Audio Video News

This is what nerds do: after watching another awesome episode of season one of Heroes on HD DVD I cued a firmware update and indeed my Toshiba HD-XA2 found one and started downloading it. I waited up until the update was complete, and then checked the player's setup menu and sure enough, "up to 1080p/24" is now a selectable output resolution.

I did not stay up to test this feature, nor do I know if any of Toshiba's other players received an update for this capability as well, but an update for the less expensive HD-A20 is supposed to be in the works as well.

We'll obviously have more on this as the news comes in and we have a chance to spin some movies. But this is a terrific update as all HD DVD movies we're aware have been encoded at 1080p/24, which yields a smoother, more natural picture when displayed at a direct multiple of 24. Stay tuned!