Toshiba HD-XA2 shipping the 3rd of Jan

According to AVS forum:

http://www./avs-vb/showthread.php?t=775832

Good news for those wanting the high end HD-DVD player! Oh no.. decisions, decisions :confused:

Yeah and it DOES NOT have 24p output. Thank you to everyone who lied to me and told me otherwise. :rolleyes: Good thing I didn't preorder it. Maybe if HD DVD can survive long enough to make it to the XA3, I'll pick that one up.

Yeah and it DOES NOT have 24p output. Thank you to everyone who lied to me and told me otherwise. :rolleyes: Good thing I didn't preorder it. Maybe if HD DVD can survive long enough to make it to the XA3, I'll pick that one up.

According to the thread author, the 24p will be added as an update.

However it will have a FW update toward the end of February which enable it to output 24p. So go ahead, Glow and jump in. :D

However it will have a FW update toward the end of February which enable it to output 24p. So go ahead, Glow and jump in. :D

Sounds good. Too bad I'll be out of town next week or I'd pick it up. I'll probably wait until after CES anyway.

Order it from www.valueelectronics.com

They owner Robert is great and this is where I ordered my HD-A1from.

Order it from www.valueelectronics.com

They owner Robert is great and this is where I ordered my HD-A1from.

Is he is the author of the post over on AVS forums.. DTV TiVo Dealer?

Yes.

However it will have a FW update toward the end of February which enable it to output 24p. So go ahead, Glow and jump in. :D Does the FW update result in 24p signal being passed through or is it doing the same thing the Samsung does?

Quote from Robert:
"The XA2 has a max. resolution of 1080p 60 Hz. I am 100% sure we will have a upgrade to selectable 1080p 24 Hz or 60 Hz by February '07.

The XA2 is a powerful, high end premium HD DVD player. We will all be exploring all of its exclusive benefits as our very highly skilled avs forum members begin evaluating this unit" Robert 12-28-06

I take that quote that as saying that AVS forum members will likely confirm whether the 1080p/24 signal is being passed through or processed first to 1080i and deinterlaced on the way out. I hope it passes 1080p through as a pure signal once the update is issued.

I have been steadily reading through the posts there and getting educated on video codecs, chip types, thru-put.. etc. I see that others have asked similar questions to yours. The answer could be in there somewhere. I may have to upgrade my projector since it is only 1080i, but i need to learn more first.

That is an amazing player with the Silicon Optix Reon processor and the built-in calibration tools built into it. That explains WHY the price went up on it. I think that chipset CAN just pass it through and if it is the primary MPEG2, VC1, & AVC decoder then it would take it straight from the disc I would think. We have to wait and see for sure though.

I wonder how it will display in 1080i?

Is it worth a grand?

Based on that Silicon Optix Reon processor I would say fantastic! SO arguably makes the best video decoder chipsets on the market.

Is it worth a grand?

It is considered the "flagship" in HD-DVD. From what I have been reading, it is a sweet machine.

Based on that Silicon Optix Reon processor I would say fantastic! SO arguably makes the best video decoder chipsets on the market.

Whew, that is what I wanted to hear! I didn't want to have to upgrade my PJ just for the 1080p.

It is considered the "flagship" in HD-DVD. From what I have been reading, it is a sweet machine.

I have no problem with price in either format. It seems to be a bone of contention to others.

Whew, that is what I wanted to hear! I didn't want to have to upgrade my PJ just for the 1080p. That Optoma is a sweet projector...I doubt you'd be wasting money with the HD-XA2.

It is still $500 cheaper than Pioneers Elite BD player. I can't say if they are equal in chipsets and outputs though.

I have no problem with price in either format. It seems to be a bone of contention to others. Not surprising considering the prices for players from both formats aren't quite affordable to most. :)

Not surprising considering the prices for players from both formats aren't quite affordable to most. :)

I agree, with all the >100$ progressive scan DVD players out there. The $499 units are still out of range for the average consumer.

Wow, the XA2 sounds like the ultimate HD movie player for those who can afford it, along with also owning a 1080p TV. I can't wait to read some reviews on it.

Im sold on the XA2 after months of research.

I'll be picking up a Sony XBR2 LCD too. :)

But not till the end of the month though.

Cant wait!!!

Yeah, I am so sick! I ordered one, then because my projector is only 720p, I ordered a new 1080p .... there goes my bonus! Oh well, it is gonna look great!! **keeps telling himself that**

What model did you order?

What model did you order?

The Tosh HD-XA2.

Sorry, I misunderstood, I thought you had ordered a new 1080p projector because of the Toshiba player. :)

Sorry, I misunderstood, I thought you had ordered a new 1080p projector because of the Toshiba player. :)

Doh, yes. I did. I ordered a Mitsubishi HC5000BL projector. Sorry for the confusion, forgot what I wrote earlier (yesterday).

Now I need to find a buyer for the HD-A1.

OMG is that a sweet PJ! Nice...now I know what you mean about being so sick. :) Don't worry, you're bound to start feeling a heck of a lot less guilty down the road when you start to watch all those movies on that display. ;)

I take that quote that as saying that AVS forum members will likely confirm whether the 1080p/24 signal is being passed through or processed first to 1080i and deinterlaced on the way out. I hope it passes 1080p through as a pure signal once the update is issued.

Someone on engadgethd.com commented on the fact that he thought that since film-based content was stored on HD-DVD's in 1080p/24 format that it should just be passed on to the display without any processing (such as processing by the newly announced addition to the XA2 circuitry - the Reon-VX chip from Silicon Optix). I responded that even if this was the case that the Reon chip also did some other processing other than de-interlacing and 3:2 HD reverse telecine to which another guy SHOCKED ME in responded that:

"It has nothing to do with cleaning up a signal. In fact the disk should already be "cleaned up" as you put it, we're not talking about an analog source, or an analog output or even an analog television. Sending the exact signal would be ideal.

The issue is that the new "next gen" dvd formats support overlays. So what happens is that things like menus, chapters, timelines, picture in picture needs to be rendered on top of the movie and then shown on the TV. The processing which occurs to add these elements to the signal is occuring on an interlaced picture (the components to do it on a 1080p24 signal are still too expensive (I suppose). Therefore they need a chip like this to convert the updated picture from the modified 1080i60 into the 1080p60 output.

It is unfortunate that typically all you want to do is just watch the movie which would be a straight transfer, but they do need to support all of the advanced features."

So now I am totally confused. Does this mean that 1080p/24 content stored on a HD-DVD can never be passed through to the player without processing because of the above? How could I do months of research and miss this point? (if indeed it is correct?)