Toshiba HD-A2 is Fantastic!!!! (1 Viewer)

[Scott Calvert]

This all makes sense but I have to wonder then, why do I get a better, more stable picture on my Sony 720p LCD when going from interlaced to progressive out of my progressive scan dvd player? Since the display is inherently progressive there should be no difference, correct?

 

[Tim Glover]

Let me add something that I really just discovered in terms of audio. I'll try to be brief.

...

Visited some buddies out of town over the weekend and took my HD-A1 for us to play some HD-DVDs on their 130 inch projector setup. (only outputs 480p but can accept a 1080i signal)....Set the HD-A1 to 1080i and the projector to 1080i....Looked smooth and detailed. Really fabulous image. Rock solid image all around.

Audio was hooked up via coaxial digital input as the reciever has no HDMI or analogue outs. As mentioned in this thread, the Dolby Digital Plus track is converted to a full bit DTS track. What really impressed me was how great this track was. I'm very familiar with Bourne Supremacy on dvd....always sounded great but this time in HD-DVD, it sounded downright scary it was so good. Might be the most articulate and tight bass I've ever heard. Detailed sound...crisp but not edgy.

The moral to all that is the folks whose systems do not support HDMI or have analogue outs....can STILL immensely enjoy HD-DVD. We had a great time watching Bourne and all there came away with that grin only a great HT can deliver.

The only downside to all this was getting asked..."so did you bring the HD-DVD of The Bourne Identity too?".....Um, no....it's not out yet

So is the reason this particular setup had better audio compared to the sd dvd due to the full bitrate DTS track? What might be even scarier is being able to get the Dolby Digital Plus track....

 

[threepio]

I sat down again with the A2 last night with upconversion in mind. I tried out a variety of sources - from television shows to animation - to do a quick comparison. For the "DVD" baseline I used my Panasonic A120 (yeah, it's going on seven years old and STILL going) and for the upconverting - the A2, naturally.

This is my first personal brush with upconversion on DVD (I've simply steered clear of it until now, not wanting to "spoil" myself for HD optical formats ) and I have to admit I'm impressed. I'm sure it's not up to the standards of some of the ridiculously expensive upconverting players out there, but for my dollar it was a nice addition to have with the A2.

As far as the audio goes - the posts above were very informative - thank you! At the time of listening my initial reaction was "I don't know if it's them thar new fangled 'TrueHD' but it shure sounds purty". Thanks for the dose of clarity

 

[Jeff Cooper]

I recieved my A-2 yesterday and played around a bit with it, but not too much. So far, I'm very impressed. I'm still building my home theater, and don't have all my equipment yet, but the picture it creates, even from SD DVD's is fantastic.

The only glitch I ran into, is that it wouldn't play Disc 1 of 'Finding Nemo'. When you close the tray, it spins up and recognizes it as a standard definition DVD, and begins playing for about 0.001 seconds before it stops and I get a 'Can't play this disc' error. I don't think there's anything wrong with the disc, as I've watched this tons of times before as a reference disc. The 6 or so other SD DVD's I tried out worked great.

I wonder if there is some extra features or interactivity on the Nemo disc that cause the A2 to choke? Can anyone else with the A2 and Nemo get this to play ok?

 

[Ron Z]

I assume you used the A2's HDMI output to your display? I'd be curious to know if there was any upconversion through the A2's component outputs.

Also, were you using HDMI or optical to output the audio?

 

[Camper]

Please help explain something to me.
I'm considering buying the Toshiba HD-A2. This talk of no analog output is confusing me. My HD-TV has a DVI input. I have a HDMI to DVI converter cable. I was expecting to send the sound portion from an fiber-optic output to my Denon receiver to get the DTS and DD.
Will this NOT work? And if not, how & why? I need someone to explain very clearly so a non-expert like myself could understand.
Will I not be able to get ANY of the various 5.1 choices OR
only the newer TRUE HD or 5.1 Plus.
I'd ask in the store but......

