I've already spent too much time exploring What I Can Do with my new DVD burning software.
It can't burn Blu-rays (There's an extra fee, it's not worth it), but it can burn in the AVCHD format. I've never actually worked with AVCHD before, but according to my research AVCHD discs are recognized by "many"/"most" Blu-ray players. So, a DVD with an AVCHD file will output in HD and be viewable on a standard modern disc player.
Of course, that will run into DVD capacity issues (Even a dual-layer DVD is only 1/3 the capacity of a standard Blu-ray), but I'm not exactly planning to burn any special features for my home movies.
Now bear in mind, strictly speaking absolutely none of this is necessary. Most of my friends and family don't have disc players at all anymore. If I ever gave them a DVD they'd look at me cock-eyed and ask why it's not on a flash drive (or even just shared online). So there's very little practical benefit here.
But right now I'm not concerned with practicality. I'm thinking about being able to actually carry around videos and hand them out. To be able to leave it at somebody's house for them to have forever. To be able to just say "Put it in the player" and that's it. Not needing to ask about their internet connection or streaming status, or how they connect their PC to their TV.
The DVD I burned earlier today is probably going to be watched once or twice and the put on a shelf where it will languish for years. But five years from now -- or ten or twenty -- if somebody picks it up it will still play. And now I know how do that with HD content as well.
