Toshiba XDE-E500 ...My First Look

[ejai]

I finally received my Toshiba XDE-E500 DVD Player, and I must admit I am very pleased with my purchase. First of all I own a 32” LG 1080i LCD TV and I also own a 50” Samsung DLP Projection TV.

I tried the unit out on both sets with acceptable results. The unit is extremely light and the XDE emblem lights up a dark room, but not enough to be distracting. I haven’t had the time to really check out all the settings but once I turned it on the background screen was very sharp and clear.

I put in a dvd of the Transformers movie and was amazed at the sharp quality, I also noticed that the textures were really pronounced. I own a Toshiba HD-DVD player with a copy of the HD version of the Transformers movie and noticed the sharpness was very close. The dvd version of the Transformers was slightly less sharp than the HD-Version, the difference was so small that most people who find it hard to tell the difference.

I then tried a dvd of the Married With Children Season Series, and noticed that the sharpness setting showed some noise in the picture due to the movie film effect. Still the images were sharp and clear, it actually made the picture stand out more.

I took note to the fact that one interviewer said you were not able to combine the 3 effect functions of the XDE, he was partially correct. The Three functions are sharpen, color and contrast. The sharpen function is always on (unless you deselect it in the settings menu). In other words you can select the color enhancement and the sharpen feature is automatically initialized.

I must admit I then put in a porn dvd and all I could say was DAMN it looked great.

Lastly I tried a DivX movie and it also looked very sharp and clear. I did noticed that if the divx movie was encoded from a bad source it would be magnified and less than desirable to look at.

The unit seems to enhance the textured areas and sharpen the hard edges, This gives a strong 3D type feel and is worth a try if you are considering this unit.

I haven’t had a chance yet to fully check out all the functions and types of video, but from a quick observation I am happy with the purchase and look forward to checking out more dvds I own.

[Des]

Thanks for the review Ejai. Any idea how the Toshiba technology differs from the Faroudja DCDi used in the Oppo players?

--dES

[ejai]

Thanks for the review Ejai. Any idea how the Toshiba technology differs from the Faroudja DCDi used in the Oppo players?

--dES

I'm sorry I don't, but I have several upconverting dvd players and none come close to enchancing the detail that this box produces. I am right now looking at some divX videos through the unit and they are sharp and colorful.

I must admit there is a touch of fuzziness around some of the areas, but I think that is to hide the noise that is produced when creating divx videos using lower encoding settings.

[ejai]

Another observation:

For those of us who own 1080i TV's you should be aware that the resolution setting for 1080i on the XDE will not show the best sharpness enhancement. In order to get a real sharp picture you would have to leave this setting on AUTO.

I also notice that the VIEW MODE feature is set to AUTO FIT by default, this also will slightly blur the picture due to the need to stretch the image to fit the screen. I placed it on ORIGINAL and the picture again is much sharper.

I'm not trying to say that a less sharp picture is bad, but if sharpness is what you are after then you will notice the difference when you change any on these settings. Straight out the box the defaults are set at a more safe setting you will have to explore further to find out what works best for you.

Playing with these features will give different results depending on what your preferences are.

[samijubal]

Another observation:

For those of us who own 1080i TV's you should be aware that the resolution setting for 1080i on the XDE will not show the best sharpness enhancement. In order to get a real sharp picture you would have to leave this setting on AUTO.

What is your 1080i TV? Although they have advertised LCDs as 1080i in the past, the screen display isn't 1080i, I guess it means they will accept a 1080i signal. Flat panel TVs are progressive by nature and are either 720p or 1080p. I don't know much about DLP. Is that the 1080i?

[ejai]

My LG model is 32LC2DU and my Samsung is model HL-P5085W. From what I know they are both 1080i, both have very good picture quality especially the Samsung.

[samijubal]

My LG model is 32LC2DU and my Samsung is model HL-P5085W. From what I know they are both 1080i, both have very good picture quality especially the Samsung.

The LCD has to be either 720p or 1080p. They have in the past advertised LCDs as 1080i but they aren't. It was misleading advertising, they must have thought 1080i sounded better than 720p. I don't think anything but CRT is interlaced but I'm not sure of RPTVs.

