Tosh HD-XA2 1080p HD DVD - First End User Reports!: USERS ONLY PLEASE! - Page 3

I am planning to go head to head (XA2 versus Pioneer) this weekend! Should be fun!

Sorry, yes, 768. Thanks for the reply Larry.

Same question here.

How does the XA2 look set @ 1080i compared to other HD DVD players?
J

I Just Got The Player As Well And Moved My Hd-a2 Into The Bedroom. I Hooked Up The Hd-xa2 To My New Toshiba 42 Inch Flat Panel 1080p Tv And It Looks Great In 1080p. Hd Dvd Is Definately Better Then Blu Ray

the suspense !!!

Just got HD-XA2 and is hooked up to 46" Sony XBR3 with HDMI. Comparing it to PS3 is a no brainer. HD-XA2 blows PS3 away. I watched King Kong on PS3 vs HD-XA2 and hats off to Toshiba. Also, thanks ****************/Robert for flawless delivery on time thru FedEx. I am shocked at the Difference, since Sony made my TV and my PS3. I will keep the PS3 because the PQ on games games blow away Xbox 360 games. No hiccups while watching Kong, the kids love it. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is next. I will let you know the PQ on this one later tonight.

You're comparing the standard DVD version of King Kong between the PS3 and XA2?

firmware

what firmware do you have?

mine says 1.0/T17T

this is a very nice unit: looks excellent

Have played a few HD DVD discs without any issue: and PQ looks excellent

you might want to re-think your use of the term "blows away". TIA

I just got my player a couple of hours ago. I have the same firmware as you indicated.

The one thing I noticed while watching king kong is that with the dynamic range control set to "Auto" (default), the audio output via HDMI was lower than the XA1. I turned the dynamic range control "Off" and life is good again.

Bob

[/quote]Originally Posted by jasonDono
Can somebody please tell us how the XA2 handles fast forward and rewind? The A2 pauses first then does a choppy rewind then pauses again when play is resumed then there is no audio for a cople of seconds before normal play. I find it very annoying and am returning my A2 becasue of it. If this does not happen with the XA2, VE here I come! I know it might sound like a petty consideration, but it drives me crazy.
Thanks,
Jason[/quote]


Strange that no one can answer this question ???

Just got mine today in the mail!

As far as I can tell the fast forward feature goes a GOOD, not GREAT job.

I looks similar to when you fast forward a video on your computer.

Yes, regular DVD upscaled.

Charlie and the Choc factory in HD-DVD looks great! I think Toshiba has a winner.

Just got done playing the Toshiba HD DVD DEMO disc and all I can say is WOW! Sending 1080p out it is the best it has ever looked! Great job Toshiba...

I recived my XA 2 from Robert - Great Service.
For some reason my player is only outputting 1080i (I can see it on the XA2 LCD) although I have set the XA 2 to 1080p and it is feeding my Lumagen Scaler and then Qualia projector.
This was watching MI3 HD DVD - any way to force it to output 1080p?
Any suggestions?

This is my first report. For those concerned about the issue of HDMI to DVI conversion, I had no problem outputting the XA2 via HDMI at both 1080i and 1080p.

On the video side, the HDMI output of the XA2 feeds the HDMI input of a Vantage-HD scaler (Realta chip). The scaler outputs to a HD10K, incredibly calibrated by Mr. Phelps projected on to a 100" ST 130 screen. I used Superman Returns HD-DVD because that is the only disc I have besides Polar Express. Many have said that Superman Returns is not the best HD transfer. Since this is the only HD-DVD I have seen thus far (albeit briefly) in my theater, I have no basis of comparison. But the output at both 1080i and 1080p was very impressive to my eyes. I certainly looked better than most of what I have seen on HD cable (HBO-HD, Showtime-HD, etc.). I briefly watched it, going through scenes to view black level, detail, color, etc. If this is a mediocre transfer, I can't wait to get some good ones. I have no opinion yet as to whether 1080i or 1080p looks better. I will need more time and viewing. I suspect my Vantage will do a better job than the Reon in the XA2, but that is just conjecture at this point.

