Yes that’s what Ultimate AV’s Shane C. Buettner had to say (”Best HD image quality available on any format”) about HD DVD in his Toshiba HD-XA1 review. Now in all fairness he also noted the first generation players aren’t lightning fast loaders and do suffer from minor hang-ups, but take a look at some other comments from Mr. Buettner.

The image quality is, in short, everything we’ve hoped it could be, and represents a significant challenge to Blu-ray or any other format that comes down the pike. The picture is unequivocally the best I’ve seen in my home from any HD source. DirecTV is my broadcast HD source, and sometimes presentations on Showtime HD, Discovery HD, and the HDNet channels approach this level of quality, but they don’t quite get there

HD DVDs are unequivocally more film-like in the complete elimination of compression artifacts, motion artifacts, and certainly in the depth of the image and more convincing color saturation. In fact, I couldn’t see just how prevalent these artifacts are with DVD until watching these discs and noticing that they’d simply vanished. And again, even compared to the best broadcast HD I’ve seen the level of clarity is a clear and mighty cut above with the best discs.

Read Ultimate AV’s Toshiba HD-XA1HD DVD Player review, in full.

R.Hollis

The guys over at AV Forums have scored an exclusive interview with Olivier Van Wynendaele, assistant general marketing Toshiba Europe and have posted a transcript of the interview. Some interesting quotes about HD DVD’s European launch and HD DVD general include:

AVF: So, can you tell us how much they differ from the US machines?

Tosh: Well, what I can say is that our European players will be based on our second generation chassis, so they will be quite different from the players already available in the US today. I can?t give too much detail but, a few of the drawbacks which were reported to us by users in the USA with our two players there will be solved and therefore additional features not available there will be added to the European players.

AVF: Are Toshiba ever likely to make a universal HD-DVD/Blu-Ray player?

Tosh: We?ll keep this very short ? no, we?re not planning to do so for obvious reasons ? we?ve developed with NEC the HD-DVD format. This format was involved with the DVD Forum as the next generation DVD format and because of that, we don?t see why we should make combined players which play HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. We believe in our format, we believe it will be the definitive format, so we have no intentions of making a universal player.

Read the rest of this entry »

Toshiba has released firmware update version: 1.4 for their HD-XA1, HD-A1 and HD-D1 HD-DVD players, which is said to “address certain disc playback and HDMI/DVI related problems identified by Toshiba”.

As usual The players can be updated by one of two methods; either by attaching the player to an internet connection or requesting a firmware update disk from Toshiba as they become available.

At last check the update still wasn’t available to my player via ethernet but I’m told the updates are staggered out to individual players based on some unique identifier, possibly serial number or IP address, keep checking the update screen for availability.

–edit– 1.4 should be available via ethernet to all owners now.

R.Hollis

Back in May we reported that Toshiba had pushed a Japanese only XA1 firmware update, and as speculated Firmware Update Version: 1.2 has been released for all current Toshiba HD-DVD players.

The update is available via the player’s ethernet update system, or alternatively you can contact Toshiba and request an update disc be sent by mail.

Toshiba’s official 1.2 update description reads as: “This firmware update addresses certain disc playback and HDMI/DVI related problems identified by Toshiba.”

R.Hollis

According to Video Business Online, Toshiba HD-DVD players are “flowing to retail” after weeks of low on-hand supply apparently Toshiba has begun to “ship new players to an increasingly larger pool of retailers on a weekly basis” According to company VP of marketing Jodi Sally.

Also RCA has shipped their HD-A1 clone, the RCA HDV5000. So it appears at least the initial supply shortages have been remedied. Both the Toshiba HD-A1 and RCA HDV5000 retail for $499, but several shoppers have reported finding the players even below the manufacturers recommended price.

Another interesting bit of news in the Video Business Online article is the amount of HD-DVD titles sold. Scarsdale New York’s Value Electronics reports that “most of Value?s HD DVD customers are choosing to buy every software title available.” It seems that those who have taken the plunge with HD-DVD want all the available content they can get their hands on.

R.Hollis

One has to wonder with reviews like this one, what criteria are reviewers using to judge HD-DVD? Do these publications think that a slow loading tray or mediocre remote are really going to discourage potential buyers away from HD-DVD?

