Audio Video News

Toshiba showed a DVD player with advanced upconverting capabilities last week, following through on an idea mentioned by its CEO five months ago in the wake of HD DVD's demise.

The XDE-E500 DVD player "is not a Blu-ray killer," said the Toshiba executive who ran the demo.

What is it, then? XDE stands for eXtended Definition Enhancement and consists of three circuits. Their names are familiar, because they resemble ordinary TV controls, but that is misleading, because they are more sophisticated than ordinary TV controls.

The "sharp" mode intelligently analyzes the scene and applies edge enhancement only where needed, so you might see more detail in a garment, but not more noise in clouds. The press release describes it as "one step closer to high definition."

"Contrast" takes a similar approach to improving detail in dark scenes. In the example I was shown it worked on foreground objects while leaving backgrounds untouched. The "color" mode pumps blue and green and is intended for outdoor scenes--it was the one I found least convincing.

Do home theater buffs need this product? It's certainly no substitute for the true high-def picture of Blu-ray (or HD DVD, for that matter). But if you've got a small high-def-capable bedroom set, say a 32-incher, and don't want to shell out for a Blu-ray player in every room of the house, this product might be a viable option. The price is $149.99--more than a cheap DVD player, but a lot less than entry-level Blu-ray models at $399--and the product will ship this week.