Toshiba third-gen HD DVD players at CEDIA, 2nd gen 1080p24 firmware update
by Darren Murph 
posted Sep 6th 2007 at 12:15PM
The constant stream of Toshiba news continues to flow in, and this go 'round its focused on the firm's newest generation of HD DVD players. After Amazon revealed most of the deets on these units, Toshiba seemed pressured to release the official details sooner than they wanted to. As expected, Toshiba is showing all three new models at CEDIA, like the low-end A3 that only supports 1080i, and the latter two that handle 1080p24 and CE-Link, but all three will reportedly be "approximately 1/4-inch slimmer than second generation models," which Tosh isn't forgetting about, as the long-awaited 1080p24 firmware update for the HD-XA2 and HD-A20 models is also going live, and it should be rolled out in "mid-September."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Kevin Murphy @ Sep 6th 2007 12:21PM
SO... why should I wait for an A3 over an A2? Specs seem pretty much the same, although boot time might be faster.
OH, you mean that I get "300" and "Bourne Identity" in the box, and a NEW set of 15 films to pick 5 from by mail order?
Gee, I'd have thought you'd mention that bit of news above the fold. Did you even read the press release?
Kumar @ Sep 6th 2007 2:16PM
Yeah, I don't get how the 300/Bourne bit didn't make the blog, but maybe that was written on earler...
That's a pretty nice hookup considering amazon will have it for $250 at some point before christmas.
I still don't get why sony doesn't have a 1080i player out there for all of us early adopters, whose sets will never ever be able to play 1080p. On top of that, with the millions of people set to get cheapo 720p sets (as well as sub 42") in the next year or two (anolog to digital OTA changover), you'd think more would be put into the low end for your average consumer. While not a fanboy of either side, I though laser disk sealed it's own fate by staying expensive and high end (oh, and those giant disks didn't help either ;)
Mike @ Sep 6th 2007 6:33PM
We all know engadgethd doesn't support HD DVD... i see an article on the 1k HD DVD player coming out...but there are 5 companies coming out with players
Here is some notes posted by an AVS forums member that was at the Toshiba press confrence.
I just got back to my hotel after attending Toshiba's CEDIA press conference with Jon Spackman, AVS HD DVD/BD Moderator.
The theme was Star Trek and the presenters were dressed in Star Trek outfits and the stage was set with Star Trek decorations. The first presentation was all about their new LCD panels, however, I'll just discuss the HD DVD side of the presentation here.
Here's the list of the new news.
1. All Gen 3 players will be packed with Born Identity and 300. All ValueElectronics.com Gen 3 advance orders qualify for the two additional titles packed with the players.
2. Buy a HD DVD player and the Star Trek box set and their is a mail-in rebate for a Star Trek HD DVD phaser remote control unit, very cool looking and sound effects. All ValueElectronics.com pre-orders are eligible.
3. The 5 free HD DVD movies will be extended till 2/28/08 and new titles are added to the selection. xBox and notebook PC with HD DVD drives will qualify for the 5 free HD DVD movie offer.
4. Just considering Warner, Universal, Paramount, Dreamworks and Dreamworks Animation more than 125 new titles will be release by the end of '07.
5. Shinco, Ventura, Alpine, Onkyo and Integra and the 3 new Gen 3 HD DVD players will all ship by early Q4 '07.
6. Total HD DVD player unit sales are expected to reach more than 30 million stand alone units by the end of 07.
7. Amazon and ValueEletronics.com report the A2 is the #1 best seller.
8. According to NPD data, BD stand alone players have 16% market share, HD DVD enjoys a 33% market share, while SD DVD holds 51%.
9. All studios are going to expand the connectivity features, like on the Star Trek HD DVD you can connect to CBS's server and get a tour of the Star Ship Enterprise.
10. All Toshiba products are Earth friendly and will carry the "Earth Protection" logo on their packaging. There is a long list of things Toshiba has developed to ensure their Earth friendly compliance.
HD DVD boldly goes where no other format has gone before.
-Robert
Smee @ Sep 6th 2007 7:39PM
Does anyone know what is NEC doing as a supporter of HD DVD? Seems they are doing zip!
Nate the Prophet @ Sep 6th 2007 9:40PM
Thanks for posting this extra info! I agree that EngadgetHD's HD DVD coverage seems lacking compared to BR.
I myself am still on the fence, but will likely purchase a player around Christmas time. Cost is my biggest consideration, though. If BR wins in the long run and I have to buy a new player in 4 years...so what if I got an HD DVD player now with 7 movies for only $250, especially with great SD DVD upconversion. I'm leaning toward an HD DVD that plays 1080i, since that's what my tv resolution is and I might as well save money.
Of course, if BR came out with a low-cost player...that would give me an interesting decision :)
Joseph R @ Sep 6th 2007 8:40PM
NEC...
I believe they are part of the design team, having provided software support and other applications. Others might know for info and could update here.
Joseph R @ Sep 6th 2007 8:37PM
"6. Total HD DVD player unit sales are expected to reach more than 30 million stand alone units by the end of 07."
Uh, this cannot be accurate.
FYI: internet and trade magazine reports stated recently, that as of mid-August sales of HD-DVD stand-alone players was around 409,000 vs less than 300,000 Blu-ray stand-alone players, not counting video game units for each (2-3 million combined), so it's not yet possible that "30 million HD-DVD stand-alone units" will have been sold within a few more months.
Also, the combined total of disc software sales of both HD-DVD and Blu-ray amount to just 1% - very early adopter stage - compared to around 94% for standard DVD, 3% for VHS (still kickin' for some folks), and 2% for everything else (like PSP, download/streaming, etc).
Nate the Prophet @ Sep 6th 2007 9:44PM
There are very different numbers for Global vs US only sales. But I'm still guessing it was a typo and he meant 3 million, which would be quite an accomplishment for HD DVD after a little more than a year.
How many DVD players had been sold in that time, I wonder? It seems to my that the relative prices of HD players (both formats) are dropping a lot faster than they did for DVD, or am I crazy?
Smee @ Sep 6th 2007 10:02PM
I don't understand, why on earth Toshiba and NEC combined don't bundle HD DVD players as part of all their TV sales.
Imagine for say an extra $100-$200 being able to buy the combined products, wouldn't that give HD DVD some huge momentum!
They talk about sonys PS3 trojan, what an opportunity that combination would have, surely it would work 2 fold for them as well by helping drive TV sales up.
omega9 @ Sep 7th 2007 12:19AM
I still don't get why sony doesn't have a 1080i player out there for all of us early adopters, whose sets will never ever be able to play 1080p. On top of that, with the millions of people set to get cheapo 720p sets (as well as sub 42") in the next year or two (anolog to digital OTA changover), you'd think more would be put into the low end for your average consumer. While not a fanboy of either side, I though laser disk sealed it's own fate by staying expensive and high end (oh, and those giant disks didn't help either ;)
Ive been on the fence as what to get. My tv may be 72 inch, but it is 1080i. What kind of player(blu-ray/HD DVD) is designed for that. I thought it didn't matter..Thanks.