Eyes-on Toshiba's new XD-E500 upconverting DVD player

Yes, Toshiba seems resigned to some sort of HD disc-free existence, as it continues to mope about HD DVD's loss to Blu-ray and refrains from releasing a player for the once rival format, but let's set all aside for the moment. We got a look at Toshiba's new XD-E500 in action, and we must say: it does what it sets out to do. Most consumers will see a visible quality improvement when playing their DVDs, particularly in the realm of sharpness. Toshiba's new filters are "intelligent" enough to spice up the grass while leaving the sky and clouds free of noise, and while the contrast and color filters are less necessary, many consumers will enjoy their effect -- even if video purists would scoff at such alterations. As for usability, it couldn't really be much easier to flip on and off the three different enhancements, but there's also no customization of those modes to speak of. This $150 player isn't in any way Toshiba's Blu-ray killer, but thankfully the company actually seems to recognize that, and plans to market to Joe consumer who doesn't want to fork over the dough for a Blu-ray player or doesn't want to invest in a brand new video library, and won't be insulting videophiles' intelligence with claims to the contrary. If you're looking for something to magically make DVDs look like HD, this isn't it, but it bests Toshiba's best upconverter easily, and we'd venture to guess it's probably tops yours as well. All that said, Toshiba will have in store demos of the player at major retailers, and we'd highly recommend taking a gander for yourself before you take the plunge.

Gallery: Eyes-on Toshiba's new XD-E500 upconverting DVD player

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[TheGeektoriousBIG @ Aug 19th 2008 2:49PM]

Dear Toshiba,

Give it up, take it like a man...or an upset video format (which ever comes first).

Thanks,

Joe Consumer

[YesHone @ Aug 19th 2008 3:22PM]

The Future is here...

[rock99rock @ Aug 19th 2008 3:46PM]

Not like your comment helped, but i low ranked you because of your name.

[phanbouy @ Aug 19th 2008 3:48PM]

@rock

which one?

[nDee @ Aug 19th 2008 11:27PM]

The future is with low-tech info-display?
Having 1080 on tv doesn't mean the machine have to look like a Best-buy VCR,
or is it?
At least the sony br player is saying yes/

[rock99rock @ Aug 20th 2008 12:54PM]

@phanbouy

Both :)

[pedro @ Aug 22nd 2008 9:15PM]

holy cow, i just played apollo 13 on it. wow...you have to see it to believe it. i bought mine in sears. (less %10 because i used their card) . i have hd-dvd and ps3. was just going to put this dvd player in my garage, i guess hd dvd is the one going there :)...

[A. Hood @ Aug 19th 2008 2:52PM]

So does this do a better job of upconverting than my now useless HD-DVD player?
*yes I have a HD-DVD player (I only paid $99 for it)

I also have a PS3 so Blu-Ray fans don't beat me down. :-)

[Mr. B @ Aug 19th 2008 5:51PM]

A valid question, I'm curious how it would stack up against an HD-A2/A3.

[CraigJ @ Aug 19th 2008 2:56PM]

You can only "invent" so much information...

[I_Hate_China @ Aug 19th 2008 3:42PM]

> You can only "invent" so much information...

In case of XDE, yes.
In case of Super Upconversion, no. Super Upconversion is simply grabbing pixel info from adjacent frames, not inventing.

[required @ Aug 19th 2008 3:04PM]

The PS3 does a great job upconverting DVDs.

[fieldcar @ Aug 19th 2008 3:06PM]

agreed even though I'm an xbox fanboy, and refuse to game on a ps3.

[Dan Halen @ Aug 19th 2008 3:12PM]

@fieldcar

Your gaming habits fascinate and excite me, especially here in this article about the XD-E500. Please keep it coming!

[phanbouy @ Aug 19th 2008 3:20PM]

"fascinate and excite me"

well he is Fabio...

[YesHone @ Aug 19th 2008 3:23PM]

If only Toshiba could invent an upconverting device for the iPhone 3G signal strength...

[Erwos @ Aug 19th 2008 3:26PM]

Probably better than the PS3. IMHO, the PS3's DVD upscaling is somewhat over-rated - it's good, but not amazing.

[fieldcar @ Aug 19th 2008 3:06PM]

Such negativity... as if interpolation, algorithms, and calculus suddenly cease to exist. I for one, am actually interested in this product.