On the audio side, I am outputting via digital coax and 5.1 analog to a Lexicon MC-12B 4eq. I also listened to the digital and analog output of Superman Returns, switching back and forth, and both sounded very pleasant to me. Again, this was brief and I will try to do more thorough evaluation as I get more HD discs and, more difficult to come by, some free time.

I realize that the Vantage scaler may be the reason why I am having no trouble with HDMI to DVI, and I have not tried a direct link from the XA2 to the HD10K, but I wanted to post my success with the XA2 at these resolutions in my setup. YMMV. I hope not.

BTW, my kids, who are used to seeing movies in my theater came in during my limited viewing. Suffice it to say, they were impressed and we now have a date to watch the entire movie tomorrow.

Finally, so far, the XA2 is wonderful and has met or exceeded my expectations. This is very exciting.

Alan

PS. I don't own BR yet, so don't ask!!! Please stay on topic

Can you or someone else please elaborate? When you press rewind does it pause before it starts to rewind? When you then press play, does it pause again. when it starts playing is it choppy? Whenit starts palying is it muted for a couple of seconds?
Thanks,
Jason

Joe-- that should be cool. I'm going to do some head-to-head tests with SD DVD upscaling and deinterlacing. I'll match my Pioneer Elite 59avi which has been modded to an SDI interface and flows through a Crystalio II to upscale to 1080p60 for HDMI input into my HP DLP AGAINST the XA2 upscaling the same SD DVD to 1080p60 and direct HDMI into the HP bypassing the CII. I also will take a look at the Silicon Optix HQV test disk in both players and report on how it does on the tests.

A lot of folks are interested in the Reon VX performance as the Denon 2930CI has had outstanding reviews for SD DVD upscaling and deinterlacing. The Denon also passed ALL of the HQV tests.

I can finally report as well...The picture (on my 50inch plasma) is absolutely stunning. I too had an A1 and that has been sold to pay for the A2 that is now sitting in my bedroom. My only complaint is the anemic audio from the analog outs...I have my Parasound Pre/pro about 20db higher to get the same level as the digital out. I am not ready to upgrade my pre/pro, so I am hoping that Toshiba can remedy this via firmware.

Ash,

You should feed the Lumagen at 1080i. If you are not, then you are:

Scaling 1080i to 1080p inside the player.
Deconstructing the 1080p for the Lumagen's internal scaler.
Reconstructing the image back into 1080p24sf (assuming this since it is a Qualia).

too many steps and much better to feed the 1080i unfiltered to the Lumagen so that you are not doing digital enhancement and noise removal twice!

By the PS3?

Hey guys, received my HD-XA2 from VE today and am just starting to play around with it. I watched MI3 and it looked great. After that I popped in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade to test out how the title would look upconverted. In the initial scenes i noticed that the sky was really blue, but the clouds were "flickering". Also, in the initial scene where the scout troop stops and the kid falls off the horse, if you look at the canyon wall above him, it looks like a faint blue patch is flickering right on the wall. If anyone has this movie, can you please try it and see if it does it ? My connections is as follows Toshiba -> Denon 3806 -> Mitsubishi WD57831. (HDMI) The player is set to output at 1080P. Thanks.

The Lumagen may not accept 1080p anyway...

I thought that the PS3 would only output SD DVD's at 480p anyway. I would think that is why Kong looked better to WLM94 on the XA2 vs PS3.

Run the Tosh straight into the Mits and see what happens. That way you'll know if some corruption is occurring in the HDMI transition in the Denon.

It does since the 22/12 firmware...
It accepts 1080p24/25/30.

Anyone whom was using HDMI-DVI on the A1,A2 that now have the XA2 does it suffer from the BTB & WTW issue?

Could one of you XA2 owners, please take a few pictures of the inside of the player.??

Thx.