Damn you beat me to the punch. 
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Ultimate AV reviews Toshiba HD-A1, with comments from Toshiba
Here is a link to an informative review along with Toshiba comments on a few issues etc.
Ultimate AV Toshiba review
Ultimate AV Toshiba review
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The comment from Toshiba about the disc restarting when you change option being related to DRM is interresting...
John.
John.
I would say that it was a very fair review.
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I thought so also. But since there are some negatives in the article, the rabid HD fanboys here will diss it anyway. One thing for sure that I gleaned from the review -- irrespective of all of the problems, when it does work, it produces a great HD experience, a credit to the HD-DVD format. I can hardly wait until these teething problems are resolved in the next gen. players.
| Originally Posted by vinodk I would say that it was a very fair review. |
The comment about hi-res audio HD-DVDs is very interesting, too.
I like the subtle hint about no component upconversion of copy-protected SD-DVDs myself. Nice touch.
Nice review. I kinda wish Ultimate AV would return to print form, it was a much better mag than most of the Home Theater publications currently in the marketplace.
As I was saying in another thread ... don't expect kind reviews. Ofcourse a $500 cable is a different matter - will probably get a "worth every cent" review
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Anyway, I think it is a good review. Except for all the cribbing about having to start back when you change basic things like resolutions (how many times a normal user will do that - unlike a reviewer ?).
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| The limited release of players had the unfortunate side effect of delaying release of the players to many review publications, including ours. |
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It can be annoying if you have to go back and change a setting because of the discs resolution (remember, you need to change the resolution in response to the native resolution of the encode, and not that of the television) or a setting in the Setup menu (because of errors in the WB encoding, I artificially increase the center trim. I have to revert it back to default when playing a Universal disc). And because it does not bookmark when stopped, you have to wait through all the warnings and other crap before getting back into your film.
What is more annoying is the resyncing. Because I use a projector, everytime I get a resynch, I have to wait for the projector to receive the new signal, then synch it, then actually display it. It is more than annoying sitting in a dark room for 5~7 seconds as your movie starts playing.
| Originally Posted by nataraj Anyway, I think it is a good review. Except for all the cribbing about having to start back when you change basic things like resolutions (how many times a normal user will do that - unlike a reviewer ?). |
What is more annoying is the resyncing. Because I use a projector, everytime I get a resynch, I have to wait for the projector to receive the new signal, then synch it, then actually display it. It is more than annoying sitting in a dark room for 5~7 seconds as your movie starts playing.
The only thing I wished was covered more is the audio quality but if I understand and read the article correctly, the DTS output from the player is using the maximum bitrate possible so it should be theoretically better than anything on current DVDs - good news for those who cant or dont want to deal with analog inputs etc. thus still being able to make use of PLIIx for 7.1
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Isn't the max for standard DTS 1.5 MBp/s? There are DTS tracks on DVD that are maxed out at this bitrate.
| Originally Posted by apodaca the DTS output from the player is using the maximum bitrate possible so it should be theoretically better than anything on current DVDs |
I agree with the above, it was a very fair review and again, the PQ is astonishing!
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Wouldn't you change before starting to play ... in case you forgot the bad PQ at the very beginning would warn you to change. ANyway, its not like we have many hd-dvds which are not at 1080.
Actually, he should be cribbing more about bad scaling to 720p - instead of having to restart when changing the rez. He does talk about the inability to change the resolution depending on the disc ...
| Originally Posted by Neuromancer It can be annoying if you have to go back and change a setting because of the discs resolution (remember, you need to change the resolution in response to the native resolution of the encode, and not that of the television) ... |
Actually, he should be cribbing more about bad scaling to 720p - instead of having to restart when changing the rez. He does talk about the inability to change the resolution depending on the disc ...
nataraj -
Ideally, yes. In the real world, who knows. You have to remember that we are under the impression that some discs will come out at 720p. If this is the case, then there might be a time where I put in a disc and don't realise it is 720p until I actually get into it (seriously, I can't remember the last time I had to look on the back of something to check out its "requirements"). Because of the possibility of user error, it can be an annoyance.
The PQ itself will be an indicator, but who knows how far along i will be before I realise it. It could be within the first 5 seconds, or an hour into it. We don't really know at this point, yet.
