Onkyo DV-HD805 dissected, Toshiba HD-XA2 found inside
[Via FormatWarCentral]
[Via FormatWarCentral]
Relevant Posts
- Toshiba remains stubborn, looks to DVD upscaling while brushing Blu-ray off (37 days ago - 98 Comments)
- Toshiba plans new LCD HDTVs for IFA, will include Resolution+ technology (14 days ago - 34 Comments)
- Onkyo not quite ready for Blu-ray, offers DV-SP406 upscaling DVD deck (8 days ago - 12 Comments)
- Onkyo reveals Integra DHC-9.9 AV receiver (6 days ago - 8 Comments)
- DVD Download DL logo sparks wonder over Toshiba's super-resolution DVD player (23 days ago - 36 Comments)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
rg23 @ Nov 21st 2007 1:42PM
$899 is steep if it is indeed an HD-XA2 inside. You can buy HD-XA2 for $479 at Amazon.com right now.
TrentD @ Nov 21st 2007 1:47PM
The Onkyo player internally deocdes DTS-HD:Master Audio, if I'm not mistaken, which the XA2 does not.
The real point of this Onkyo player is that it gives custom installers a trusted name (Onkyo/Integra) at a reasonably profitable price point to spec into their jobs. This item won't sell to the average consumer, rather, the boutique hi-fi crowd and custom specified and installed systems.
rg23 @ Nov 21st 2007 2:09PM
Toshiba HD-XA2 has DTS-HD core only. Not sure if this is the same as Onkyo's DV-HD805's DTS-HD support.
elvisizer @ Nov 21st 2007 7:23PM
not true- with firmware 2.7, the XA2 can send a DTS-HDMA bitstream out.
Galley @ Nov 21st 2007 2:14PM
My first HDTV was a Toshiba. It turns out it wasn't made by Toshiba, but by some company called Orion. The expected Toshiba quality wasn't there, so I dumped it. Why would I want to buy Onkyo equipment made by Toshiba? It may be made by Venturer in the end.
TrentD @ Nov 21st 2007 3:38PM
Orion made some of Toshiba's tube TVs for awhile - that has nothing to do with an HD DVD player.
The_Baron @ Nov 21st 2007 2:17PM
Thats a pretty spectacular profit margin if the XA2 is is selling for ~ half the price. Who says there is no profit in HD DVD players?
MJD @ Nov 21st 2007 3:12PM
Just got the XA2 from OneCall.com today for $479, matching Amazon's price. No taxes at OneCall, so that's why I asked them to match the Amazon price. Guy said they had a few left, these were going like hotcakes now that Toshiba did the last firmware upgrade to fix the audio, and let it do passthrough.
The Toshiba XA2 has the Reon processor, so that's why I like this player over the A series from this year.(A3,A30,A35)
Jimmy @ Nov 21st 2007 4:12PM
The recent Consumer Reports numbers reflect the quality of the XA2 and the relative cheapness of the A2/A20. The XA2 got an Excellent with a 91 the other two scored 77 and 74 which is still considered Very Good. Those where the only HD DVD players they tested. They also tested 5 Blu-ray machines with the Pioneer rated best with a 91. The other 4 machines all scored 84+. The one dual format was the LG and it scored an 80. So if Onkyo is taking the XA2 and tweaking it for the better then it should be a good machine.
Kind of disappointing though that Toshiba is still the only company manufacturing HD DVD players.
HDpurist @ Nov 21st 2007 11:24PM
Hugely disappointing - nothing new from Onkyo to advance the HD-DVD format support other than to skimp out. Well atleast you have to give Onkyo credit for pricing the player that actually returns a profit for the company, unlike Toshiba completely in the (embarrassingly) red with the A2 et al.
Craig WB @ Nov 22nd 2007 2:29AM
Toshiba are making the other brands products too? what does this say about the future of HD DVD
JeffDM @ Nov 22nd 2007 3:00AM
This sort of thing is relatively common. I think one high end company have taken the guts of a Pioneer DVD player and substituted their own output stage some years ago. I had both an RCA and Panasonic VHS player, when I opened them up, I found that they used about 95% the same parts in the same arrangement, with some minor changes here and there, the Panasonic was clearly the better one though. Without opening it, I would have had no idea, other than I thought the back panel was pretty similar.
h4ldol @ Nov 22nd 2007 7:36AM
Jimmy
No fears mate. In addition to Toshiba, there are forthcoming HD DVD players from such CE stalwarts as Venturer, Shinco, and another company whose name no one has ever heard of. Obviously, this makes HD DVD even with blu-ray, who has Pioneer, Panasonic, Sony, Samsung, Denon, Sharp, JVC, and a few others. Truly, a stalemate. *wink, wink*
petergonzalez @ Nov 23rd 2007 5:26PM
It's interesting how one HD DVD manufacturer (Toshiba) alone has been able to outsell all standalone Blu-ray player manufacturers combined (Pioneer, Panasonic, Sony, Samsung, Denon, Sharp, JVC).....
h4ldol @ Nov 22nd 2007 7:40AM
JeffDM
Thanks for your clearly expert quality evaluation of the inner workings of your DVD players. So they have the same layout of components? Yes. That must mean they are the same. Same components? Yes. I'm sure you could tell that they were all made of the same components just by eye-balling them. I'm guessing you are some sort of electrical/mechanical engineer! MIT?
Truth Teller @ Nov 23rd 2007 2:10PM
There's one very nice & handy spin-off from everyone using the Toshiba design (even the Chinese designs use the gen 3 Toshiba HD A3 players as their 'reference design').
One set of software across the board.
That's why HD DVD updates don't cause problems with any different brands.
Unlike Blu-ray where we saw an example of the variations causing grief to some owners of the differing brands when BD+ was introduced.
Just as we're going to hear similar when (if) they ever get around to introducing profile 1.1 and profile 2.0 players and movies.
The Toshiba HD XA2 is an excellent international award-winning player with an excellent reputation, the Onkyo DV-HD805 merely improves on this somewhat.
Scott @ Dec 1st 2007 11:25AM
WHat Onkyo "added" was the ability to sell the player for a profit, which Toshiba has cut from their players. THis was done to make the illusion that more companies support HD DVD, but all it really shows is that HD DVD players cost as much (orin this case more) than Blu-ray players with the same specs. What a POS deal HD DVD is.