[citation][nom]SAL-e[/nom]Sorry, that was not my question to bojee.[/citation]Obviously, I'm not Bjosee, but I did answer your question, you just missed it (or refused to see it). One reason is for output to an HDTV. A secondary reason (as another poster mentioned) is to be able to use the same source on a desktop and a nettop/netbook/htpc as on a desktop/laptop, without transcoding. Transcoding audio is not a big deal since it can be done significantly faster than real-time. Transcoding non-scalable video (I don't know of any current scalable video formats) is time consuming, significantly slower than real-time on even the newest/fastest machines under $10,000. That's a great reason to want to be able to play HD video on a Nettop or netbook, even if you don't have a screen that handle 1080p.