I dont know about you guys but we had betamax in our house from 1978 until 1990, and in the 80s, all video shops in Metro Manila rented mostly betamax tapes only. The only time I switched to VHS was when I migrated to Japan in 1990. So IMO, the Filipinos in general were never affected badly by the VHS/Beta war. Besides, it would be very difficult to keep magnetic tapes in working condition under the Philippines' hot and humid weather.
But DVDs, HD DVD and BDs, with proper care, mauuwa na kayo sa kakaulit before any of these media become totally unusable...and by that time, it wouldn't matter too much whether HD DVD players were gone already. Just how exciting is the thought of re-watching say Transformers or Heroes in HD 5-10 years from now, after watching it for 10x anyway? ..and an easy forecast...these media, whether it be HD DVD or BD can be easily copied in the future at very reasonable cost, thus allowing you to view the contents through another format or at least through your PC...ngayon pa nga lang 4.5-8.5GB hi-def movie rips are downloadable sa net days before their official release date.
As regards your question about using an HD player and an ordinary TV, it will work. The analogy would probably be like connecting your hi-end amplifier to a PC speaker.