Many thanks if you can help.
By the way my Denon reciever has the DTS EX & the DD EX, but not the newer type decoding. So all I need is to get DTS & DD from the discs for now.

 

[Ron Z]

Unless your receiver can play audio from the A2's HDMI output, then you'll only hear DD or DTS standard soundtracks, and not the TrueHD or new HD audio soundtracks. If your receiver has 5.1 or 7.1 analog inputs, and can't play HDMI audio then you'll need the DVD player's analog outputs to get the HD audio tracks.

 

[Jack Gilvey]

No 5.1 analog outs on the A2, unless I'm mistaken?

 

[Jack Gilvey]

I think it's because it's 1080p on the disc, it's all there...no information is being interpolated, and there's no scaling going on just combining two 1080i frames into one 1080p frame. Pretty easy job. Going from 480i to 720p is something else altogether, and would certainly be dependent on the quality of the TV's/DVD's internal scaling.

 

[RobertDW]

From posts over at the AVS forum there is a way to get Finding nemo to play. Un-plug the player for a few minutes then power it back on and put in any standard DVD other than Nemo. Let it play for a few minutes and eject the disc then put in any HD DVD disc and do the same. After all that Nemo will play every time.

 

[Jeff Cooper]

Oooooo-Kayyyy. LOL! I'll give that a try, but is that bizarre or what? How in the world did they come up with that solution?

I wonder if that cures the problem completely, or if you have to repeat it every time you plug/unplug the player. The way I have it set up right now, I unplug the player when I'm done with it, becuase the cord is in a place where you would trip over it and knock everything over.

 

[threepio]

I was using HDMI for video, yes. From what I've read there is no upconversion of commercial DVDs via component.

I was using optical to connect the A2 to my Harman Kardon 430. I've got Polk speakers all 'round and it's best I've ever heard that system perform.

 

[Camper]

Thanks. That was quick and informative.
But, just to be perfectly clear........

I will hear the audio with no improvement but, no STEP DOWN either. I will hear the DTS ES or DD EX just as well as before? Also what is the the DD Plus, I've never really heard it explained, just mentioned?
Thanks again folks.

 

[Shane Martin]

Wait until the "when is bond coming" comments.

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

Wow....I'll have to keep that in mind when I pick up my A2 next week. That's is pretty freaky, to say the least. Thank heavens we have the Internet so we can read people's "solutions" so these sorts of whacked out problems...LOL.

 

[Jim Douglas]

What HDTV do you have? I have a Pioneer Elite 630HD with DVI inputs and using the HDMI>DVI setup on my set will only allow 480p. There are a few other sets I've read about with the same problem. You might want to check and see if your set is one of them.

On my set I've used a HD-A1,JVC 5U D-VHS,Panasonic S-97 and a cable box all with a HDMI>DVI cable with no problems at all but the A2 will not go beyond 480p. I've moved my A1 back into the rack till I see if Toshiba can issue a fix.

Jim

 

[Jeff Cooper]

That seems strange that the A1 works but the A2 doesn't. I'm using a HDMI -> DVI cable with no problems with my A2. It might seem silly, but double check the A2 setup menu, and make sure it's set to 1080i. (There's one menu selection where you can set 'up to 480i, up to 720p, up to 1080i' for the output).

 

[Jim Douglas]

Yeah I've done all the setup checks many times over. I even installed the A2 on a HDMI equipped TV and it went right to 1080i. Brought it back and put it on the Pioneer and 480p is as high as it will go. There are quite a few people having similiar issues over at AVS with Sony,Hitachi and even Toshiba TV's.

Jim

 

[michael deakin]

HI.
When im playing back a disc, My onkyo receiver say's it is pcm multichannel is that correct.
mike.

 

[Adam Barratt]

Am I correct in believing the HD-A2 has no coaxial digital output, only TosLink? This is what is currently holding me back, as my receiver is across the room from the optical players in my room (currently connected via coax). It seems the HD-XA2 might be my only option (or an HD-X/A1).

Adam