Toshiba HD-XA2 HD DVD Player

Welcome back to AV Maxman. Today we’re taking a look at the Toshiba HD-XA2 the new HD-DVD player from Toshiba.

Now at first glance it looks like just another DVD player, which to a point is true but when you look closer you’ll see that it is much much more.

The HD-XA2 is Toshiba’s new version of second-generation HD DVD players, as expected it has great features like HDMI 1.3 and 1080p (currently the highest picture resolution available) output.

Some HD-XA2 Features

As well a playing HD DVD’s the HD-XA2 has no problem playing DVD’s (with up conversion) or for that matter your audio CD’s too.

Another great feature I should mention is Toshiba’s support for the new high-definition soundtrack format Dolby TrueHD (something that has been a little bit of a disappointment with Blu-ray players) they always seem to be strong in this area. This means that the HD-XA2 can decode the signal without using some sort of Av Receiver. We are still waiting for a HD player of either format that can decode lossless DTS-HD Master Audio and send it to a receiver in full resolution.

Connectivity

As I mentioned earlier it has HDMI 1.3 which will enable you to take advantage of Deep color technology. Also HDMI handles both hi-definition video and audio, but if you don’t have a HDMI port on your TV the HD-XA2 does give you S-Video and composite video outputs as well as digital audio outputs like optical and coaxial.

It also has an Ethernet jack which gives you the option to update firmware (firmware is kinda like software, “you know” a computer program. But it is also part of a piece of hardware). Maxman likes to think of firmware as a “Transformer” you know like the movie, half machine half robot. Well firmware is half software half hardware. Ok maybe I got a little carried away there but you get my point.

Performance

Picture quality when watching HD-DVD’s is second to none and seem light years ahead when compared to standard DVD especially when viewed on a larger screen.

One improvement Toshiba has made with the HD-XA2 is it has a much quicker operational speed than previous players which tended to be very slow especially compared to a standard DVD player.

It also did a very good job of upconverting a standard DVD during playback. What this means is it has the ability to take the DVD picture (low resolution) and upconvert it to a high-definition (high resolution) picture providing your TV is high-definition also.

I must say though that the remote wouldn’t be my first choice. I had trouble with navigation as the buttons are very narrow and even though they are backlit it was hard to use in the dark without looking at it.

Overall though Maxman gives it an 8 out of 10.

Now remember the format war between HD-DVD and Blu-ray still rages and may for some time yet but if you’re ready to take the plunge the HD-XA2 is a good choice.

Maxman Out.