Toshiba HD-A1KN and HD-XA1KN
The first high-definition DVD players (Consumer Report May 2006)
The DVD has finally entered the high-definition television era. In our tests of the first ever HD-capable DVD players (from Toshiba), images from high-definition movie DVDs were notably superior to those of standard DVDs.
However, neither player is a must-buy yet. For one, at $500 and $800, they're many times the price of a standard DVD player. HD discs for these players are pricier than regular DVDs (at $30 apiece) and much less plentiful. Only about 10 movies are available in HD-DVD so far. These include "Last Samurai," "Million Dollar Baby," "Apollo 13," "Doom," and "Goodfellas." (An additional two to five titles are scheduled to premiere each week for at least the rest of 2006.)
More serious is the complication of a format war. The Toshibas both use HD-DVD, one of two high-definition DVD formats. Over the coming months, other companies, including LG and RCA, are expected to launch HD-DVD players. But so too are companies such as Sony and Samsung that support a competing high-definition DVD format known as Blu-ray.
Discs from one format won't play in the other's players. What's more, many movies won't be available in both formats, since studios are mostly in one camp or the other, too. (Among the major studios, only Warner Brothers and Paramount will offer titles in both Blu-ray and HD-DVD. Universal, The Weinstein Co., and HBO are HD-DVD only, while Sony and Disney are Blu-ray only.)
Still, there's rightly much interest in the first offspring from the marriage of HD and DVD. Here are our first impressions:
WHAT WE LIKED
Superb high-definition performance. Based on our initial tests, HDTV owners who now revel in the quality of high-definition broadcasts should like HD-DVD just as much and maybe more. Played on the Toshibas and viewed on an HDTV, the HD-DVD version of the 2004 remake of "Phantom of the Opera" looked sharper and more detailed than the standard DVD version. Details and textures in costumes, skin, fabric, and other surfaces were more evident, and the HD-DVD provided an enhanced illusion of depth in the image.
The HD-DVD players allowed you to change resolution settings. When playing HD-DVD discs, though, we had the best results when we left the players' output setting at 1080i (for 1080 interlaced lines) regardless of which format your HDTV uses.
(One technical note: As with HDTV broadcasts, you do need an HDTV to view HD-DVD discs in high definition; the players and discs confer no advantage to those who own only a standard-definition TV.)
Fine performance from standard movie DVDs. With so few HD-DVD discs yet available, you'll likely play standard-definition movie DVDs on these players for some time. The Toshibas provided top-notch performance with such discs when the titles were originally shot on film, as most movies are. When playing DVDs of video-based content (a category that includes most TV series on DVD along with many concert DVDs), the Toshibas offered better performance than most DVD players we've tested--while falling short of the very best players for video-based DVDs, which offer more smoothing of moving images.
Another tip here: When playing conventional DVDs, change the Toshibas' output setting to 480p; that yielded the best results in our tests.
WHAT WE DIDN'T LIKE
No support for the highest-resolution HD format. HD-DVD movies are encoded in the 1080p format, which currently provides the highest-resolution HDTV signals. Yet these Toshibas do not output HD signals in that format. The upshot: When viewing some content on some new TVs that support 1080p resolution, picture quality may be somewhat compromised.
The company says future players will be able to output in 1080p. If you already own a 1080p HDTV--or plan to get one--it makes sense to wait.
Another compatibility note: While these Toshibas will play a full range of DVD and CD formats, they won't play the high resolution information on DVD-Audio and SACD discs so as to make the most of the extra fidelity of these special audio discs.
Finicky HDMI connections. These DVD players are more like computing devices than disc players--and not in the best ways. For example, when we switched from the HD-DVD player's HDMI input to another input (as you would when, say, switching from a movie to check on the baseball game), the player froze and displayed the message "HDMI Error." Hitting the Play button got the players working again, but at the beginning of the disc--not where we left off.
Lethargic controls. Both players took a relatively long time to load HD-DVD discs and to skip chapters. The remote control of the HD-A1SN worked inconsistently, sometimes producing a response from the player and sometimes not.
THE BOTTOM LINE
These Toshibas are impressive performers in most respects, but only avid innovators should consider buying either of them. The key reason for restraint is, of course, the coming launch of competing Blu-ray players, probably in early summer, and the possibility that one or the other format will become the Betamax of the 21st century.
But in addition, reflecting their first-generation lineage, both of these HD-DVD players have quirks that will likely be addressed in their successors, from Toshiba and other manufacturers.
Those who own an older HDTV--one that has only analog (component) inputs--have equal reason to resist investing now in HD-DVD. The Toshibas do offer component video jacks, in addition to a HDMI port. Problem is, the analog connections may not deliver high-definition signals for all movies. Reflecting concerns that high-definition DVDs may be copied and sold in pirated versions, the protocol for both HD-DVD and Blu-ray allows movie studios and other content providers to program discs so that HD signals from the component jacks are downgraded from HD to what's called enhanced definition. The studios haven't exercised that option on the first HD-DVD titles, and if they do on future releases, they'll be required to put a warning on the DVD box to that effect. Nevertheless, the threat to owners of older HDTVs remains.
If you are determined to go HD-DVD now, choose the $500 Toshiba HD-AIKN over its $800 sibling. The HD-XA1KN adds only a sleeker appearance, a lighted remote, and a connection for a "custom controller."
