This clever piece of free software doesn't just burn CDs and DVDs – it will even burn Blu-ray discs and HD-DVDs (remember those?).

Universal Studios, which is owned by General Electric, is releasing only in HD-DVD. Warner and Paramount Pictures, a division of Viacom, are issuing DVDs in both formats.

Tiering of different HD services based on picture quality is plausible, "he said, noting that standard DVDs are at a lower price point than HD discs."