Acknowledging that their new eXtended Detail Enhancement (XDE) tech does not actually replace a true HD source like HD DVD or Blu-ray, Toshiba is hoping to attract all those consumers who are mostly satisfied with their HDTVs and DVDs by offering the XD-E500 up-converting DVD player today.
The new XD-E500 retails for $149 (although it debuts for $179 today at Amazon) and offers DVD up-scaling that’s superior to what’s been offered in their own lower-end models, and probably from other up-scaling DVD players.
The XDE player offers a choice of three video enhancements: (1) sharp for edge detail (2) rich color (3) more contrast, of which you can select two to be active at any time. I’m sure forthcoming articles and interviews will reveal why you can only select two at a time, and we’ll be on the lookout for the inevitable comparisons against the highly vaunted Oppo up-converting DVD players, as well as true HD media.
Toshiba’s website for the new player, http://www.toshibaxde.com hasn’t gone live yet so we don’t really have a lot of pictures to show from the sales pitch, but you can see some before/after enhancement shots over at Amazon.
Toshiba’s product description page states the following:
This product does not play HD DVD or Blu-ray discs. It upconverts standard definition (480p) DVD content to HD (720p, 1080i or 1080p) to match the resolution of your HD display. Although near the picture quality, it does not produce or output native HD video content.
In other words, it’s not “The Look and Sound of Perfect” but just “Good Enough.” I’m curious to see whether “good enough” and “near HD” take a hold in the marketplace. I know that you and I are probably not amongst that crowd of buyers, but I’m sure you’ve got at least a few acquaintances who think a big screen is all it takes to have a great home theater.
August 18th, 2008 at 8:07 am
Hello. Somehow unrelated to this, but I need some info. I am an avid reader of dvdbeaver.com. At first, they were good at reviewing both HD’s and their Blu counterparts, but once HD was over, well, it was all Blu for them, and it makes sense, no complains here. But my question is: when reviewing recent Blu titles that have already been out on HD for years
the reviewer always says that “I assume the Blu quality is better than that of the HD SIMPLY because the movie takes up wayyyyyy more space on the Blu disc; so, is it true? I mean, is my HD copy of Hunt for the Red October inferior to its Blu counterpart? Or The Mummy? Or any of the other titles? Any input on this will be greatly appreciate it. And Pravin, keep rocking! Thank you.
August 18th, 2008 at 8:16 am
The picture quality is likely to be identical on the Blu reissues, however there’s room for improvement on the audio side if the studio decides to upgrade the sound to lossless compression, or uncompressed audio - assuming that they didn’t already do that on the HD DVD release. Otherwise, the Blu version will be pretty much the same.
August 18th, 2008 at 8:22 am
Thank you, Pravin. Still think HD is overall better. I have now both HD’s and Blu’s and there is always a feeling of “not finished” with the Blu’s, though it is true that it is getting better. However, still a proud owner of 400+ HD’s. Thank you.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
I personally think this XDE is a waste of time & money on Toshiba’s part. It looks desperate & bound to fail. Bottom line is they should have stuck it out in the HD DVD war and took it all the way to the end. I think it would have made more sense if anything for Toshiba to just use HD DVD’s as a storage medium for PC’s and consumers if they would have truly lost in the end. They gave up too quick & are now coming back with something inferior to HD DVD & Blu Ray saying its the next wave of the future. I don’t buy it. Heck they should have just kept HD DVD’d going as up converts rather than creating this BS.
August 19th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Though it seems to be a resonably good product but I would like to go for a better quality DVD player.
http://www.home-entertainment-news.co.uk
August 20th, 2008 at 8:06 am
Charles makes a good point. At this price, why would Toshiba not have continued making its already-upconverting HD DVD players, like the HD-A3 model? All I can think is Sony paid them off to stop making HD DVD players.
August 20th, 2008 at 8:22 am
I thought the same thing about why didn’t they just slip in an HD DVD drive into these machines and keep some kind of “underground” HD DVD strategy going. I think the answer is cost. Toshiba can’t afford to sell a $149 player that does everything for HD DVD as well as all of this new XDE circuitry stuff. It would essentially be an HD-XA3, and it was only through heavy discounting that the XA2 and A35 players were ever cheaper than $300.