What I'm wondering is which TV is better with 1080i or are both TVs better at 1080i? I've read elsewhere that 1080p is the best, even if the TV isn't 1080p, because it sends the most pixel info. Have you tried 1080p?

[Rich86]

My understanding:
All lcd 1080 TV's are 1080p (progressive) by definition. We are discussing what the inputs used for external devices can handle here. If the TV has inputs that accept only 1080i, it just means the TV must de-interlace the signal for the screen. If the TV has a good quality de-interlacing circuit, this really isn't necessarily a problem.

If you have a choice, I would recommend a TV that has inputs that can accept 1080p/24 frames per second video, as this is native film video and would reduce the conversions necessary from a high definition film source player capable of passing on 1080p/24fps video.

[jagabo]

His LCD's native resolution is 1366x768. The DLP's native resolution is 1,280x720.

[ejai]

The documentation that came with the Samsung DLP makes no mention of 1080i or 1080p. I searched online and saw a review that stated the TV's resolution was 1080i.

What I know is that 1080p is sharper than 1080i. I am very pleased with the systems I own.

[samijubal]

Have you tried 1080p from the Toshiba player?

Those would be considered 720p TVs. The 1080i would be input resolution. They misleadingly advertised TVs as 1080i a few years ago when they were actually 720p.

[jagabo]

I doubt either of those TVs support 1080p input.

[ejai]

I doubt either of those TVs support 1080p input.

You are correct. The screen goes blank when I attempt to use the 1080p on either, also the 720 option is not lit up as a choice.

[samijubal]

I thought of that last night after I posted. Only new TVs accept a 1080p signal. That's where the 1080i advertising comes in.

[cal_tony]

Very interesting thread. Lots of good info on the device as well as the 1080i 1080p settings.
Overall, the device does seem to do what it says. In time I'm sure there will be other posts on this subject by other purchasers of the XDE. Unless others seem to discount EJAI's findings, in time, I'll be on board with one as well.

Oh, let me also mention that I did spend some time on Google trying to get additional info on the product. So far lots of opinion but not much in the way of actual performance compared to other upconverters.


My opinion,"always good when something new comes out" I just like toys.

Tony

[ejai]

Negative Observations:

- The XDE can be a bit temperamental when it comes to playing divX discs. I noticed some freezing and skips that I wasn’t experiencing using my other DVD players.

- Divx movies seem to experience some jitters when being played through this device, I haven’t yet figured out a work around.

- Sharpness in some movies show signs of noise in the video and the only way to remedy this problem is to reduce the sharpness (using the TV’s control) or disable it on the XDE unit.

I will keep you updated on my findings as I continue to check this device out and try to fix some of the issues I mentioned in this post.

[ejai]

Reviews of the XD-E500 that I agree with.

http://www.amazon.com/review/product/B001D9IWIY?showViewpoints=1

[samijubal]

Do you still have your XS32 I think it was? What do discs recorded on that look like in the XD-E500?

[ejai]

Do you still have your XS32 I think it was? What do discs recorded on that look like in the XD-E500?

I only tried one disc from that recorder and it looks great. I must admit the detaill isn't as pronounced as the detail from my other dvd recorders. I think this is because the XS32 tends to do a lot of smoothing to keep the video clean of artifacts.

I will try some more tests using the XS32 to see if I get the same results. I must say the XD-E500 is a remarkable machine. Watching my DVD's and seeing them sharp and close to HD is a remarkable feat and this unit has done that very well.

[jstewart]

I finally received my Toshiba XDE-E500 DVD Player, and I must admit I am very pleased with my purchase. First of all I own a 32” LG 1080i LCD TV and I also own a 50” Samsung DLP Projection TV.

I tried the unit out on both sets with acceptable results. The unit is extremely light and the XDE emblem lights up a dark room, but not enough to be distracting. I haven’t had the time to really check out all the settings but once I turned it on the background screen was very sharp and clear.

I put in a dvd of the Transformers movie and was amazed at the sharp quality, I also noticed that the textures were really pronounced. I own a Toshiba HD-DVD player with a copy of the HD version of the Transformers movie and noticed the sharpness was very close. The dvd version of the Transformers was slightly less sharp than the HD-Version, the difference was so small that most people who find it hard to tell the difference.

