US NEWS: Toshiba's XDE aims to get DVD closer to HD
Launched this week in a new player, the $150 XD-E500, Toshiba's new XDE image processing technology is designed to 'take DVD picture quality to a whole new level'.
The system – eXtended Detail Enhancement, to give it its full name – combines the upconversion and upscaling to 1080P with user-selectable picture enhancement modes allowing it to 'bring standard DVD quality closer to the HD experience'.
The system claims greater detail, more vivid colors and stronger contrast, according to the company. Three settings are available to the user: Sharp, Colour and Contrast. Toshiba explains these as follows:
* Sharp Mode offers improved detail enhancement that is one step closer to high definition. Edges are sharper and details in movies are more visible. Unlike traditional sharpness control, XDE technology analyzes the entire picture and adds edge enhancement precisely where it's needed.
* Color Mode makes the colors of nature stand out with improved richness. Blues and greens are more vivid and lifelike. Color Mode combines the improvement in color with the detail enhancement of Sharp Mode and is ideal for outdoor scenes.
* Contrast Mode is designed to make darker scenes or foregrounds more clearly visible without the typical “washing out” that can occur with traditional contrast adjustment. Recommended for dark scenes where detail may be difficult to notice, Contrast Mode is also combined with Sharp Mode to provide a clearer viewing experience.
As well as XDE, the XD-E500 player offers 1080p/24fps upconversion and upscaling, and common DVD player features such as HDMI-CEC compatibility, DoVx playback, and the ability to handle JPEG, MP3 and WMA files.
A website has been set up to explain XDE to consumers, but at the time of posting was simply referring visitors back to Toshiba USA's main site.
Comments
This is a bit like the drowning man grasping the straw in a last attempt to save his life. lol.
@ radovantz: we dont need XDE to save dvds from becoming obsolete in the future. BluRay does this very good and offers everything that XDE does. What Toshiba is doing is ethically wrong in my opinion. The consumers who already are confused enough are going to get even more confused. We'll have regular SD players, XDE (upscaling SD player) and BD players.
And before anyone says anything i am not a BluRay fanboy. I dont even have a BD player.
Well, this is producing hostile reactions!! Who'd have thought the blu-ray fanboys would have been such a pleasant crowd?!
i suspect toshiba just needs to dump their 1.5million left over HD-DVD components in a pointless new dvd player.
it's 3 years too late, this product is going to fail as long as they don't license/sell these chips to 3rd party's.
because Toshiba's products are notoriously rubbish.
Thanks to the great effort from Toshiba for the benefits of people. Introduction of Blu Ray brings litte dissappointment to DVD collectors, but this new XDE technology saves DVDs from being obsolete in future.
I'd expect Toshiba to announce European plans (if indeed there are any) at the IFA show at the end of next week. We'll be there and report back on any developments....
ATM this is only a US launch. We're waiting for details of a UK roll-out.
Toshibas answer to Blu Ray now that their HD-DVD format has failed. lol
I've been looking forward to this piece of kit ever since WHF announced prelim details some months back. Do you have any idea when you'll be reviewing it?