Toshiba HD-XA2 DVD Player with 1080P output Chip

For people who love the Hollywood magic (and who don't?) and for those who want to experience it literally, the Toshiba HD-XA2™ is a must! It is not merely a high-end player with state-of-the-art technology, it is a beauty.

Sometimes machinery is considered strong and advanced in technology simply because of its size and weight. This might have been the situation in the case of the previous model XA-1 which could output the picture in 1080i but not in 1080p. It was and still is a wonderful machine. But the A-2 is 6 lbs lighter (difference 2.7 Kilograms = 5.95248 lbs) and yet it's stronger and well advanced in engineering compared to the previous model.

Some people have mentioned that they couldn't see any difference between 1080i and 1080p lines of resolution on testing of the Toshiba HD DVD™ players. They are right to some extent. When you are playing a Cinemascope DVD in 2.35:1 ratio on a 50" high definition television with a ratio of 16:9:1 (1.78:1) it is hard to see a difference between 1080i and 1080p. First of all HD ratio of 1.78 is 33% smaller than Cinemascope of 2.35 (Factor of 1.33). Now when this Cinemascope DVD labeled as HD DVD is played on a high definition television you loose 33% of resolution and 20% of brightness. And if your HD source is under HDCP compliance you will get only 480 vertical lines through component video output instead of 1080 vertical lines. Hence, the difference between the two types of resolutions will hardly be noticeable.

On the contrary, if you are watching the same movie through an HDMI output on a 40 square foot Cinemascope screen in 2.35:1 ratio and with an anamorphic lens installed on the projector the picture will be entirely different and very impressive. This picture is almost 6 times than what was experienced before! 100% of the resolution and brightness is brought back into the picture. The difference between 1080i and 1080p picture is clearly visible. We will go into more details about the picture later in the article.


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Toshiba's 3rd Generation HD DVD Players: With Digital Bitstream and Deep Color Information

Toshiba HD-A3™ MSRP $299.99 OCT'07

Toshiba HD-A30™ MSRP $399.99 SEP'07

Toshiba HD-A35™ MSRP $499.99 OCT'07

Exciting things are happening now as the consumer electronics environment enters a new phase. Our television viewing which has always been based upon NTSC standard has already begun changing to High-definition. February 17, 2009 is the deadline for analog broadcasting to cease, after this date all television broadcasting and the TV sets will be in digital. Hopefully by then more broadcasting stations will be converted to high-definition as well. Millions of homes nationwide have already been equipped with high-definition television sets. As for DVDs, HD DVDs have been introduced into the market for more than a year now. During this major transition in consumer electronics Toshiba has brought HD DVD players at very affordable prices. Their 3rd generation HD DVD players are here. While these players are available at down to earth low prices they are also completely equipped with the latest required technology. At the same time these players are also backwards compatible which means you can play standard DVDs as well. The resolution of standard DVDs can also be up converted to high-definition. Isn't it beautiful that one machine alone can do all this?

The new 3rd generation HD DVD players manufactured by Toshiba are:-

Toshiba HD-A3, with MSRP of $299.99 which will be available in October 2007.
Toshiba HD-A30, with MSRP of $399.99 which will be available in September 2007.
Toshiba HD-A35, with MSRP of $499.99 which will be available in October 2007.

Street and internet prices compared to the ones listed here can be much lower. It is very refreshing news for home theater enthusiasts as they can keep their project under budget and enjoy high end picture and audio as well.

The Model HD-A3 outputs 1080i picture @60 Hertz. HD-A30 and HD-A35 outputs 1080P picture @60 Hertz and also at 24 frames per second. This allows displaying the film material in its native frame rate of 24 fps. The two higher models also feature CE-LINK, HDMI™ CEC connectivity. This functionality allows operating two or more devices through one remote control button when these devices are connected to each other through HDMI 1.3 version cables. Thus this functionality eliminates need for extra remote controls or their reprogramming.

HDMI with 1.3 version can send the picture signal for film based contents in 1080P (1920x1080 pixels) @60 Hertz, 120 Hertz or 24 frames per second. For PC based contents in 1440P (2560x1440 pixels) the data can be displayed @ 60 Hertz.

The previous transmission methods which processed video data in 8 bits could generate 256 levels per color. Now if we have three primary colors, Red, Green and Blue then the simple math will be 256x256x256 = 16.7 million colors. In the new version of HDMI cable standard the data processing can be achieved up to 48 bits which generates color levels much higher than 256 and this translates into billions of colors.

The previous cables which had a bandwidth of 6 Gbps could pass the color information in RGB and YPbPr formats but not in Deep Color™.

The new HDMI cables in 1.3 versions which have a bandwidth of 10.2 Gbps (340 MHz) can pass the Deep Color information in IEC61966-2-4 xvYCC color standard. The abbreviation xv stands or Extended Video, Y represents Luminance or Scale of Gray and C and C represents Chroma Red and Chroma Blue. This new standard is backwards compatible as well. RGB and YPbPr color information can also be transmitted over this new path.

In addition to delivering xvYCC Deep Color information, Toshiba's higher HD DVD models can also pass the Lip Sync information. In digital processing the video can take more time than audio. This delay can cause mismatch in audio and video delivery and especially in main dialogues delivery it can spoil the interest of the movie. HDMI's new version corrects this problem by delivering the dialogues and the video at the same time.

