I think this is what MBJ has been getting at. Once HD-DVD is gone, what makes you think the studios are going to use a higher bitrate? They have no incentive to do that. "We'll get better picture quality!" The studios don't care. All they care about is making money. With HD-DVD gone, that'll be one less expense. Why bother with going with a higher bitrate when the picture looks fine as it is?

Actually studios do care when the consumer cares. When DVDs first came out they many were still P&S, or if you were lucky 4x3 letterboxed. Today DVDs are almost all anormorphic widescreen (minues the GOUT of course). Studios are not friends-- they are direct competitors. I'm thrilled that the format war caused many good things... rapid player price drops, dumping of MPEG2, BOGO sales, etc. But just like DVD, when there is a lone HD format, studios will continue to innovate... at least to double dip from early adopters