I then tried a dvd of the Married With Children Season Series, and noticed that the sharpness setting showed some noise in the picture due to the movie film effect. Still the images were sharp and clear, it actually made the picture stand out more.

I took note to the fact that one interviewer said you were not able to combine the 3 effect functions of the XDE, he was partially correct. The Three functions are sharpen, color and contrast. The sharpen function is always on (unless you deselect it in the settings menu). In other words you can select the color enhancement and the sharpen feature is automatically initialized.

I must admit I then put in a porn dvd and all I could say was DAMN it looked great.

Lastly I tried a DivX movie and it also looked very sharp and clear. I did noticed that if the divx movie was encoded from a bad source it would be magnified and less than desirable to look at.

The unit seems to enhance the textured areas and sharpen the hard edges, This gives a strong 3D type feel and is worth a try if you are considering this unit.

I haven’t had a chance yet to fully check out all the functions and types of video, but from a quick observation I am happy with the purchase and look forward to checking out more dvds I own.

Wow was the me that posted that....32 inch lcd...50 inch projection...Transformers...Married with children...porn...divx....I think we have similar taste....I better get myself one of these.

[ejai]

Great minds think alike...

[samijubal]

Anything new to post? Like anymore testing with XS32 DVDs?

[cal_tony]

I still have a question regarding how it processes 4/3 video. I emailed Toshiba and they responded by indicating that it would produce a 4/3 picture and they gave me their Cust serv # to call. A conversation about the 4/3 upscaling was not resolved. My A3 HDDVD player will up scale a 4/3 image and send that out thru the HDMI cable to my set. My understanding is that the XD-E500 will only send out a 16/9 upscaled image thru the HDMI cable.
So I was wondering if this was the case (16/9 only)

Tony

[ejai]

Most televisions have a selection for 4:3 or 16:9 so I don't see a problem. If my source video is 4:3 I just set my TV to that setting and no problem. I do agree that Toshiba should of fixed that before putting out the unit.

The XD-E500 does seem to be rushed out of the factory with a cheap dvd disk drive that seems extremely fragile. Yet the video quality is awesome and makes up for the cheap craftsmanship.

[cal_tony]

My tv has 4/3 and 16/9 settings on the TV but only for outputs other than HDMI. For some strange reason I have not been able to find the right combo for my Mitsubishi TV to output my Philips upconverting 5960 correctly. I've given up on it. So, for upconverting my 4/3 stuff, I use my Toshiba A3 or my PS3. They do it automatically.
I think I might go back and try it again, but the best I've been able to get so far is black bars on the top and bottom and both sides.

Tony

Tony

[samijubal]

I have that exact Philips player connected via HDMI to a Panny plasma and have no problems with 4:3 discs. I guess you've got the player set for 16:9? If so, it must be a TV setting.

[cal_tony]

Well since my earlier comments, I've been back working with my TV and my 5960 and it just doesn't work. If I set the 5960 to 4/3 output thru the HDMI, the TV just doesn't care. It just plays full screen.

The thing I hadn't thought of before is maybe the 5960 is defective.

Tony

[jagabo]

Well since my earlier comments, I've been back working with my TV and my 5960 and it just doesn't work. If I set the 5960 to 4/3 output thru the HDMI, the TV just doesn't care. It just plays full screen.

My HDTV has a display mode setting that cycles through 16:9 with overscan, 16:9 without overscan, 4:3, and a few different zoom modes. With the 5960 connected via HDMI I have to switch the HDTV to 4:3 to get a pillarboxed picture.

[victoriabears]

I am using a Philips 5990 through RCA composites to my Sony Bravia 46" and it looks wonderful.

If its my old eyes (I am 55) I am grateful, look almost as good at the OPPO 981 HD I have.

[cal_tony]

Well! I guess I just have one of those TVs without a 4/3 setting. Going thru the HDMI at 1080i setting the only changes I can make on the TV is Standard and wide. Setting up the 5960 so it displays 4/3 P/S or LB doesn't make any difference.

It all seems strange to me because on my A3 or PS3 it all works just fine.

Guess I'll have to wait for the XD-E500s to show up at a brick and mortar near me so if it works like the 5960 I can just return it.

Thanks for the help

Tony