Some rather interesting revelations have come to light surrounding the European launch of the Toshiba HD-E1 and HD-XE1 HD DVD Players. According to Heise Online the players benefit from several refinements, features and additions over their predecessors:

The translation is a bit rough but after going back and forth between Google Language Tools and Babel Fish a few times, I think it?s pretty accurate.

?Intel CPU?s have been replaced with CE, SoC (Software on Chip) processors.
?Start-up and disc load times have been “shortened”.
?Both units include a revised ‘easier to read’ remote control.
?The higher end HD-XE1 includes 1080p output and HDMI 1.3

Could some or all of these features and improvement make their way into HD DVD players for the United States? I’d have to say the chances are very high. Veering off into a bit of speculation for a moment, I also expect that when the replacements for the Toshiba HD-A1 and HD-XA1 appear in the U.S., they’ll retail for a bit more than their predecessors, but this isn’t necessarily bad news.

One of the complaints from hardware manufacturers thus far has been that the HD-A1 at $500 precludes them from offering a HD DVD player at a competitive price, at least not with current manufacturing processes and available components.

With the second-gen Toshiba players retailing for slightly more than the earlier models, other manufacturers can now enter the scene with the benefit of Toshiba’s R&D on the HD-A1 and X1 as well as what was learned in the design of the HD-E1 and HD-XE1.

Again just speculating here but I expect manufacturers other than Toshiba to announce low-cost HD DVD players alongside the announcement of the HD-E1 and HD-XE1 counterparts for the U.S market.

Could it be that the criticism Toshiba received for subsidizing their players in the U.S actually benefits the consumer two-fold? First the consumer was able to buy into the technology at a reduced cost and now the possibility arises that other manufacturers may reap some of those benefits as well, by taking Toshiba’s place at the $500 and under price point with SoC designs.

R.Hollis

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 3rd, 2006 at 5:55 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.