The Toshiba HD A1 And The HD DVD System

Toshiba, along with NEC, jointly developed HD DVD, the next generation of the DVD standard which has become the de facto standard when the distribution of movies is concerned. Voted and supported by the DVD Forum, HD DVD practically utilizes the same underlying technology which has defined DVD to what it has become.

The Toshiba HD A1 stands to be the world’s first HD DVD media player. It was released in April of 2006, and offers the full entertainment value, as well as practical value, which HD DVD boasts to have.

HD DVD practically stands strong as the next generation of DVD systems, as it is the perfect medium for high definition videos, even boasting resolutions clearer than optimal HDTV broadcasts. HD DVD discs stand to boast more storage capacities over standard DVD discs. Standard DVD discs have storage capacities reaching up to 4.7 gigabytes, with dual-layer DVD discs capable of storing up to 8.5 gigabytes of data. HD DVD discs have storage values triple to that of standard DVD discs, as HD DVD discs could easily store up to 15 gigabytes of data, with dual layer HD DVD discs capable of storing up to 30 gigabytes of data.

The Toshiba HD A1 is easily capable of handling the 1920 x 1080p high definition videos which are mostly packaged in HD DVD systems. Standard DVD videos have 720 x 480 screen resolutions, simply illustrating the superior nature of HD DVD over the standard DVD system. Improved audio quality is also supported by the Toshiba HD A1, supporting Dolby True HD, Dolby Digital Plus, and DTS-HD surround sound systems of up to 7.1 surround sound speaker channel setups.

Through the Toshiba HD A1, users could truly see the impressive features which HD HDV discs are packed with, for example translucent menus and superimposed videos. Bottom line, more “the making of” features could be seen in HD DVD format distributed movies.

As with all HD DVD media players, the Toshiba HD A1 is made with backwards compatibility, capable of handling standard DVD discs, be they DVD-ROMs, DVD-Rs, DVD-RWs or DVD-RAM discs. Playback of various compressed audio formats is also possible with the Toshiba HD A1. Audio files like MP3s and WMAs could be easily played, as well as audio CDs, which are the de facto standard in which music artists package their albums.

It can not play Blu Ray discs though, as most Blu Ray players can’t play HD DVD discs. Bottom line, the Toshiba HD A1 is an HD DVD media player made for HD DVD.