Of course not, people who are seriously considering HD-DVD are looking for one thing, owning and enjoying their favorite films in HD at their leisure. Now I?m not advocating that reviewers shouldn?t note minor bugs but let?s not lose sight of the big picture.

Well I?m happy to report that at least one publication kept in mind what potential buyers are really after, when they reviewed the Toshiba HD-XA1. Sound and Vision magazine proclaimed the HD-XA1 to be ?A Taste of Heaven? and finished their review with:

It ended up taking very little time for me to become accustomed to the stellar picture and cleaner, more open sound of HD DVD. Basically, I’m ruined ? I’ll never again be able to watch a regular DVD with an uncritical eye

The five page HD-XA1 review from Sound and Vision?s Rob Sabin paints a very different picture from that of Consumer Reports. Could this discrepancy in the reviews be due to the fact that Rob Sabin actually has a passion for AV, and not how slow a tray loads or how the remote operates?

R.Hollis

Those old bastions of consumer advocacy over at Consumer Report?s have chimed in on HD-DVD and specifically the Toshiba HD-A1 (not sure why they refer to it as the HD-A1KN). And true to form they uncover reasons you shouldn?t buy it.

I first knew something was amiss when I read, ?Neither player is a must-buy yet.? Can anyone cite an example of a consumer electronics item that is a must-buy, maybe a cell-phone or baby-monitor? What gives here? Is that how CR bases their recommendations, on whether you actually need the item? I don?t ?need? half the items in my house, but I?m sure as heck not throwing them out. Ok deep breath, I?ll move on.

From there CR went into the whole format-war speech. You know I?m thinking that in most cases any reiteration of the whole format-war is redundant, but in CR?s case maybe their readers are genuinely unaware of how things are playing out here, so I?ll grant them this point.

Next up was the ?WHAT WE LIKED? section of the review. Among the examples cited here were image quality with both HD and SD discs and that was about it?

The ?WHAT WE DIDN’T LIKE? section however complained about lack of 1080p support (even though just about every 1080p capable display will up-convert 1080i internally to 1080p) and ?Finicky HDMI connections? as well as the often bemoaned remote.

Here?s a tip CR, I?m guessing a large portion of the folks who are buying this player use a universal remote, which could easily handle the HD-A1?s remote codes. High Definition DVD is here and we?re talking about remotes?

R.Hollis

Ultimate A/V has posted their review of the HD-A1, HD-DVD from Toshiba. Aside from the normal tests and specifications (which are definitely worth a read) there are a couple of other interesting things about this particular review.

One must see in the review is the screen shot section. If you had any doubt whatsoever that HD-DVD didn?t look significantly better than SD DVD then you need to see these screenshots.

Another interesting part of the review was the manufacturer’s comments, which would seem to indicate that some of the problems other reviewers have reported with the HD-A1 may not be the players fault at all.

For instance some of the pausing and or disc stops may have been incorrectly identified as bugs when they are in fact inherent in the way HD-DVD handles the DRM required by the studios. Interesting read and definitely one of the better HD-DVD player reviews I?ve seen.

R.Hollis

Ok I?ll be the first to admit the headline is a little misleading but according to this xbit labs article, ABI Research believes Blu-ray players will only account for about 30% of the global high-def DVD player market by years end, leaving a whopping 70% market share for HD-DVD.

Ah but there?s a catch, the Play Station 3 (Blu-ray capable) ?could change the market dominance picture dramatically?. Another mitigating factor in the format war has always been studio support; however ABI makes some interesting points about that as well.

The research firm points out that: “the studios support is not carved in stone, but is based on the perceived size of the market for a particular technology. If studios see that HD-DVD has a higher market share, or continues to increase its penetration, they could support it instead of ? or as well as ? Blu-ray. They don?t really care what technology is used as long as it meets their copyright protection needs and enjoys support from the vendor community.?

One point in the article that I have to disagree with is according to ABI; with the format war on-going the prices of players and titles will remain at relatively high levels longer than if there was a single standard.

I feel that if either camp wanted a quick boost in sales and the corresponding market share, it wouldn?t be out of the question to enact some temporary loss-leader pricing, until things tipped in their favor.

R.Hollis