Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD Player - HiDeffjeff's review

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 4:36 pm

I have heard it... D-Theater !

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 4:40 pm

Before you pop in that WMVHD disc this just came in from Jason...

WMV-HD does not play...in fact it hangs the whole system and I can't even eject...I have to wait almost 10 minutes for it to time out and say it can't read it.

HiDeffjeff · Post by **HiDeffjeff** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 5:26 pm

Richard, too late...I played it and it worked but didn't look very good at all...(only the menu part would work)...couldn't get the actual movie to play...GOOD NEWS!!!!....You were right!....The Panny looks incredible in 1080i instead of 720P (even though that is the native scan rate)...(so much for the native scan rate always being the best)...I am soooooooooo HAPPY!...I need to amend my original review now...

HiDeffjeff · Post by **HiDeffjeff** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 5:52 pm

It appears that I jumped the gun with my initial review...I had assumed that the native scan rate would be the best because that's what I've always heard...But it turns out that the Panasonic PT-AE900U projector likes 1080i ALOT better from this new Toshiba HD-DVD Player...The picture quality is now absolutely incredible!...I am more than happy with the picture now!...It looks at least 3 times better than Directv's HD movies!...and again, the audio is astounding as well...Must use HDMI receiver....

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 9:43 pm

Glad to hear it did not want to chew on your disc for 10 minutes before giving it back.

While not every display follows this what I find common out in the field is the following...

For SD scaling to the native scan rate tends to yield the best performance.

With HD you typically get the best response by letting the display do the scaling so if your STB supports it set it for native, if not 1080I because most programming is 1080I. I have been studying converted waveform responses for a while now and so far all make a mess of them whether it is 1080I to 720P or the opposite.

So, with HD movies which are already native 1080P or 1080I best to leave it at 1080I or 1080P output, in our case 1080I.

Yup, watched half the movie at 720P and the other half at 1080I and what a huge difference! So huge I have to say the it appears the Toshiba does a very poor job of scaling to 720P as I have never seen such a huge difference before with any STB. It is not just detail but also severe aliasing artifacts in the horizontal plane.

With that I went ahead and tested SD at 1080I out and it scaled pretty good to but the final conclusion will have to wait until an SD movie.

As for audio there is still an advantage over compressed SD since the content is HD scaled down. Sounded real good for me and it is cool to know it can be better when kept native.

On another note I am not pleased with this hardware and the way it operates. Press stop and you get to start all over from the opening DVD titles to the menu. Same thing if you change the scan rate. Constant blue screen HDCP kicks in as the handshake protocol is confirmed with each change of content; I mean ya know everything is cool, why the constant checking!?! Up down on my remote is terrible and I have to push the buttons real hard to get a response. The remote is unledgible unless you have the lights on full blast and it is not backlit.

tommeyj · Post by **tommeyj** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 10:45 am

Will this unit work with a HDMI to DVI hookup.

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 1:29 pm

Yes!

The DVI must be HDCP compatible though....

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 3:12 pm

Jeff,

It seems the audio we listened to was not HD audio as much as less compressed audio compared to a SD DVD; and it may have been just SD DVD audio.

I checked the receiver you suggested and it does not have any of the HD audio codecs.

You may find this article and exchange of interest.

Multi-channel Audio for HD
viewtopic.php?p=12051

HiDeffjeff · Post by **HiDeffjeff** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 5:43 pm

Richard...The receiver I have, The VSX-74Txvi has the correct HDMI for listening to DD+ and DTS HD.... The reason I know is cause when the movie starts it changes from THX Ultra Select 2 to THX Musicmode (which only used to come on with SACD cd's...If I plug in a conventional dvd it automatically switches back to THX Ultra Select 2 which is correct. Then if I eject the conventional dvd and put in the HD-DVD (such as Serenity), the receiver once again automatically switches to the SACD mode (THX Musicmode)...The difference is dramatic...so it must be working. This receiver was built with the soon to be released Pioneer Elite Blu-ray player in mind, so this may be why it works. All I know is...It definitely works!...

I believe the codecs are in the Player itself...I think the Toshiba is designed to pass the TrueHD, DD+, DTSHD, signal through once it dedects the HDMI audio connection...I read an article online that said if you buy the Toshiba HD player and happen to be one of the few who have an HDMI receiver, you will be able to enjoy the Toshiba's DD+, DTS-HD, TrueHD in it's best form.

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 11:41 am

Here is the scoop.

If you have HDMI 1.1 minimum for audio then what you will get is the decoded multichannel output from the source which is basically the same thing as connecting the analog multichannel outs to your receiver. With digital you retain the speaker settings and bass management provided by the receiver. With analog that typically has to come from the player. In essence your receiver is a D/A convertor.

To send the unprocessed HD audio digital stream from the player to your receiver requries HDMI 1.3 which is not on the market yet.

So yes Jeff, you did receive the full DD Plus experience and I did not! But I will...

Just gotta find 6 cables and hope there is some bass management on the player.

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Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD Player - HiDeffjeff's review

HiDeffjeff's Amended review of Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD Player