King Kong...........

I recently purchased the Toshiba A-1 and up until today have had no issues w/it. Had to call Toshiba and ask them why I got what looked like to me an invoice in the mail. Turns out, Toshiba was letting me know that they are out of the all new 2.1 firmware update cd's but hope to have them real soon. Since I just got this player there has been no firmware updates installed. When watching regular dvds the A-1 has not given me any problems at all and the picture is awesome!!!!! However, I bought a "King Kong" HD DVD disc and put in the A-1 and all I got was a green screen. Also noticed the player was displaying error. Will the 2.1 firmware update cd fix whatever problem that is keeping me from watching an HD DVD. Lastly, will this happen on other HD DVD titles OR is it just the King King HD DVD disc? Please help if you can................................

Toshiba told me that the all new 2.1 firmware update cd was available. Then, I got some kind of invoice in the mail letting me know that they were out of stock BUT should be getting them soon. The prior version was 2.0.

Hey I did not send an email I just called them up because I had a question about getting the (3) HD DVD's offer. My player was a store display model and unfortunately was not able to get the original box. As such, I could not produce a barcode in order to get the (3) free HD DVD's. I talked to a real nice gentleman and he is trying to help me get my fee HD DVD's. I also asked about firmware updates and that is when he told me about the 2.1 update disk. Today, in the mail I got a letter from Toshiba which looked like an invoice.. So, I called Toshiba yet again and was told they are out of the update discs but should be getting them soon. In the mean time, I put in King Kong HD DVD disc which I purchased myself and all I got was a green screen with an error displayed on my A-1. If the guy told me wrong so be it-did not mean to cause any confusion just concerned that my player would not play the King Kong movie. Really curious to see how much better the picture is as compared to regular dvds on the A-1. Looks like I am going to have to wait a bit longer. No big deal-just hate to wait.

Did not mean to claim I had FW 2.0. I just recently got the A-1. I did, however, call Toshiba regarding the free HD DVD offer and also requested the latest FW update cd. The guy I spoke with claimed that the 2.1 FW was available. Today, I got what appeared to be an actual "invoice" from Toshiba and no cd. I thought WTF did I get an invoice for. Called them today and was told the FW update cd was "out of stock" and they hope it would be in soon. In fact, the gal I spoke with instructed me to call back if it is NOT received within (2) weeks from today. So for clarification purposes I do NOT recall claiming to already have FW 2.0 on my A-1. In fact, I doubt it has been updated at all. However, I did look at the invoice a bit closer and it plainly states FW2.0 and NOT 2.1. At least, FW2.0 will fix whatever issues that are keeping the King Kong HD DVD from playing.

Will just have to wait till I get the disc from Toshiba. But, thanks for pointing that out.

I couldn't agree w/you more. Too bad I wont be there though.......bummer

Got the firmware update cd in the mail today. However, it does say version 2.0. Hope to get it installed tomorrow. Thanks for all the help people.

Ran the update cd and the King Kong HD DVD played. The only problem I had was that at times the movie would kind of stop but not completely. Other than that it played fine. Picture was amazing but did not look any better than a regular dvd from what I could tell.

Well, I got the actual cd in like a day or 2 after getting the invoice. Probably will be there soon.

Great homer I will try that as well. Hopefully, I will get the same result. Do you notice that much difference in pq when viewing an HD DVD and a regular dvd? Dont take me wrong the picture is stunning but regular dvds are upconverted so well there really is not that much difference. However, King Kong is the ONLY HD DVD I have viewed. Just curious as to what your experiences are. Thnaks for the info.

I have my Toshiba A-1 HD DVD player connected via hdmi. The A-1 is set to display 1080i. As I mentioned the picture really is stunning when I watch regular dvds. The same holds true w/the Kong HD DVD BUT I could not tell that much of a difference in pq betwwen the two. Therefore, either the A-1 upconverts regular dvds extremely well OR something is wrong. Could be in my settings so I am not sure. I do, however, have the 5.1 analog outs running to the 5.1 analog inputs of my Pioneer 1015. The sound is incredible. How much better is the pq supposed to be when compared to regular dvds and respect to the A-1's upconversion capabilities????? My LCD displays 768p natively. Does that present a problem?

I tried that the other day before I did the 2.0 update and all I got was "error" flasing on the display. I will try it again and see if there is any difference since doing the 2.0 update.

**UPDATE**
Okay, I switched the resolution to 720p and imho the picture looks the same as before w/1080i. Dont take me wrong though the picture is very good BUT so are regular dvds. Therefore, I conclude that the A-1 upconverts regular dvds so well it is hard to tell the difference. Perhaps, on a larger screen or at least larger than my 40" LCD one could tell a difference in pq bettween 1080i and 720p repsectively. I could tell a difference in my audio though by using the 5.1 outputs of the A-1-at times I felt as if I was on the tower right there w/Kong himself. That movie sure is a tear jerker. Heck, I am still a little teary as I am writing this.