The first high-definition DVD players (Consumer Report May 2006)
The DVD has finally entered the high-definition television era. In our tests of the first ever HD-capable DVD players (from Toshiba), images from high-definition movie DVDs were notably superior to those of standard DVDs.
However, neither player is a must-buy yet. For one, at $500 and $800, they're many times the price of a standard DVD player. HD discs for these players are pricier than regular DVDs (at $30 apiece) and much less plentiful. Only about 10 movies are available in HD-DVD so far. These include "Last Samurai," "Million Dollar Baby," "Apollo 13," "Doom," and "Goodfellas." (An additional two to five titles are scheduled to premiere each week for at least the rest of 2006.)
More serious is the complication of a format war. The Toshibas both use HD-DVD, one of two high-definition DVD formats. Over the coming months, other companies, including LG and RCA, are expected to launch HD-DVD players. But so too are companies such as Sony and Samsung that support a competing high-definition DVD format known as Blu-ray.
Discs from one format won't play in the other's players. What's more, many movies won't be available in both formats, since studios are mostly in one camp or the other, too. (Among the major studios, only Warner Brothers and Paramount will offer titles in both Blu-ray and HD-DVD. Universal, The Weinstein Co., and HBO are HD-DVD only, while Sony and Disney are Blu-ray only.)
Still, there's rightly much interest in the first offspring from the marriage of HD and DVD. Here are our first impressions:
WHAT WE LIKED
Superb high-definition performance. Based on our initial tests, HDTV owners who now revel in the quality of high-definition broadcasts should like HD-DVD just as much and maybe more. Played on the Toshibas and viewed on an HDTV, the HD-DVD version of the 2004 remake of "Phantom of the Opera" looked sharper and more detailed than the standard DVD version. Details and textures in costumes, skin, fabric, and other surfaces were more evident, and the HD-DVD provided an enhanced illusion of depth in the image.
The HD-DVD players allowed you to change resolution settings. When playing HD-DVD discs, though, we had the best results when we left the players' output setting at 1080i (for 1080 interlaced lines) regardless of which format your HDTV uses.
(One technical note: As with HDTV broadcasts, you do need an HDTV to view HD-DVD discs in high definition; the players and discs confer no advantage to those who own only a standard-definition TV.)
Fine performance from standard movie DVDs. With so few HD-DVD discs yet available, you'll likely play standard-definition movie DVDs on these players for some time. The Toshibas provided top-notch performance with such discs when the titles were originally shot on film, as most movies are. When playing DVDs of video-based content (a category that includes most TV series on DVD along with many concert DVDs), the Toshibas offered better performance than most DVD players we've tested--while falling short of the very best players for video-based DVDs, which offer more smoothing of moving images.
Another tip here: When playing conventional DVDs, change the Toshibas' output setting to 480p; that yielded the best results in our tests.
WHAT WE DIDN'T LIKE
No support for the highest-resolution HD format. HD-DVD movies are encoded in the 1080p format, which currently provides the highest-resolution HDTV signals. Yet these Toshibas do not output HD signals in that format. The upshot: When viewing some content on some new TVs that support 1080p resolution, picture quality may be somewhat compromised.
The company says future players will be able to output in 1080p. If you already own a 1080p HDTV--or plan to get one--it makes sense to wait.
Another compatibility note: While these Toshibas will play a full range of DVD and CD formats, they won't play the high resolution information on DVD-Audio and SACD discs so as to make the most of the extra fidelity of these special audio discs.
Finicky HDMI connections. These DVD players are more like computing devices than disc players--and not in the best ways. For example, when we switched from the HD-DVD player's HDMI input to another input (as you would when, say, switching from a movie to check on the baseball game), the player froze and displayed the message "HDMI Error." Hitting the Play button got the players working again, but at the beginning of the disc--not where we left off.
Lethargic controls. Both players took a relatively long time to load HD-DVD discs and to skip chapters. The remote control of the HD-A1SN worked inconsistently, sometimes producing a response from the player and sometimes not.
THE BOTTOM LINE
These Toshibas are impressive performers in most respects, but only avid innovators should consider buying either of them. The key reason for restraint is, of course, the coming launch of competing Blu-ray players, probably in early summer, and the possibility that one or the other format will become the Betamax of the 21st century.
But in addition, reflecting their first-generation lineage, both of these HD-DVD players have quirks that will likely be addressed in their successors, from Toshiba and other manufacturers.
Those who own an older HDTV--one that has only analog (component) inputs--have equal reason to resist investing now in HD-DVD. The Toshibas do offer component video jacks, in addition to a HDMI port. Problem is, the analog connections may not deliver high-definition signals for all movies. Reflecting concerns that high-definition DVDs may be copied and sold in pirated versions, the protocol for both HD-DVD and Blu-ray allows movie studios and other content providers to program discs so that HD signals from the component jacks are downgraded from HD to what's called enhanced definition. The studios haven't exercised that option on the first HD-DVD titles, and if they do on future releases, they'll be required to put a warning on the DVD box to that effect. Nevertheless, the threat to owners of older HDTVs remains.
If you are determined to go HD-DVD now, choose the $500 Toshiba HD-AIKN over its $800 sibling. The HD-XA1KN adds only a sleeker appearance, a lighted remote, and a connection for a "custom controller."
