There's been a lot of rather soft news about high-def DVD formats coming out of this month's Las Vegas CES. But neither high-def format is yet available and standard-def DVD is far from dead. Here are five (hard-ish) facts we think you ought to know about high-def and standard-definition SD DVD

1/ If you want to play standard-definition DVD Video discs encrypted for geographical regions other than your own, you can

Just check before you buy a DVD player that it is already set up for multi-region playback or can be easily hacked. Internet search engines are your friend - if in doubt, do a Google search for information. Know, though, that DVD players from big-brand names, such as Sony and Panasonic, tend not to be multi-region-enabled and often can't be hacked. Cheap, no-name brands, in contrast, often come multi-region-enabled as standard or can be easily hacked.

Many cheapo players also have the ability to play a wider selection of media than big-brand models, often including MP3 music, JPEG stills and DivX movies, along with other stuff you'd really like to be able to burn to DVD and play on your set-top DVD machine. Google can also help you locate sources of DVDs encrypted for different regions.

2/ It is astonishingly easy to copy standard-definition DVD Videos, even if they use dual-layer discs

If you can be bothered, that is. It's not very quick. Want to know more - well, remember, Google is your friend and will help you find free - and rather elegant - programs to download, such as DVD Decrypter and DVD Shrink.

3/ There are four main reasons for the forthcoming launch of high-definition DVD formats

* To make it harder to create copies of DVDs that you can give to friends or sell. Movie studios, especially, want standard DVDs replaced so that discs are a lot harder to copy. Both Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD will have much tougher copy-protection but with HD DVD likely to allow users to make one copy for backup purposes. It's quite possible, though, that these systems will be cracked sooner or later, at which point the studios are back at square one and may have to do what they should have done years ago - bite the bullet and massively cut prices so that it's not worth anyone's while spending time copying discs. And who would bother if the saving were just a few quid?

* To provide owners of high-definition TV sets with an extended range of suitable content to watch. If you've spent out big bucks on a large-screen HDTV set, you're going to be well miffed if you end up mostly watching standard-def and are doing so from the same distance as you used to watch standard-def TV - you'll see the line-structure, and that's not going to make you happy at having spent out all that money for a better user experience. For more about why HDTV users are gagging for hi-def DVD, check out this DVdoctor opinion piece.

* So the studios can sell you high-def versions of the movies you already have on VHS or DVD - and likely at a price premium, too

* So that makers of disc-players and burners can sell you a whole new generation of DVD hardware.

4/ Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD each offers more sophisticated built-in interactivity than today's standard-definition DVDs
Blu-ray uses a Java-based system, while HD-DVD's is HTML-based and likely to result in lower-cost hardware and discs.

5/ It is possible to offer sophisticated interactivity on SD DVD Video titles
Such titles are already available - a notable example is the big-selling Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The latest WWTBAM was created using the crafty DVD-EXTRA STUDIO authoring environment from UK firm, ZOOtech and so are a lot of other interactive titles. Despite the pending arrival of high-def DVD formats, the number of available highly-interactive standard-def DVD Video discs looks certain to grow rapidly - and encompass movies, TV spin-offs and music videos, not just games. The main limiting factor is the creativity of the disc authors and those who commission them, not the technology.