Tosh HD-A2 HD DVD - First End User Reports! - Page 74

The A2 sends decodes TrueHD itself and pushes it out HDMI, you don't need 1.3.

Ok i just got this unit through amazon(electronics expo) Anyway, i have some questions.
1. The welcome screen pops up when i turn it on but it never goes away on the first try. I have to unplug it and then it comes up after about 30 seconds. Anybody else have this?
2. About the 3rd hd disk i put in there, i got the not a dvd notice. as soon as i ejected and put back in it worked. is this normal for it to glitch like that?
Any help with that welcome screen would be great, I really like the player but its very frustrating to have it freeze up like that.

try the firmware update, if that doesn't help, send it back for an exchange. I haven't experienced either of those problems with mine...about 5 different HD DVD's and multiple SD DVD's.

Ill try that, altough i just tried to get the internet connection working and that also is a no go.

Quick question. If I hook this up to a 1080p TV, would I then have 1080p picture, even though the player is only capable of 720p?

Mine is capable of outputting at 1080i.

The HD-A2 outputs 1080i. Where did you get 720p?

well i did the firmware update and now i can not get past the welcome screen. But i found that if i unlpug the hdmi it goes through. so this must have a bad hdmi port.

Hi All,

I just picked up the A2 and I seem to have run into a similiar problem as bambam. Only thing is none of my movies are playing and I've tried 5 different ones including some SD DVDs. This happened with v1.3 and even after I updated to v1.5. It looks like a faulty player, but thought I'd throw this up here in case anyone has an idea of what's going on. Thanks.

Got my A2 from Amazon last night with the Matrix set, Departed, and Children of Men. ($356!) I had the 360 Add-on previously, but wanted to step up to get the lossess audio since I upgraded receivers since then.

The A2 showed up with 1.3 firmware. I hooked it up using HDMI to a Pioneer Elite 82TXS running to a Mistu 65732 65" 1080p DLP.

Decided to let it ride, and not update it until I found problems. The Matrix played through completely and was spectacular!

Just some random things I noticed...

- Make sure you set the Optical out to PCM on the audio settings. This allows the PCM on the HDMI to be 96hz instead of 48hz. The Pioneer 82TXS reported the change.

- The startup time wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it might be. The time it takes to boot up the Xbox, and then start the movie is comparable. Still not as fast as the PS3 though.

- I don't know if it is just the switch from component to HDMI, but the picture has a noticeable increase in contrast or depth. This was verified by my eyes using the HD DVE disc. The gradient ramps where cleaner at the low and high ends of the test patterens.

- The remote sucks. But I will live.

- Upscaling was excellent. I have a multitude of upscaling options. A C2D HTPC, running the Xbox standard DVD though the Elite 82TXS which has special upscaling properties, the A2, and soon tonight the PS3. I still like the HTPC the best, with the A2 being a close second, the 82TXS is third, and the PS3 is TBD.

- The 65732 has no problem properly deinterlacing the 1080i to 1080p. I am 99% sure that I would have seen no improvement getting the A20. I believe that the part of the reason is the extremely clean video.

- Played parts of Children of Men, Superman Returns, Batman Begins, and DVE. No loading problems. Matrix played beginning to end with no problems.

Good question, obviously your TV can't display 1080i, so it will either take the 1080i and convert it to 1080p or down to 720p...I'd check you TV's user's manual.

Can someone repost a link to the A2 PDF Owner's Manual please...I can't find it by searching for the life of me.

I am going to get delivery on the A-2 today so at this point, I do not know what update I might have but I suspect it won't be 1.6.

From reading the Toshiba sight, it indicates that if one has a hdmi to DVI-d connection, we will need to download 1.6 firmware to get anything but 480i, which is exactly the setup that I have.

Does the player come with the usb cable that will enable me to download or do I need to obtain it elsewhere?

You can set something like maximum output to either 720P or 1080i - I have mine set to 720P because my projector is 720P.

You need to buy / obtain an Ethernet cable to download and you hook it up to your router or modem.

Yes, but Uegis said "even though the player is only capable of 720p" which is incorrect.

Right. Also make sure that once you have configured your Ethernet set up in the A2 to RESTART the unit. You have to do that for the ethernet configuration to take hold. If you don't, you won't be able to get the update.

I just got my A2 today and I've got to say I was blown away by it. I did the ethernet config and got the 1.6 update. That took what seemed like forever. I tested it with Babel, Pitch Black and We Were Soldiers in HD-DVD and tried both anamorphic and non-anamorphic in SD. All worked superbly.

Upconverting of SD disks was much better than my Sony HDMI DVD player and I thought it was superb.

