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

HiDeffjeff · Post by **HiDeffjeff** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 8:01 pm

Okay, here goes...The first thing you are gonna want to do is throw the remote control in the garbage...No backlit buttons and the lettering is unviewable without 100 watt lights overhead...(not a big deal to me cause I use the MX-3000)...Picture quality is only a notch or two above a good upscalable player, but I do like the way the aspect ratio looks better than conventional upscaled dvd players, The big WOW is the audio!...Man, I noticed the difference immediately!...The sound quality is astounding!...I am not much on menu's and gaming so I will leave that for someone else to comment on...---Bottom Line-----I was disappointed in the quality of video...looks exactly like Directv HD Movies...(crystal clear on close ups, but unfocused on zoomed out shots)...But I am glad I bought it for the audio portion...If you are not a big audio buff, don't even waste your money on Blu-Ray technology...I think we are getting close to peaking out on video quality in movies...Now only 1080P (or higher) left to review...BTW, I have never seen HD-VHS (Dtheater) so there's a chance it is actually better than this so called "pure" HD-DVD...(as far as video anyways)...

Oh, I forgot to mention that I watched the movie and listened to sound through HDMI (which no doubt accounts for the semi lossless audio)...simply amazing sound quality. I have the new Pioneer Elite VSX-74TXvi receiver with 2 HDMI in and 1 out. The movie I watched was "Serenity" it is 1080P. (wish I had a 1080P projector) One more thing to note: My receiver (VSX-74TXvi) automatically plays these movies through the THX SACD music mode...AWESOME!...If your receiver doesn't have HDMI you probably won't hear the WOW factor. I'm thinking that video shot specials like DiscoveryHD and Chronos type video camera stuff will be more impressive....also, I was told that a firmware upgrade will be available to output 1080P from this player. (I would wait for the next generation player myself)

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 6:31 am

Thanks for the review.

You may not really see the full video benefits until you change projectors as I have noticed the same video response with the Panasonic. With the Samsung the difference is far more clear and evident.

That type of problem could hurt the promotion of this product because there are many more displays that will have a similar result.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I watched the movie and listened to sound through HDMI (which no doubt accounts for the semi lossless audio)...simply amazing sound quality.

Another poor point in all this. I and many others will need to upgrade the reciever to get that level of performance.

Check out the following comment from Rodolfo...

TIPS List · Post by **TIPS List** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 6:32 am

----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----

Jason,

Regarding your request of help about audio.

The multichannel matter on both Hi Def formats is a big can of worms.

It forced me to write a couple of sections on the report to explain how that works and which
connections to use.

DTS and DD 5.1 are both mandatory for HD DVD. English 5.1 could mean any of the two, it does not
necessarily means DD 5.1.

You will NOT get the new audio formats using optical or coax legacy connections, the player will
bitstream to the receiver (or pre/pro), which would use its legacy decoder (DTS or DD).

You should have been able to transport the new multichannel formats using the analog connections
(6-8 earlier used for DVD-Audio) as you did, but since the decoding takes place on the player, and
HD DVD has standardized "an irrational" minimum 2CH mandatory decoding player circuitry (not the 8
channels), you are out of luck with True-HD using this road.

The subject is much more complex, I just touched the surface.

Best Regards,

Rodolfo La Maestra

HiDeffjeff · Post by **HiDeffjeff** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 9:25 am

Richard wrote:Thanks for the review.

You may not really see the full video benefits until you change projectors as I have noticed the same video response with the Panasonic. With the Samsung the difference is far more clear and evident.

That type of problem could hurt the promotion of this product because there are many more displays that will have a similar result.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I watched the movie and listened to sound through HDMI (which no doubt accounts for the semi lossless audio)...simply amazing sound quality.
Another poor point in all this. I and many others will need to upgrade the reciever to get that level of performance.

Check out the following comment from Rodolfo...

Yeah, this is what I was afraid of...Alot of the early adopters will not see the capabilities of this new player...I sure hope my source was correct about the firmware upgrade to 1080P output on this player....That way when I move up to the Optoma HD81 I should be in business. Richard, The new Pioneer Elite VSX-74TXvi is right now the least expensive at that place www.bajangles.com I think it is $930.00 plus 45.00 shipping. The unit is pretty darn good for that price...It is ipod ready and XM ready to boot. (I had the Flagship VSX-59TXi and cannot tell any difference in power)...I dumped it on ebay when I knew these HD-DVD players would only do lossless through HDMI...For the price, I doubt it can be beat.

HiDeffjeff · Post by **HiDeffjeff** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 9:33 am

Richard, You know the weird thing is I had alot better picture on the same Panasonic PT-AE900U projector when I played Terminator2 "Extreme DVD" through my laptop...and it was 1080P...How do we account for this?

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 9:48 am

Don't know yet because actual performance of the player appears to be impossible to check right now; no calibration disc to check HD DVD...

This is a bigger problem than most realize; it is the first thing I do with any player; confirm the patterns are getting displayed correctly.

Your disc though should be WMVHD and that is the codec Joe Kane preferred over MPEG4. Maybe that is what you are seeing. Could be the scaling form your laptop was better. Have you tried that disc in the Toshiba? That may also be an answer for testing since DVE Pro does have one disc of WMVHD testing.

What connection and scan rate are you feeding the projector?

As for the projector it simply has a soft appearance. My old Mits CRT RP appears sharper. For a week I kept trying to find HD detail that I knew had to be there but it simply was not showing up.

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 9:51 am

I sure hope my source was correct about the firmware upgrade to 1080P output on this player

Me too!

HiDeffjeff · Post by **HiDeffjeff** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 10:21 am

Richard, I am feeding the projector 720P since that is the native scan rate...I am using HDMI for connection....You are correct, the Terminator2 "extreme" is in WMVHD...BTW, that's a good idea about trying to play it in the Toshiba player. I will try it when I get home.

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 1:15 pm

I just took 2 hours out of my day to go on the other side of the world and pick one up at a warehouse. Wife is picking up Serenity on the way home.

Jeff, you are a good/bad influence...

Recommend 720P for SD but we may very well find 1080I for HD is better. Will do some testing. I have a new calibration disc from the ISF for comsumers that has WMVHD on it but this disc is not intended for calibrators and have not had time to plug it in to see exactly what that is supposed to mean...

Will keep you posted.

HiDeffjeff · Post by **HiDeffjeff** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 3:34 pm

darn...I wish you had a Pioneer VSX-74Txvi to listen through...Man, you've just "got" to hear it!...

...I suppose you can run analog cables through your existing receiver...won't be quite as good but I would be curious to know if you could hear it...