Toshiba announces two new HD-DVD players for the US

Players look to be the same as those announced for Europe at IFA

15 September 2006 12:19 GMT / By Amber Maitland

The two latest HD-DVD players that Toshiba announced at IFA are also coming to the US at a similar price point, but with different names.

Called the HD-E1 and HE-EX1 in Europe, it seems that in the US their incarnations will be named the HD-A2 and HD-XA2.

The players are the second-generation of Toshiba’s next-generation players; the top of the line HD-XA2 now supports the latest HDMI standard, 1.3.

The high-end HD-XA2 HD-DVD player can output at 1080p, incorporates 297MHz 12-bit Video DAC with 4x oversampling, and comes with a picture setting function that lets users optimise picture quality with adjustable colour, contrast, brightness, edge enhancement, and noise blocking settings.

Both players support MPEG4 AVC and VC-1, as well as MPEG2, and are backward compatible with DVDs.

Top output for the HD-A2 entry-level model is 1080i, rather than the 1080p achieved by the HD-XA2. Both players support lossless and lossy audio formats from Dolby Labs and DTS.

The HD-A2 will be priced just under $500, while the HD-XA2 will be on sale for around $1000. The European HD-E1, it was announced at IFA, will retail for €599, while the HE-EX1 will go on sale for €899.