Samantha Clark

Toshiba launches its super upconverting player
August 18, 2008

Toshiba has confirmed its new super upconverting DVD player, as reported by Paul Sweeting on VB sister publication ContentAgenda in June, and says the XD-E500 will ship this month.

The "XDE," or "eXtended Detail Enhancement," player will upconvert 480i or 480p to upto 1080p, according to Toshiba's press release, which says the player "offers user selectable picture enhancement modes that allow for greater detail, more vivid colors and stronger contrast that bring standard DVD quality closer to the HD experience."

The interesting part is that the player is priced at only $150, much more affordable than a Blu-ray player, and in this uncertain economy, that will come through loud and clear to many people.

DVD became mainstream and got its meteoric growth when the price of players was low, around this price. Coupled with the low sell-through price for the software -- and the big quality difference from VHS -- it was something consumers from all pay levels could embrace.

EngadgetHD.com wasn't that impressed, saying the picture shown in a demonstration wasn't Blu-ray.

But, the difference between DVD and Blu-ray (let's be honest) isn't night and day, like it was with VHS and DVD. Sure everyone can see the difference. But when you've got kids, a mortgage and two cars to keep running each month, DVD is just fine to many people.

Now, if you can get high-def quality -- or so close to high-def quality that those who aren't fine-tuned can't really tell -- with a player that's $150 and you don't have to spend $35 for the software, wouldn't that sound pretty good?

We'll be watching to see how player sales go.

Posted by Samantha Clark on August 18, 2008 | Comments (1)