August 20th, 2008 at 11:11 am
I agree with you Pravin,
It was reported that Toshiba lost millions of dollars, and was poised to loose millions more if they continued to support HD DVD.
The XDE ciruitry is probably good and based from the XA3 player. Maybe Toshiba is just not ready to jump into the Blue market just yet.
It did really cost them lot$$$$!
August 20th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Hey there folks! We’re having some really interesting reviews of this player over at: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/thebombshelter/ (mention my username “kurtginter” to gain access to the forum quicker. I highly recommend checking it out if you are interested in reading some killer ACTUAL user reviews on the new XDE technology or HD-DVD in general (as it is an HD-DVD Group). I know this is a shameless plug, but it’s really a great group and these preliminary reviews on the XDE Technology are well worth reading; some very exciting stuff! Check out posts number 12836 and any others in that thread. Sorry - but I don’t want to plagiarize their posts here.
I was really skeptical about the technology, but after reading some very in-depth reviews on it in the forum, I’m quite excied to check it out (I still need to see it for myself). I for one am very interested in the new technology as it seems it is putting current upconverters to great shame. I’d really like to see this tech go head-to-head with Blu-Ray, and maybe a good upconverter for a good comparison - there’s some folks over at thebombshelter doing these head-to-head tests and really do hae sme interesting things to say. I still need to see it for myself, but like I said, I’m actually kind of excited to check it out after reading these reviews.
Kurt
August 21st, 2008 at 12:53 am
You don’t think its going to cost them a lot more $$$$$ trying to create this product, create a marketing plan, creat advertising and at the same time get the average Joe consumer to see this as a better choice over soon to decline prices on Blu-ray players that go beyond this phase of smoother textures and clarity?? I think its fool hearty to think this new player will do more than confuse people already coming off the fence to Blu-ray only to have store sales associates to tell them well its better than a DVD player but not better than Blu-ray. Toshiba I loved you with your battle on the HD DVD format but give up to the dark side & go Blu already. You hurt me by giving up but you have to admit defeat.
August 21st, 2008 at 6:27 am
There is no comparison between this XDE and Blu Ray. This is nothing but an upconverter DVD player, and it stops at that. It is not a true HD quality output, no live interactive menus, ethernet port, not lossless sound, etc. I think Toshiba has wasted another $$$$ on this one. It is a shame as I love their HD DVD players (and I still do as I own an A35) and I hate to see them pull something like this. Just like what Charles said, Toshiba needs to give it up and accept defeat.
August 21st, 2008 at 6:57 am
If another company announced this product, I’m sure we’d be able to see this as the latest up-converting DVD technology, instead of a move by a stubborn competitor.
August 21st, 2008 at 9:11 am
I don’t think this supposed to be a blu killer. I think it’s just supposed to make your DVDs much better looking than the current up-converting players are capable of doing. I agree with Pravin and think that if it were not from Toshiba we wouldn’t be wondeing if they were trying to compete with Blu. If this works better than my current up-converter, maybe I won’t need to buy all favorite titles again on Blu-Ray.
August 22nd, 2008 at 12:20 am
To be honest it would not matter to me one bit that Toshiba makes this. I think I am being less critical because of my endearing love for Toshiba. What irks me is that this being a supped up Upconvering player just makes me feel that Toshiba is hanging on to get back at Sony. I don’t see myself buying one because I have the HD DVD Players which are excellent at upconverting. I would have to see it for myself but I think this will collect dust on retailers racks even if they decide to even sell anything like this.
August 23rd, 2008 at 5:35 pm
I have both HD DVD and Blu-Ray, but also almost 1700 SD DVDs in my collection. If it is actually beats what my Toshiba XA2 can do with upconversion, as many of the reviews seem to indicate, I’ll be looking at picking on of these up.
August 23rd, 2008 at 7:59 pm
I guess that is where I have not understood things. I merely thought this was a upconverter. If it does better than a HD DVD upconverter then I might consider it.