The HD-DVD / Blu-ray shoot out in the IFA corral is one of the major themes that we will be bringing you in more detail directly from here at IFA 2006. And we are filming all that’s hot to let you see first hand what you’re missing !
First, what’s news form Toshiba is the official confirmation that two new “European” models (replacing the A for America by an E for Europe?) are on the way. The HD-E1 will be available starting November with SRP of 599 €, and the HD-XE1 will be arriving about a month later for 899 €.
As you can see, the European models are “slim & trim” :
Toshiba HD-XE1 HD-DVD player
Toshiba HD-E1 HD-DVD player
We will be bringing your more info after the official press conference with President & CEO of Toshiba Digital Media, Yoshihide Fujii, but our initial impression is that the two players are almost a generation-up from their “older” American cousins (see our previeous news HD-A1 & HD-XA1).
The HD-E1 will support Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD audio formats, but “only” offer 720p, 1080i video output resolutions, and have a HDMI v1.2a port.
Toshiba HD-XE1 HD-DVD player with remote control
The HD-XE1, offering full 1080p resolution, is the higher end version and from the specs worth waiting for. It offers HD 4 x over sampling with 297MHz/12bit Video DAC. The cherry on the cake is that, in addition to the same formats above, this one will offer upscaling to 1080p. AND, it will be (one of) the first products with HDMI v1.3.
You will be able to play back your current DVD’s, and you can have upscaling too, but again, only the HD-XE1 goes all-the-way to 1080p.
Looking to the future, both machines feature Ethernet ports for Internet connections to access additional content… & you know our thoughts on content !
The UK, France and Germany are rumored to be the first to have these models available.
Given the improvements here, more to come with the American cousins…