Toshiba HD-A2
/HD-A3
Not wanting to get sucked into the HD DVD vs Blu-ray format war, I was content to wait it out until a clear cut victor was declared. That all changed the other day when I happened to hear about the one day special deal for the Toshiba HD-A2 for under $100 at Wal-mart.
For that price I could certainly justify taking a chance on the player, knowing that at worst case scenario I would be adding a great upconverting player for standard DVDs and also be able to enjoy current HD DVD titles.
Following is my review of the Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD Player .
Toshiba HD-A3 - The new replacement to the HD-A2
UPDATE: Toshiba has updated the HD-A2 and replaced it with the Toshiba HD-A3 720p/1080i HD DVD Player as their base model. The Toshiba HD-A3 is very similar to the HD-A2, but sports quicker load times and is slightly smaller then the HD-A2. It continues to offer a tremendous value, including the free HD DVD rebate offer.
Video performance
HD DVD offers up to six times the resolution of regular DVD so I was eager to see what kind of video imagery my new Toshiba HD-A2 could produce.
I was not disappointed as the A2 offers a noticeable improvement over regular DVD. The picture is on par or better then broadcast HD, without the occassional macro blocking that occurs from time to time on broadcast tv.
The colors jump out and the image is crisp and smooth.
Audio performance
Another improvement comes in the area of audio performance. The Toshiba HD-A2 can play full lossless Dolby TrueHD as well as Dolby Digital Plus and DTS HD through HDMI for stunning audio clarity that you need to hear to believe.
If your receiver does not have HDMI, you can still get high quality audio through the optical connection which can produce DTS 5.1 sound at 1.5Mbps.
Upconverting DVD
While I will certainly play HD DVDs, another important consideration is how well the Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD Player plays my existing DVD collection because I still have a lot of DVDs lying around that I am not going to be getting rid of anytime soon.
The A2 can upconvert standard DVD to 480p, 720p and 1080i. The quality of the upconversion more then makes up for the cost that I paid for the player. Some of the DVDs that I played looked close to HD in quality.
Interactive Menus
One of the benefits of the HD DVD players are the interactive menus capable of all kinds of enhanced special features such as behind the scenes footage, commentaries and multiple camera angles that change at the push of a button, all displayed in a picture in picture screen. I have not had much chance to experience many of the interactive special features, but look forward to seeing innovative uses of these capabilities in newer releases.
One nice benefit is the ability to access the menu without having to leave the movie.
Audio/video inputs
The player supports multiple connection options such as HDMI, HD Component Video and Digital optical output. There are also composite and s-video outputs, but no discriminating home theater owner should limit the abilities of their players by using these inputs.
Comparison to the HD-A1
The Toshiba HD-A1 was a highly regarded HD DVD player when it was first released, particularly in terms of video and audio performance. There were some concerns about the player, particularly the slow load times, bulky build and louder then optimum player noise.
So how does the HD-A2 compare to the original? The first thing that owners will notice when turning on the HD-A2 is that the load times are significantly faster then the A1 as load times are basically cut in half. The newer HD-A2 has a sleeker look and design along with an improved remote control and quieter operation then the original.
The A2 is also very stable and reliable without the occassional hiccups associated with the A1. You can definately tell that this is a second generation player. It has an ethernet connection in order to make firmware updates to keep the player up to date.
Overall summary
The deal I got on the Toshiba HD-A2 was a steal, but even the current cost of the Toshiba HD DVD Player with it's tremendous audio and video quality along with it's upconverting abilities, makes the Toshiba HD DVD player a welcome purchase to anyone's home theater system.
As mentioned above, the Toshiba HD-A3 720p/1080i HD DVD Player has replaced the HD-A2 in it's product line. The HD-A3 is very similar to the HD-A2 and offers the same or better quality, but it has some additional benefits such as better load times and it is slightly smaller than it's predecessor. |
