Page 1 of 1

Toshiba Launches XD-E500 DVD Player With XDE Technology

PostPosted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 9:28 pm
by Ian
Toshiba has finally announced its new XDE technology. The first player to feature it is the XD-E500, which should hit stores later this month.

Toshiba America Consumer Products,
L.L.C. ("Toshiba") today announces its new video enhancement technology for
DVD with the introduction of the XD-E500. XDE, or "eXtended Detail
Enhancement," is more than just DVD upconversion. XDE takes DVD picture
quality to a whole new level. In addition to providing upconversion from
480i/p up to 1080p, XDE offers user selectable picture enhancement modes
that allow for greater detail, more vivid colors and stronger contrast that
bring standard DVD quality closer to the HD experience. XDE technology lets
consumers enjoy their existing DVD libraries in a whole new way.

"Consumers have embraced the DVD format like no other technology and
invested in large libraries of their favorite movies. As the market moves
towards high definition, XDE lets them experience their existing DVD
library and the tens of thousands of DVD titles in a whole new way," said
Louis Masses, Director of Product Planning. "XDE offers consumers a simple
solution to add on to their HDTV purchase. XDE works with existing DVDs to
deliver a near HD experience with enhanced detail and richer colors.
Toshiba is delivering to consumers what they want -- a high quality
experience at an affordable price."

XDE Flexibility

In addition to upconversion from 480i/p to 1080p, XDE technology offers
consumers the ability to customize their viewing experience to their liking
with its picture mode settings. With these three selectable settings --
Sharp, Color and Contrast -- users can get the most out of their DVD
movie-viewing experience on their terms.

-- 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.

In an effort to reach a broad spectrum of consumers from around the
world, Toshiba's new XDE technology and the exciting experience it
delivers, will be featured in an extensive print and online advertising
campaign. This includes placement on NBCOlympics.com, a site that signifies
strength, performance, diversity and unity among many. A new Web site,
http://www.toshibaxde.com, will be launched to help educate consumers on
the benefits of XDE technology and how it works so they can experience the
best of what this new technology has to offer and enjoy their DVD movies in
near HD quality.

XDE will be launched today onboard the XD-E500 1080p/24fps Upconverting
DVD player. Featuring XDE technology, the XD-E500 also incorporates key
features found on today's upconverting standard DVD players such as
HDMI-CEC, DivX certification, JPEG capability,

MP3 and WMA playback and much more in a slim, high-gloss cosmetic
design to complement today's HDTV.

The XD-E500 is shipping this month with an MSRP of $149.99 and can be
found at authorized retailers nationwide. For more information on XDE
please visit http://www.toshibaxde.com or http://www.tacp.toshiba.com.

Re: Toshiba Launches XD-E500 DVD Player With XDE Technology

PostPosted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 7:17 pm
by TCAS
After Toshiba lost furtun on HD war competation they must have guts to come back and try some thing else all over.

Re: Toshiba Launches XD-E500 DVD Player With XDE Technology

PostPosted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 8:54 pm
by Ian
It will be interesting to see what the first reviews say. I'm not expecting the video to be as good as Blu-ray, but if it comes close, the player will probably be a big hit.

The only real sticking point I see right now is the price. While cheaper than say the Oppo players, $149 is still pretty steep when you can get a name brand upcoverting DVD player for less than $100.

I may pick one up anyway. My Lite-On DVD recorder upconverts to 1080i, but it has sync issues with some DivX movies when played over HDMI.

Re: Toshiba Launches XD-E500 DVD Player With XDE Technology

PostPosted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 9:21 pm
by Dartman
Well 149 isn't horrible if it turns out to have the best video quality with normal dvd's. Of course I bought a A2 fr 130 and it's a great regular dvd player so maybe they can pull it off without making it look worse to a videophile type.
I also recently got a nifty Denon 757 dvd/high res audio player and I think t looks just as nice, maybe better, and I paid 70 for it. The DVD audio and SACD playback are what I mainly bought it for (and the uber cheap price) it does play them back way better then my previous Pioneer 563a.
I think they might just do OK because many folks don't want to buy a $400 player to play $30 movies even if they do look better, DVD is good enough for them and dirt cheap now.

Re: Toshiba Launches XD-E500 DVD Player With XDE Technology

PostPosted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 6:47 pm
by Grain
I finally got my OPPO DV-983HD player after waiting 2 months for them to make enough to fill orders. An incredible machine, but at $400 it's considerably more than most are willing to pay. I have an extensive DVD library, so it was certainly a great investment for me. At $150 and available at brick and mortars, Toshiba might just sell some of these, but I'm sure the Blu-ray backers aren't worried.

Re: Toshiba Launches XD-E500 DVD Player With XDE Technology

PostPosted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 11:40 pm
by Dartman
I doubt the BD bois care at this point, they won, they also got much of the hd stuff buried or destroyed it seems as far as software so no more super good deals on movies till they realize a $400 player and $30 movies wont sell to regular customers.
Toshiba is just trying to make something they can sell to regular folks to make back some of the money they wasted in the war, hard to say if it'll fly unless it makes normal DVD movies look awesome.

Re: Toshiba Launches XD-E500 DVD Player With XDE Technology

PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 12:57 pm
by Grain
It (the Tosh) apparently will do 1080p/24 with SD-DVD's, which extremely few other players can do. That may interest some now that there are more 72, 96 & particularily 120hz displays out there, ie getting away from 3:2 pulldown etc.