Toshiba Promises to Supply HD DVD Players in Three Months

[roma_turok]

The American subsidiary of Toshiba Corp. announced Wednesday it would ship its first two HD DVD players commercially in March, 2006, months after the original expectations. The new products will ship for $499 and $799 and will require users to have an HDTV set featuring new HDMI input.

The first models that Hitachi will offer – HD-XA1 and HD-A1 – are capable of HD DVD, DVD and CD playback and hardware decoding of H.264 (MPEG4 AVC), VC-1 (a superset of Microsoft’s WMV9) and MPEG2 (standard DVD) streams using a chip from Broadcom. Additionally, the players feature four digital sound processors to process audio in Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD (2 channel), DTS and DTS-HD formats. The players can output video in 720p (1280x720) and 1080i (1920x1080) resolutions using HDMI interconnection and multi-channel audio using HDMI or S/PDIF connectors.

Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD content will be converted to a standard bitstream format that is compatible with any processor equipped with decoders of the respective formats and output through S/PDIF and HDMI. Additionally, all the audio formats for either DVD or HD DVD will be decoded to PCM and output via HDMI in either stereo or multi-channel.

The construction of the HD-XA1, in addition to performance improvements, features a motorized door which conceals the disc drawer, function buttons and two front USB ports, for convenient connection of gaming controllers. The HD-XA1 also includes three different user selectable interfaces to further enhance customization and a backlit remote control that is conveniently motion activated. Furthermore, the model employs double chassis construction to add stability and strength against vibrations and the HD-XA1 adds insulated stabilizing feet to provide a steadfast foundation for the device.

Availability of HD DVD players in the U.S. will allow users not only to watch their movies in higher resolution, but also to add certain amount of interactivity to movie playback.

Both players will be available in March this year for estimated retail price of $499 and $799 for the HD-A1 and HD-XA1 respectively. Currently it is unknown which movies will be available in HD DVD format by that time

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/multimedia/display/20060104224650.html

[FulciLives]

This makes my 2005 Christmas gift "just in time" as I bought a 51" HDTV with HDMI and 1080i resolution although I just found out that the HD DVD format will store the video at 1080p on the disc so why no 1080p output options on these two new players?

My TV can't do 1080p anyways but shouldn't new HD DVD players be able to output that?

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[icyhot]

Great, this means I'll be picking one of these babies up around Christmas of 2011, just when the prices begin to fall...

[FulciLives]

Great, this means I'll be picking one of these babies up around Christmas of 2011, just when the prices begin to fall...

LOL

Makes me wonder how I ever had enough cash to buy my first regular DVD player ... it was $725 USD and was a nice Pioneer model that was pre-modified to be region free (thus cost me a good $150 or so extra than the non-moded USA region one model) but it was nothing "special". Region free but no conversion (could play PAL but only output PAL) and was not "progressive scan" as that wasn't out yet.

Unfortunately these days I don't have that kind of "play" money no more and after having just bought a 51" TV I will be broke for some time now

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[waheed]

I wonder when they will release the HD-DVD ROM (or RW) for the PC. Besides, I only to wait till prices fall to a reasonable level before making a purchase. Wonder if there are any plans for a dual format (HD-DVD and Blu Ray).

[Xylob the Destroyer]

Is SPDIF the same as digital coax?
I use optical connection for my current DVD and have no audio connected to my TV at all -- basically it's just a monitor.
it does have HDMI, but i don't use the speakers on my TV anyway

[ebenton]

Is SPDIF the same as digital coax?
I use optical connection for my current DVD and have no audio connected to my TV at all -- basically it's just a monitor.
it does have HDMI, but i don't use the speakers on my TV anyway

SPDIF is optical audio output. Should be the same signal as digital audio coax output.
Some devices with HDMI output seem to be turning off their optical/coax digital audio output when the HDMI connector is being used, although some of them seem to be able to switch to one or the other. I wonder if any of these devices will be able to simultaneously use SPDIF and HDMI?

[waheed]

SPDIF - Sony Phillips Digital InterFace.

So SPDIF should work with all digital connections, be it optical or coax.

[Nelson37]

That is correct, both the coax and Toslink optical connectors for digital audio are SPDIF connectors.

I have seen reports both ways about which one is superior, from people with both types available. Was surprised that optical was not universally considered superior.

[Faustus]

Nice! Let me know when they are under $200 and I'm in. Down with blueray!






(its never to soon to start taking sides.)

[Leoslocks]

Optical disk wars heat up at CES

The HD disk players, carrying prices ranging from $499 (Toshiba) to $1,800 (Pioneer), are slated to become available as early as March (Toshiba), though some will not emerge until the second half of the year(Pioneer).
.......
Meanwhile, Pioneer will ship in May a consumer Blu-ray player capable of 1080p resolution with HDMI interfaces, Dolby and DTS sound — for a whopping $1,800.

The price tag for Pioneer’s Blu-ray player shocked many industry observers. "They have completely crossed over into La-La Land," said Rob Enderle, analyst with the Enderle Group (San Jose, Calif.).

Pioneer thinks otherwise. "It’s our belief this is an early-adopter market more interested in quality than low cost,"

....both groups are waiting for the AACS group to finish work on copy protection.

[mecg]

In the laptop also - let the games begin!!

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1908372,00.asp

So far the HD has me over the BlueRay simply because of the backwards compatability. No I'll need an HD-DVD player for my car just for the 30GIG of MP3's.

[whitejremiah]

for car use, you should wait for holographical discs, which if i remember right will store 200 (or was it 300?) gb each......imagine that much...even in lossless quality

[Xylob the Destroyer]

Pioneer has always been in La La Land with their pricing -- particularly on their "Elite" line of products, which I'll wager is what this machine is.

[Wile_E]

So can you put standard MPEG2 files or DVD folders on a HD-DVD disc, and play it? It would be nice to put several movies together on one HD-DVD disc.

That article on eet.com says it offer copy-protected HD content in native format of the HD DVD disk content of either 720p or 1080i. So it's just as bad as blu-ray protection?