Comments on: Toshiba Firmware Version 4.0 Update

By: Michael Fierman

Michael Fierman — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 01:49:11 +0000

I have had my Toshiba HD-A2 since April 2007, and quickly amassed more than 100 HD DVD titles, replacing many
of my 300+ DVD, 25+ Laserdiscs, 40+ VHS titles. I’m the only person at my jobsite that has HD DVD, and since
buying a Panasonic Blu-ray player, have noticed a noticeable difference in picture clarity, menu access and audio
clarity. It’s funny, but even the early Blu-ray “uncompressed” audio format is picked up as Dolby Pro-Logic on my
Onkyo DTS-HD master audio receiver, even with an HDMI hookup! The new Dolby TrueHD (which became S.O.P.
for Disney titles after HD DVD left the market) audio format on Blu-ray doesn’t sound half as good as on an
HD DVD player. And if Sony and others are touting the amazing capabilities of Blu-ray, why the hell does it take
so long for the player to load a disc? Yeah, my Panasonic Blu-ray turns on faster than my Toshiba HD-A2, but
the HD-A2 loads discs in about a third of the time, and without all those annoying previews that come with every
Blu-ray title except titles from Warner and Universal.

A note about Universal Blu-ray titles: Since Universal and Fox are the only studios with DTS HD-master audio
on their Blu-ray titles, I borrowed a friend’s “The Mummy” on Blu-ray and compared audio clarity with HD DVD’s
“The Mummy” in Dolby TrueHD. The difference was negligable, meaning that even DTS HD-master audio can’t
save Blu-ray’s inferiority. It just shows the difference between making a video player equipped with a Microsoft-
engineered processor and comparing it with technology likely evolved from a Playstation game console.

By: ron eerhart

ron eerhart — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 11:01:37 +0000

Thanks Toshiba. I am very glad with this new update version 4.0 ( the and my HD movies (50 min) on a normal DVD-DL are very very good. My friends are always very surpirsed about the quality and my answer is: Buy a Toshiba and you will get the quality you’re asking for.

By: Peter Johngren

Peter Johngren — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:30:22 +0000

I’m amazed that Toshiba is still sending me firmware updates for both my HD-A2 and HD-A3 players on CD for free, this long after the demise of the format. Both of these players are purring along like kittens, doing a fantastic job upscaling standard DVD’s such that I have no motivation to get into Blu-Ray. Since I am into Indie and foreign or generally out-of-the-mainstream movies via Netflix, what would I watch on Blu-Ray anyway. My impression is that nothing upscales standard DVD like these Toshiba HD-DVD players. Many Thanks Toshiba!!

By: Jack

Jack — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:30:58 +0000

Thanks Toshiba. You are a class act.

By: Christian

Christian — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 22:47:47 +0000

As much as I am in favor of the HD DVD format over Blu-Ray, that first statement is not entirely true. Any BD player with a LAN port can be updated via the internet. But what you don’t get is the usual hardware change that comes along with the new firmware revision. So in the future it’s entirely possible that with further BD hardware/software revisions you could have a newer movie that has features that will not work on an older BD player. Which if you ask me is utter rubbish.

By: Dan

Dan — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 17:33:35 +0000

I don’t understand how people can say Blu-ray is ’superior’ when you have to buy new units just for the sake of new firmware. The ‘inferior obsolete’ HD DVD format is already ahead of Blu-ray technologically with their players (even with FIRST GEN players!). Thank you Toshiba, you have garnered my respect as a customer and I shall do business with your company in the future. The better superior format lost…