profile 1.1 introduces a mandatory second video decoder, which will enable Blu Ray to utilize picture-in-picture functionality similar to what HD DVD has. As to whether or not any existing Blu Ray players will be upgradeable to Profile 1.1 via a firmware upgrade is unknown, as no manufacturer has announced an upgrade path at this time. Blu Ray discs that utilize Profile 1.1 specific features will play on Profile 1.0 players, but only the main feature is guaranteed to be accessible.

The LG BH200 combo Blu Ray-HD DVD player ships this November, and will be the only Profile 1.1 player on the market until the recently delayed Samsung BD-UP5000 follows sometime in December.

More news from the DVD Forum's North America DVD Conference in Universal City, Calif.

The newest jewel in HD DVD's crown, Paramount, only has four HD DVD releases planned for 2007. According to a Paramount representative yesterday at the DVD Forum conference, 2008 is another story. Approximately 30 titles are scheduled for release on HD DVD from Paramount and Dreamworks in 2008. No details on which titles are on the slate, or what the release schedule will be.

Paramount has a nice back catalog of films. Hopefully we'll seem some of the big catalog titles get a high definition makeover, in addition to the day and date titles.