HD DVD: The Next Generation

Audio performance was superb overall, especially the Phantom of the Opera’s Dolby TrueHD soundtrack. Dialog was clearly rendered and the overall sound was full and rich, from the deep organ pedal tones to the highest harmonics.

Trouble in Paradise

As I was working on this review, it was brought to my attention that connecting the HDMI output to a DVI input limits the resolution of HD DVDs to 480p. Sure enough, when I connected the player to the DVI input on the Sharp LC-65D90U LCD TV (see review in Issue 72), the resolution of the signal was reduced to 480p, even though the output setting remained “up to 1080p.” Not only that, movies were displayed in a letterbox within a 4:3 window! Granted, DVI inputs are quickly disappearing in favor of HDMI, but this is a serious issue for anyone who owns a pre-HDMI, DVI-equipped TV. (DVI connections carry only video signals.)

Another reported problem is the player’s tendency to crash and experience playback glitches such as skipping and macroblocking (large, solid blocks in the image). I played bits of many different discs, but other than the crash with Tokyo Drift the first time I played it, all the discs I tried worked just fine. The Toshiba Web site offers a firmware update to fix these problems on the HD-A2, but as of this writing, not the XA2. A company rep assured me that one is in the works.

Bottom Line

Despite the major improvements in Blu-ray discs and players lately, I have to say that, based on my experience with the Toshiba HD-XA2, I still think HD DVD looks better. Not that Blu-ray looks bad these days—far from it—but after reviewing several Blu-ray players, I found myself being drawn more deeply into the HD-XA2’s high-def image. There’s no notable difference in audio quality, especially between Dolby TrueHD from HD DVD and PCM from Blu-ray—all the players I’ve listened to sounded great.

Based solely on my own experience using HDMI, I think the HD-XA2 is among the best high-def disc players on the market today. Assuming the forthcoming firmware update fixes the problems with DVI and reliability, I have no doubt that you will agree. TP

Conclusion

Despite the major improvements in Blu-ray discs and players lately, I have to say that, based on my experience with the Toshiba HD-XA2, I still think HD DVD looks better. Not that Blu-ray looks bad these days—far from it—but after reviewing several Blu-ray players, I found myself being drawn more deeply into the HD-XA2’s high-def image. There’s no notable difference in audio quality, especially between Dolby TrueHD from HD DVD and PCM from Blu-ray—all the players I’ve listened to sounded great.

Based solely on my own experience using HDMI, I think the HD-XA2 is among the best high-def disc players on the market today. Assuming the forthcoming firmware update fixes the problems with DVI and reliability, I have no doubt that you will agree. TP