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Toshiba HD-XE1 Review |
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Reviewed: 13 March 2007
Design
Toshiba's HD-XE1 is a surprisingly sturdy and well built unit that feels as though it would last for decades rather than years. The appearance is quite retro, and it has the look of an early VHS player. Rather than detracting from the appearance however, the unit, with its metallic finish, has a reassuring presence which adds a touch of retro chic to its surroundings.
Features
The HD-XE1 replaces Toshiba's first HD DVD offering on these shores the HD-E1 which offered superb picture quality, but was rather lacking in features.
Video Upsacaling: 720p/1080i Progressive scan: 480p/576p/720p/1080p Ethernet: 10/100Mbps PLAYABLE DISC FORMATS: CD/CD-R/CD-RW/DVD-R/DVD-RW/HD-DVD/HD-DVD-R/HD-DVD-RW SOCKETS: 1 HDMI input, 2 USB, 1 Scart,composite video, s-video, dvi, component output
The major improvement on the HD-XE1 is support for full 1080p HD. Additionally, there is now 5.1 analogue audio out and digital coaxial audio out (the HD-E1 only has optical digital out).
The outputs are gold plated to minimise signal loss, and there's an RS232 socket that can be used for custom remote control systems. In addition, the HD-XE1 supports the HDMI 1.3 standard.
The Toshiba HD-XE1 is very easy to set, and this should be expected as the only concern initially is to select the correct output for your TV. The options are either 'up to 480p/576p', 'up to 720p', 'up to 1080i' or 'up to 1080p'.
Extra picture control settings are available via the 'picture' button on the remote control. These settings are mainly concerned with cleaning up the image of upscaled DVDs, and many of the options don't apply to HD DVD material.
Performance
The first thing you notice having popped a HD DVD into the HD-XE1 is that a whole minute and a half passes before anything much happens. In comparison, the Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray player gets going about thirty seconds sooner. If the player is turned off and on again after the initial boot, the process takes about a minute.
To get an idea of the full potential of the HD-XE1 hook it up to a 1080p capable TV and prepare to be startled. Picture quality is stunning, and to get a full impression of the units capabilities, watch a fast action movie. Colour reproduction and motion handling are so sharp and accurate, you will find your body moving to the rhythm of every action sequence as if you were really there.
The Toshiba HD-XE1 has wonderful sound potential, a potential that is fulfilled (or not) depending to a certain degree on your set up. If you are playing HD DVDs through your television speakers, you won't be disappointed, but you will be missing out on the full home cinema experience that is available if you hooked it up to an external Dolby Digital or DTS decoder.
Support for uncompressed Dolby TrueHD is mandatory on HD DVD players (it's optional on Blu-ray), which improves upon the quality of compressed audio found on DVD.
The HD-EX1 can also upscale your existing DVD collection, and has some in-built functions which enable you to tweak this side of things. Although not quite as good as a dedicated upscaling unit, it comes pretty close and is a huge bonus for those of us with large existing DVD collections.
Conclusion
What we like about the HD-EX1 is that it is a fine High Definition player able to compete with the best blu-ray has to offer at a reasonable price. The on-going format war has prevented many from committing themselves to a player because prices were so high. While not on the same level as the cheapest standard dvd players around, a price tag of £350 is not such a bitter pill to swallow.