Ideally, yes. In the real world, who knows. You have to remember that we are under the impression that some discs will come out at 720p. If this is the case, then there might be a time where I put in a disc and don't realise it is 720p until I actually get into it (seriously, I can't remember the last time I had to look on the back of something to check out its "requirements"). Because of the possibility of user error, it can be an annoyance.
The PQ itself will be an indicator, but who knows how far along i will be before I realise it. It could be within the first 5 seconds, or an hour into it. We don't really know at this point, yet.
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1.5MB/s is the max for DTS. Most DVD tracks never get beyond 754kbps for DTS, though.
| Originally Posted by Damnationdoormat Isn't the max for standard DTS 1.5 MBp/s? There are DTS tracks on DVD that are maxed out at this bitrate. |
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Adjusting to a disc's resolution on the fly is probably not an easy thing for them to do - might be easier to just fix the 1080i to 720p conversion.
I haven't seen any evidence that putting a 720p disc in the player lowers the resolution in a similar fashion before converting to 1080i, if the player is set to 1080i. If not, then it may be easier to set the player at 1080i and leave it there, letting the display bring it back to 720p. Not a perfect solution, but it might be o.k. for the first couple of years.
| Originally Posted by Neuromancer Ideally, yes. In the real world, who knows. You have to remember that we are under the impression that some discs will come out at 720p. If this is the case, then there might be a time where I put in a disc and don't realise it is 720p until I actually get into it (seriously, I can't remember the last time I had to look on the back of something to check out its "requirements"). Because of the possibility of user error, it can be an annoyance. The PQ itself will be an indicator, but who knows how far along i will be before I realise it. It could be within the first 5 seconds, or an hour into it. We don't really know at this point, yet. |
I haven't seen any evidence that putting a 720p disc in the player lowers the resolution in a similar fashion before converting to 1080i, if the player is set to 1080i. If not, then it may be easier to set the player at 1080i and leave it there, letting the display bring it back to 720p. Not a perfect solution, but it might be o.k. for the first couple of years.
I would not do real time adjusting, but I would make it easier for the end user to make a resolution change. Currently, I have too much video drop out associated to just running the DVD player, let alone changing the resolutions. It is pain changing the video resolutions for this matter, and is something that I can see improvement on.
The problem is I lose the signal when I Stop playback, I lose it again when I change resolutions, and I lose it again when I start playback. I then have to wait through the FBI warning and Studio Logo before I can begin playback again. I lose sync again when the movie plays and now I have to jog to where I left off (assuming I made is somehwere). That is a lot of blinking in and out, not to mention unwanted downtime.
Other DVD players I can just hit stop, change resolution, have one resync, then immediately press Play and resume disc playback. Very simple, fast, and clean.
The problem is I lose the signal when I Stop playback, I lose it again when I change resolutions, and I lose it again when I start playback. I then have to wait through the FBI warning and Studio Logo before I can begin playback again. I lose sync again when the movie plays and now I have to jog to where I left off (assuming I made is somehwere). That is a lot of blinking in and out, not to mention unwanted downtime.
Other DVD players I can just hit stop, change resolution, have one resync, then immediately press Play and resume disc playback. Very simple, fast, and clean.
Very fair review IMO, and the key points people need to take home from this review were noted in his comments I copied below:
"providing pristine high-definition images and sound—the HD-A1 has hit a home run, if the very limited available software I've seen is any indication".
"Now I was clearly seeing a high-definition image. More to the point, a high definition image at least as good as the best I've yet seen in my home theater, and perhaps better".
"providing pristine high-definition images and sound—the HD-A1 has hit a home run, if the very limited available software I've seen is any indication".
"Now I was clearly seeing a high-definition image. More to the point, a high definition image at least as good as the best I've yet seen in my home theater, and perhaps better".
I am all about the idea of wanting 1080p 24 but the reality is that HDMI is having problems delivering 1080i with consistancy and without compatibility problems. I am glad they launched without it. Its one more thing to worry about. As far as the 720p looking like crap, people need to chill out. I don't know of one DLP or 3LCD 720P display that can natively accept 720p. All of them including my Samsung HLP-4663 take 1080i and downconvert to 720P. I knew that it was a waste of time to even set the HD1 to 720P. The only thing I would change with the Toshiba is add HDMI version 1.3, Speed up the load times, add Dolby True HD in 7.1 flavor and offer 1080P/24. Other than that, we just need more content.
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