Toshiba HD DVD Player - HD-A20

Provided by Buzzillions.com

What Makes HD DVD So Good?

The base disc structure of HD DVD is the same as standard DVD, but that's where the similarities end. HD DVD combines the latest advances in video compression with new laser technologies to provide high definition content on a disc. High definition video requires a tremendous amount of space, so a new blue laser (versus the red laser for DVD) is used for HD DVD. The blue laser, with its shorter wave length, allows for information to be stored more densely on the disc, improving storage capacity by about three times compared to that of red laser technology. Additionally, more accurate and efficient video compression like MPEG-4 AVC and VC-1 (based on Microsoft's Windows Media) compress information to achieve file sizes that are less than half of those of the current DVD's MPEG2. HD DVD not only provides an HD media format to the home, but does it with the potential of greater performance than you have experienced with HDTV. The HDA20 disc drive has an astounding 36.55 Mbps transfer rate. To put that in perspective, standard DVD has an average bit rate of less than 10 Mbps and HDTV's maximum rate is 24 Mbps. In a nutshell, the more bits that can be allocated to video, the more detailed the picture can be.

Pure Digital Connection

Toshiba's HDA20 HD DVD player connects to your HDTV with the latest advancement in A/V equipment interfaces, namely the High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI). HDMI is the first industry-supported, all-digital A/V connection providing the transmission of uncompressed digital video and multi-channel audio on a single cable. The HDA20 will output HD content through the HDMI interface in the native resolution of the HDTV display, 480p, 720p, 1080i or 1080p.

Supercharge Your Standard DVDs

Since the HDA20 is backward compatible, you can play your entire collection of DVDs on this player. The HDA2 takes this a step further by taking advantage of the HDMI interface and scaling the standard definition DVD's video to 720p, 1080i or 1008p output to match your HDTV's native resolution. Not only is the output of the video in HDTV standard resolutions; but because the conversion takes place entirely within the player, the signal remains free from excessive digital-to-analog conversion artifacts.

HD DVD Improves Your Hearing

HD video offers a variety of complimentary HD audio options for disc makers. The mandatory audio formats for HD DVD include both lossy and lossless formats from Dolby Labs and DTS. The mandatory lossy formats are comprised of legacy formats from DVD such as Dolby Digital and DTS, as well as newly developed Dolby Digital Plus, aimed at bringing improved fidelity and more channels of information to the HD DVD format. With bit rates over four times that of standard DVD, Dolby Digital Plus brings increased sonic realism to the soundtracks. The lossless mandatory formats include Linear PCM and Dolby TrueHD (only 2-channel support is mandatory). The TrueHD format is bit-for-bit identical to the high resolution studio masters, and can support up to eight discrete full range channels of 24-bit/96kHz audio. Another lossless format, specified as an optional format, is DTS-HD. This too is bit-for-bit identical to the original soundtrack, but employs high sampling rates of 192kHz.

With HD DVD You Get More

HD DVD offers unique interactive features intended to deliver a superior entertainment experience. From a single disc, many new levels of interactivity are possible, including enhanced menus, fast search with scenes displayed without stopping the movie, commentaries, internet connectivity through the player's Ethernet port, and compatibility with an exciting range of new games. Since the structure of HD DVD and DVD discs are similar, a double-sided disc can be easily produced. If they choose to do it, studios could put a HD DVD movie on one side of the disc and a standard DVD movie on the other. Then you could watch a movie in high definition on your HD DVD player in your home theater center or take the movie with you and watch the standard definition version with your portable DVD player while on vacation.