I made the RIAA comment because I've seen very little complaining about CD and DVD pricing previous to the RIAA action. Now I see it everywhere.

The value of music and movies is subjective. Is "Bio-dome" worth as much as "The Exorcist"? How much you like the movie can determine what its worth to you. Music and movies have never been priced based on there cost to produce, manufacture, or the cost of the media and packaging. They have always been priced based on what the companies think the public is willing to pay. "8 Mile" cost significantly less to produce than "The Matrix Reloaded" yet the DVD's cost the same.

Older formats always become less expensive. VHS is less than DVD because DVD is the preferred format of today. Cassettes are less expensive than CDs for the same reason.

I don't think there is a "low resolution" conspiracy going on. New formats come when the entertainment companies think there viable. If they don't think they can move sufficient quantities of a format they won't release product on it. The mainstream consumer isn't asking for a better format than DVD right now. Look at how long we've had CDs, they could have replaced them with a more advanced version a decade ago. There's no demand, were getting new music formats now mostly based on a push to migrate entertainment to the DVD format, not because the mainstream is demanding better sound quality.

The types of theater setups people on this board have are far from the norm. Most people don't even have progressive scan TVs yet. When enough people want a better format, we'll get it.