HDMI version 1.3 allows 340 Mega Hertz of bandwidth in 10.2 Gigabytes per second. This higher bandwidth supports 10-bit, 12-bit and 16-bit of RGB, YCbCr and YPbPr color depths and as a result billions of colors can flow smoothly over HDMI path and be displayed accurately. One of the great things is that the same HDMI version 1.3 cables also permits higher bandwidth lossless sounds to flow through them.

The new lossless uncompressed studio quality sounds, Dolby TrueHD™ and DTS-HD™ were encoded on many HD DVDs since day one of HD DVD manufacturing. Many multiplex movie theaters nationwide and around the world are also now implemented with these new sound systems. Toshiba's early HD DVD players decoded these sounds inside the player and the output was in the form of digital multi-audio which could go out through HDMI versions 1.1 or 1.2 and analog PCM 5.1 (6 channels) audio which could go out through 6 channel analog outputs. HDMI path was little better as the bass management on it could be done by the receiver but this option is not allowed on the PCM analog audio. So the analog path was restricted to 5.1 channels only and also it could catch any local analog interference.

Audio receiver manufacturers are realizing the need for these new sounds. Onkyo, Denon, Pioneer and Sherwood have introduced their new lines of receivers which can decode Dolby TrueHD™ and DTS-HD™ audios inside the receivers, amplify the sound, implement bass management and spread it over multi channel loudspeakers with proper equalization.

Toshiba's 3rd generation HD DVD players can now output digital bitstream over HDMI version 1.3. The higher models have option of PCM analog outputs as well. An audio receiver with lossless sounds decoding and processing would be a good match for these new Toshiba HD DVD players.

With digital bitstream output for Dolby TrueHD™ and DTS-HD™ and 1080P picture @24 frames per second these players will change the way we have been watching movies at home. It will also bring Cinema and Home Theater very close.

Great news is that these players are available at affordable prices. A very high end high-definition Home Theater can now be accomplished under a very low budget.


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Venturer SHD7000 Most Affordable HD DVD Player

Overview
Yes the news is out! Venturer Electronics, headquartered in Markham, Ontario, Canada announced August 28th that it will release its first entry level high definition DVD Player, the Venturer SHD7000™ in time for the upcoming holiday season. Tentatively priced at $199.00 this player might be found for under $150.00 by big retail stores in an effort to allure customers hungry for high definition home theaters under budget. This tempting price will be the most affordable one for HD DVD players so far. Since Paramount®, DreamWorks®, Warner®, Universal Studios® and Microsoft® have shown their support for HD DVD more and more companies and manufacturers are now leaning towards the HD DVD group.

Let's explore in depth details how this new HD DVD player may work and benefit everyone. As per the brief introduction on SHD7000 the maximum output resolution from HD DVD will be in 1080i vertical lines @60Hertz. HD DVDs are recorded in 1920x1080 digital pixel resolutions @ 24 frames per second. On some new display units the picture can be displayed at the same frame rate but such units and cables to connect them are still very expensive at this time. But don't worry, prices are coming down. In the meantime there is no harm in watching a 60 hertz picture. It looks like a 35mm film. The good thing is that you don't have to replace or upgrade this HD DVD player in the future. If you want you can live with it for many years to come as it accepts and delivers HD signals.

Performance
This player will deliver pictures in 480P, 720P and 1080i. The highest output resolution in this case is 1080i which can be a good choice as HD DVD's full vertical lines are 1080. So it doesn't make much difference if the lines of resolution are delivered in interlace or progressive mode as long as the display unit has a nice scaler and processor. The player will also have Ethernet connectivity for net work. As the HDMI output has 1.2 versions it can pass decoded lossless sounds on HD DVDs such as Dolby TrueHD™, DTS-HD™ Master Audio and Dolby DigitalPlus™ in PCM audio. For digital bitstream higher bandwidth is required. The benefit here to send the decoded audio over HDMI instead of 6 analog channels is that bass management up to 7.1 channels can be done by the audio-video receiver with HDMI 1.2 versions input. Also the bit rate is not dropped. The picture part can be output in 1080 vertical lines @ 60 hertz. If the receiver has the capability these lines of resolution can be converted into progressive mode also.

Another good feature about this player is that it has a nice scaler probably with a Realta HQV™ chip which can up convert the standard DVDs to 1080 high definition, so the regular movies looks close to HD DVDs.

Pros and Cons
As we know this is an entry level HD DVD player, but good results can be achieved from it if a proper set-up is done. Use good quality HDMI cables. The first one should be in shorter length to reach the audio-video receiver and the second one can be longer to reach the display monitor. HDMI cables with 1080P @60 hertz and built-in repeaters are available from AccellCables™ at affordable prices.

The player can't process the picture @24 frames per second but if you go for a 1080 display unit it will be a good choice. This way full 1080 lines of resolution are matched on each side and much less or possibly no scaling is required on the display side. This can eliminate motion artifacts in the picture.

Specs
From the introductory announcement from the company it is obvious that the player will have HDMI 1.2 and component video outputs. HDMI will pass PCM digital audio. Component video may pass up to 480P lines if the HD disc contents are under HDCP compliance. The player will have one port for Ethernet™ connection. On audio side it will have one optical output for digital audio and this way the lossless sounds will be down mixed to Dolby Digital™ or NEO.6 sounds. Another audio output will be in left and right analogs. 6 channels analog outputs may not be possible in this low price range but with an HDMI receiver you don't have to worry about it.

Conclusion
So the bottom line is that this player can help you enjoy HD DVDs in high definition with a nice digital audio at a very affordable price. It is backwards compatible with the technology so your existing DVD library is not obsolete.


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