Blig Merk
2006-05-16 23:54:20 UTC
http://tvs.consumerelectronicsnet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=42921-1
Toshiba HD-A1 HD DVD Player First-to-market player is a disgrace
Next, I put the HD DVD of Phantom of the Opera into the player. I was
chagrined to see that it took exactly 47 seconds between the time I put
the HD DVD into the player and the time the picture appeared on the
screen. With the disk finally began its playback, my frustration and
gnashing of teeth quickly abated, because I saw a magnificent
high-definition picture on my screen the likes of which I hadn't seen
before. There were very few compression artifacts, the sound was crisp
and clear, and the colors were extremely saturated. Here was the
nearly-saving grace of the Toshiba HD-A1. The HD DVD format is capable
of magnificent playback quality. That factor alone may make this player
worth its $500 purchase price.
Now that I've gushed all over this player's quality, let's get back to
the realities of this ill-conceived product. Accidentally pushing the
stop button on the illogically-arranged remote happened more times than
I care to admit, and quite a few times, an error message showed up on
the front of the player: "HDMI Error D" The only way to fix it was to
unplug the HDMI cables and plug them back in again -- even a restart of
the player didn't work. This sort of foolishness is simply unacceptable
in a consumer electronics device.
Next, I wanted to test the up-rezzing capability when playing back
standard definition DVDs. Yes, there was a slight improvement when
using the A1's up-rezzing capability with DVDs, but it's still apparent
that the DVDs are in standard definition, with quality that's nowhere
near that of high-definition television. Don't kid yourself into
thinking that this up-rezzed video will satisfy your cravings for HDTV,
because it doesn't even come close. Counterintuitively, it didn't seem
to make any difference when I changed the resolution settings when
playing back a standard definition DVD, where the enhancement looked
the same whether it was set for 480p, 720p, or 1080i.
Inexplicably, after playing a standard definition DVD, it's necessary
to set the resolution back to either 720p or 1080i when playing an HD
DVD again. With all the technology brought to bear in this HD DVD
format, why isn't it possible to automatically sense what sort of disk
is in the player, and with the HDMI cables, what sort of display is
being addressed?
Advertisement
Summing up, using the Toshiba HD-A1 was a frustrating experience.
Beguiled by its gorgeous high-definition video, I was even more
frustrated at its sluggish response to remote commands and crashing
performance. Its clumsy remote sets a new low in inept design,
configured in a way that reveals that its designers were apparently
completely unaware that human beings would be using it. Adding to its
long list of shortcomings is the HD-A1's inability to handle that holy
grail of the HD DVD format, 1080p.
I can only hope that this is just a rough first effort which was
perhaps rushed to market. The Toshiba HD-A1 is unacceptable, even for
early adopters. Please, do yourself a favor and don't go through the
trouble of buying it, setting it up and being frustrated by it. Wait
until this format is more mature, because now, it reminds me of the
early days of MS-DOS computing. The only reason I give it more than one
star is because of the high quality of its video. Not recommended under
any circumstances. 2 out of 10 stars.
--------------------------------------------------------
http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/04/18/pentium4m_fortoshiba_hddvd_player/
Pentium 4-M reanimated for Toshiba's HD DVD player
April 18, 2006
Chicago (IL) - It appears that Intel has found a customer for a
processor that already has been phased out and dropped off its pricing
sheets: Toshiba's shiny new HD DVD player relies on fairly antiquated
hardware that is based on Intel's Pentium 4-M processor and a chipset
that was originally created for a ULV Celeron M processor.
Sources told TG Daily that the HD DVD player, which will be offered in
two versions for $500 and $800, integrates a Pentium 4-M processor. The
chip is based on the 130 nm "Northwood" core and was available with
clock speeds ranging from 2.4 to 3.06 GHz. Officially, the CPU is no
longer available and apparently has been phased out several months ago
to drive the Pentium M processor into more market segments. It is
unclear which version of the Pentium 4-M is used in Toshiba's HD DVD
player.
While the regular Pentium 4-M's were only offered in combination with
852 series chipsets, Toshiba has received a 130 nm 854 chipset from
Intel's consumer electronics division. According to Intel's website,
the 854 was only available for a 600 MHz ULV Celeron M chip, which also
was targeted at consumer electronics devices. However, it appears that
Intel has enhanced the 854 for Toshiba, as it integrates alpha
blending, a transparency feature that previously only had been
available in the 82xxx series of graphics controllers. Also, the 854
comes with MPEG2 and MPEG4 decoding codec for Linux and Windows CE.
Toshiba's decision to build the Pentium 4-M into its HD DVD player is
somewhat surprising as the processor consumes significant power,
measured by today's standards. The chips operate in a power envelope
ranging from 59.8 watts (2.4 GHz) to 70 watts (3.06 GHz), compared to
25 watts of a Pentium M or less than 10 watts in current ULV Celeron M
and upcoming ULV Core Duo and Core Solo processors. Toshiba rates the
HD DVD player at a total power consumption of 79 watts, which typically
is high enough to require a fan to cool the system. As a result, the
player may create more noise than a version that is equipped with a
processor that consumes significantly less power.
While Toshiba did not tell us why it chose the Pentium 4-M for its
player, the price/performance ratio may have had some impact on the
decision. We hear that Intel is selling the CPU for less than $100.
winner here is Intel, which is able to breathe life into a product that
can be produced in large volumes for little money.