Other info :

Monoprice 2-1 HDMI switcher works just fine with it

My JVC HD-iLA 61" never looked so good, even with Dish HD

And my Pioneer DV-940 HTIB never sounded so good

For info I plugged the ethernet into my Apple Airport Express that I use on my mac mini and the config was just as simple as following Toshiba's instruction. The Airport Express just responded quite well to it.

The only thing I'm sorry about is that I didn't do this earlier!

I tried to look but no luck, I know the answer is here somewhere..
question here............

What is your set up in picture menu (a2)

mine is:

16x9
1080i
video mode

with this set up: which way to go....for better picture....

video mode and 1080i
video mode and 720p
or
film mode and 1080i
film mode and 720p

Thanks,

Mine is setup for 16x9, 1080i and video mode is auto.

ok i just got one 2 days ago and it looks great. i have had a strange issue: the lord of the ring EE wont upconvert! i have firmware 1.3 (gona try to update here tonight, but have to go to a friends place as he has a router and my service wont let me out, needs user name which is an email address.....). also i have it set to do 720p and its going through component. any ideas?

i just got one - my first hd player. but i have a problem. i only have one hd dvd right now. pitch black. when i paly it on my hitachi 4:3 tv, the bars above and below are gray instead of black?!?! however when i put in a standard dvd, the bars are gray. anyone have a helpful hint for me? i've tried everything i can think of. im hoping its just this particular hd dvd since its in a 2:35 aspect instead of 16:9.

From page 20 of the manual: "HD DVD and DVD video disc creators have the option to include copy protection instructions in their discs that prohibit
the output of some standard video or high defi nition video (original 720p or 1080i or up-converted 480i or 480p) from
the COMPONENT OUTPUT jacks. If such instructions are present in the disc you are playing, you must use the HDMI
OUTPUT jack to view the disc in a high defi nition format and the COMPONENT OUTPUT jacks, if activated, will output
video only in 480i or 480p resolution."
Hope that helps.

the a2 does not upconvert via component unless it is a burned dvd minus copy protection. But it will play hd dvd via component 720/1080.

I picked up the Costco model a couple of days ago and since then I have watched a couple of movies. I watched the HD-DVD King Kong and the standard DVD The Prestige. I have a Sharp DT-500 and I had an Oppo 971 DVD player. The Toshiba is set for 720P maximum because the DT-500 is a 720P projector.

I don't think WOW would be an over exaggeration. HD DVD is, of course, awesome. The HD-DVD picture is very similar to HDTV but even better because it seems to have better blacks and more contrast and depth. VERY VERY film like. I think this may be simply because I was able to calibrate the DVD player with AVIA. (BTW - the projector/DVD combination was very close to being perfectly calibrated out of the box. I only need a couple of ticks up or down on a couple of settings)

The thing that I was floored by was the standard DVD quality. My view is that it is clearly better than any DVD player I have ever had and the picture (this may sound crazy) in standard definition looks nearly as good as HD. No Macro, totally smooth, deep contrast and nearly perfect colors. Amazing for $250 bucks. Easily the best upgrade I have made to my system!

Interesting. Is there a list anywhere of DVDs that have included their own copy protection? I have always used component (and am doing so now with my A2) so I'd be curious as to what I have watched that was not being up-ressed on my DVB-318.

I think pretty much all DVDs have copy protection enabled so they wont be allowed to upconvert over component, you need to use hdmi.

Bless ya. I just got mine from Amazon last night and hooked it up today, I was getting POed that it couldn't contact the server using DHCP or static. Updating it now.

Haven't had much time to play with it, just popped in a disc to check out the picture. Gee, I was getting used to the thin and light players that I'd bought last like the Philips 642 and Oppo 971, kinda depressing to have a big ol player again, but at least it looks at home with the Toshiba VCR at the bottom of my pile I was a little afraid to see a fan on this unit, but I'm happy that it's pretty quiet, not any louder than my directivo. I'm not put off by the startup time, I'm used to waiting for my consoles and PC to startup, so this isn't anything new compared to what I deal with every day. On the down side, I forgot to account for how many optical inputs I have on my video switcher, oops. Time to rig something up.

As an aside, it should be noted that the initial production wave of the Zenith DVB-318 (as well as its LG counterpart) were among the very last upconverting players released that can do so via component before the mandated restriction took affect. Therefore, it is completely plausible that Sonnyboy's DVB 318 has been upconverting all this time. Just keep in mind, Sonny, that your model was released earlier this decade, and things have changed a bit since then regarding SD DVD upconversion. And that's why your A2 (or any other late model player) upconverts only via HDMI or DVI.