In the high-definition disc player race, Toshiba is way out in front. The company’s HD DVD machines are 33% ahead of competing format Blu-ray, according to figures presented at CEDIA Expo in Denver.

Launched in April, Toshiba’s $499 HD-A1 player appeared in 3500 US stores and promptly sold out. The company’s upmarket HD-XA1 also did very well, despite its $799 retail price.

Six months after that auspicious beginning, Toshiba has announced its second-generation HD DVD players, the $499 HD-A2 and the $999 HD-XA2. Offering the benefits of MPEG-4 AVC and VC-1 video compression, the players are backward-compatible with legacy DVD. The HD-A2 offers 720p/1080i scaling of SD sources, HDMI v. 1.2a, and full 5.1-channel audio, including Dolby True HD.

The HD-XA2 offers 12-bit video processing via a 297-megahertz chip a technology that enables 4096 distinct steps between black and white. Other video enhancements include 32-bit color, and a “picture setting� function for image optimization. Output includes 720p/1080i and 1080p. As with the HD-2A, multichannel audio decoding includes Dolby True HD. Both machines should hit the street in October.