Toshiba HD-A1 HD DVD Player First-to-market player is a disgrace
Next, I put the HD DVD of Phantom of the Opera into the player. I was
chagrined to see that it took exactly 47 seconds between the time I put
the HD DVD into the player and the time the picture appeared on the
screen. With the disk finally began its playback, my frustration and
gnashing of teeth quickly abated, because I saw a magnificent
high-definition picture on my screen the likes of which I hadn't seen
before. There were very few compression artifacts, the sound was crisp
and clear, and the colors were extremely saturated. Here was the
nearly-saving grace of the Toshiba HD-A1. The HD DVD format is capable
of magnificent playback quality. That factor alone may make this player
worth its $500 purchase price.
Now that I've gushed all over this player's quality, let's get back to
the realities of this ill-conceived product. Accidentally pushing the
stop button on the illogically-arranged remote happened more times than
I care to admit, and quite a few times, an error message showed up on
the front of the player: "HDMI Error D" The only way to fix it was to
unplug the HDMI cables and plug them back in again -- even a restart of
the player didn't work. This sort of foolishness is simply unacceptable
in a consumer electronics device.
Next, I wanted to test the up-rezzing capability when playing back
standard definition DVDs. Yes, there was a slight improvement when
using the A1's up-rezzing capability with DVDs, but it's still apparent
that the DVDs are in standard definition, with quality that's nowhere
near that of high-definition television. Don't kid yourself into
thinking that this up-rezzed video will satisfy your cravings for HDTV,
because it doesn't even come close. Counterintuitively, it didn't seem
to make any difference when I changed the resolution settings when
playing back a standard definition DVD, where the enhancement looked
the same whether it was set for 480p, 720p, or 1080i.
Inexplicably, after playing a standard definition DVD, it's necessary
to set the resolution back to either 720p or 1080i when playing an HD
DVD again. With all the technology brought to bear in this HD DVD
format, why isn't it possible to automatically sense what sort of disk
is in the player, and with the HDMI cables, what sort of display is
being addressed?
Advertisement
Summing up, using the Toshiba HD-A1 was a frustrating experience.
Beguiled by its gorgeous high-definition video, I was even more
frustrated at its sluggish response to remote commands and crashing
performance. Its clumsy remote sets a new low in inept design,
configured in a way that reveals that its designers were apparently
completely unaware that human beings would be using it. Adding to its
long list of shortcomings is the HD-A1's inability to handle that holy
grail of the HD DVD format, 1080p.
I can only hope that this is just a rough first effort which was
perhaps rushed to market. The Toshiba HD-A1 is unacceptable, even for
early adopters. Please, do yourself a favor and don't go through the
trouble of buying it, setting it up and being frustrated by it. Wait
until this format is more mature, because now, it reminds me of the
early days of MS-DOS computing. The only reason I give it more than one
star is because of the high quality of its video. Not recommended under
any circumstances. 2 out of 10 stars.
--------------------------------------------------------
http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/04/18/pentium4m_fortoshiba_hddvd_player/
Pentium 4-M reanimated for Toshiba's HD DVD player
April 18, 2006
Chicago (IL) - It appears that Intel has found a customer for a
processor that already has been phased out and dropped off its pricing
sheets: Toshiba's shiny new HD DVD player relies on fairly antiquated
hardware that is based on Intel's Pentium 4-M processor and a chipset
that was originally created for a ULV Celeron M processor.
Sources told TG Daily that the HD DVD player, which will be offered in
two versions for $500 and $800, integrates a Pentium 4-M processor. The
chip is based on the 130 nm "Northwood" core and was available with
clock speeds ranging from 2.4 to 3.06 GHz. Officially, the CPU is no
longer available and apparently has been phased out several months ago
to drive the Pentium M processor into more market segments. It is
unclear which version of the Pentium 4-M is used in Toshiba's HD DVD
player.
While the regular Pentium 4-M's were only offered in combination with
852 series chipsets, Toshiba has received a 130 nm 854 chipset from
Intel's consumer electronics division. According to Intel's website,
the 854 was only available for a 600 MHz ULV Celeron M chip, which also
was targeted at consumer electronics devices. However, it appears that
Intel has enhanced the 854 for Toshiba, as it integrates alpha
blending, a transparency feature that previously only had been
available in the 82xxx series of graphics controllers. Also, the 854
comes with MPEG2 and MPEG4 decoding codec for Linux and Windows CE.
Toshiba's decision to build the Pentium 4-M into its HD DVD player is
somewhat surprising as the processor consumes significant power,
measured by today's standards. The chips operate in a power envelope
ranging from 59.8 watts (2.4 GHz) to 70 watts (3.06 GHz), compared to
25 watts of a Pentium M or less than 10 watts in current ULV Celeron M
and upcoming ULV Core Duo and Core Solo processors. Toshiba rates the
HD DVD player at a total power consumption of 79 watts, which typically
is high enough to require a fan to cool the system. As a result, the
player may create more noise than a version that is equipped with a
processor that consumes significantly less power.
While Toshiba did not tell us why it chose the Pentium 4-M for its
player, the price/performance ratio may have had some impact on the
decision. We hear that Intel is selling the CPU for less than $100.
From the consumer's point of view, a Pentium 4-M may not be best
product for the player, especially if $800 are changing hands. Thewinner here is Intel, which is able to breathe life into a product that
can be produced in large volumes for little money.