Toshiba second-gen HD DVD players start at $499.99

Posted on Sunday, January 07 2007 @ 21:03 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
Second-generation HD DVD players were unveiled at CES 2007 by Toshiba. The cheapest player is the HD-A2. It's now available for $499.99 but doesn't support 1080p. The HD-A20 costs $599.99 and supports 1080p playback but this player will be available in Spring 2007. There's also the HD-XA2 which is available right now for $999.99.

To match the resolution of your display, Toshiba's HD DVD players output HD DVD content through the HDMI interface in 720p or 1080i for the HD-A2, and 720p, 1080i or 1080p for the HD-A20 and the HD-XA2. Through the HDMI interface, standard definition DVDs can also be upconverted to match the resolution of HD displays. The HD-A2, HD-A20, and HD-XA2 are all backward compatible, so users can continue to enjoy their libraries of current DVD and CD software.

Both the HD-A20 and the high end HD-XA2 HD DVD player are designed to output 1920 x 1080p, the highest HD signal currently available, via HDMI. As the premium HD DVD player, the HD-XA2 also incorporates support for Deep Color output through HDMI, and a 297MHz / 12 bit Video DAC with high-quality, 4x oversampling for increased bandwidth for true playback of an HD picture to a video source. Additionally, it comes with a picture setting function allowing customers to optimize picture quality with user adjustable settings for color, contrast, brightness, edge enhancement and block noise, among others.

All of Toshiba's HD DVD players support a variety of HD audio options to complement its HD video offerings. This includes both lossy and lossless formats from Dolby Labs and DTS including the Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD.


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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