Check this article out on HD Downloads.

[pazuzu]

So people bitching about hd-dvd's lower bitrate..... check out the bitrates of HD movie downloads. I wont be doing any downloads until theses numbers change


Quote
480i DVD movies: 5 to 8 mbps
HD Steaming: 1.5 to 4 mbps
XBOX360 Dloads: 6.8 mbps
HD DVD: 28 mbps (max)
Blu-ray: 40 mbps (max)
Note: Apple reports HD movies will be about 5GB, which would represent a bitrate more on par with DVD standards.

http://gizmodo.com/346862/hd-downloa...etty-much-lies

[mrspeakers]

DVD uses MPEG 2 which is an old and "inefficient" standard. Don't assume 5gbps with H.264 or MPEG-4 will be bad because of this, as the article mentions. Also, apple saves bandwidth by using DD 5.1 audio, instead of higher bitrate audio. So image may be better than you think, but audio WILL be Dvd quality.

I will hold off on judgement until I SEE one. So far, the only rentals I have found on iTunes aren't HD.

[typ44q]

exactly, the bit-rate alone does not mean anything, its all about the codec and how its compressed, having said that, I doubt it will look as good as blu or hd dvd and definitely will not sound as good.

[tranzparentl]

Well we all know that HD downloads rarely if ever come in 1080p currently so of course they won't look quite as good as HD DVD or Blu-ray. And since they're not 1080p I don't think they would require as high of a bitrate.

Personally I think the bit-rate argument is way over used anyway. Most people saw no difference between the HD DVD and Blu-ray versions of movies with different bit rates.

That being said, HD Downloads are still in their infancy and I'm sure in the next year or so you will start to see 1080p downloads from some services.

Also, with HD downloads, they can keep changing the bitrate with every release if they want or need to.

With disc based medium they are set to a limited amount as per the standards of the disc.

Downloads will be easier to adapt and change quality as technology changes.