[CraigJ @ Aug 19th 2008 3:28PM]

I agree, and because I have an extensive DVD collection I'm interested in getting something like this as I have no desire to purchase copies of movies I already own (Which I already did, because I have the VHS versions of 30% of my DVDs) Having said that, interpolation, algorithms, and calculus can only get you so far. Will this make DVDs look better? Sure, but it in no way is going to look as good as BluRay on a 63" screen - BR discs have 6 times the image information as a DVD.

[kjb434 @ Aug 19th 2008 3:07PM]

Believe it or not, I think the market is there for this kind of thing.

Truthfully, I didn't care if BluRay or HD-DVD won. I know I was never going to spend the money on the media until it's cost rival DVD.

When BluRay discs cost the same as DVD's (essentially making choice of BluRay obvious), then I can see DVD being phased out.

How long did it take for DVD's to oust VHS? The jump in quality from VHS to DVD was substantial. The jump from DVD to BluRay (or HD-DVD) to most consumers is negligible. Yes, technophiles will go on and on at how much better it is, but the common consumer that makes the bulk of the purchases don't care until the costs come way down.

[Jon Acheson @ Aug 19th 2008 4:13PM]

The difference between DVDs and Blu-Ray is also substantial, but you have to have a good HDTV to see it.

Though, eventually everyone will have an HDTV of some sort (try buying anything else when your SD set dies). And people will end up buying blu-ray even if their 22" 720p set doesn't really show the difference all that well, for the same reason that they watched DVDs through their lousy 20 year old RCA: it's what they'll find at the store.

Also, the prices for Blu-rays are beginning to follow the same price curve that DVD did. Already I can find things for prices I am willing to pay much more easily than I could a year ago.

[Afotey @ Aug 19th 2008 4:55PM]

Actually, the difference between DVD and Blu-Ray (and, to an extent, HD-DVD) is not as substantial as the difference between VHS and DVD, no matter how much of an early adopter/technophile you are.

It just isn't.

Having said that, I do own a bunch of Blu-Ray and HD-DVD movies, and watch them on a 42" HDTV @ 1080i.

The image quality is superb. No debate from me there.

It isn't as drastic as the quality shift from VHS to DVD though.

So until the price of a Blu-Ray disc matches that of a DVD, I don't think that the tech will not take off, no matter how many PS3s Sony sells, as the average consumer doesn't really see much of a difference, @ least not enough to warrant buying 'The Dark Knight' on DVD for $19.99 versus on Blu-Ray @ $29.99, extra content be damned.

Until then, I will continue to enjoy my $10 HD-DVDs on my $50 HD-DVD player...LOL

Long live laserdiscs~!

*end sarcasm*

[chefgon_ign @ Aug 19th 2008 5:28PM]

I would argue that the gap in picture quality between DVD and Blu-ray is significantly more noticable than the gap between VHS and DVD. And I only have a 720p tv at 37", so I know that there is definitely an even bigger gap there for people with higher end equipment.

But here's the thing - people don't care about picture quality. Do you think that people upgraded from VHS to DVD because of the picture quality? Hell no, they did it because the mass population is in love with special features. Having big menus full of pointless extra garbage just facinates people, they feel like they're getting a better deal for their money. Just look at how they keep churning out those two disc special editions of every movie under the sun. That's what people were attracted to, and that's what Blu-ray fails to improve over DVD in any significant way.

[Brian @ Aug 19th 2008 3:12PM]

Any word on how the upscaling on this would compare to the upscaling on the PS3? I went through a parade of upscaling players (including a couple of Oppo models), but ditched them once I saw how good the PS3 looked on standard-def discs.

[telepheedian @ Aug 19th 2008 3:12PM]

Hmm, that logo reminds me of DivX.

[Colin Potter @ Aug 19th 2008 3:21PM]

it reminds me of fail. sorry toshiba, love your TVs and all, but get with the Blu-ray program so that we have one more high quality option in a reasonable price range (alongside sony and panasonic of course)

[phanbouy @ Aug 19th 2008 3:30PM]

ya rly, toshiba. how dare you make a low cost player to optimize the playback of your existing library

[Colin Potter @ Aug 19th 2008 3:36PM]

well why bother with 150 for a player for SD-DVD when you could buy a blu-ray player for 400 and have it do the same thing AND play blu-rays?

[phanbouy @ Aug 19th 2008 3:40PM]

maybe because i can save the $250 and the extra $20 per movie for about the same level of enjoyment on any TV that costs less than $3,000?

[phanbouy @ Aug 19th 2008 3:41PM]

or maybe i don't feel like re-purchasing my whole DVD collection? or maybe i'm not made of money for overpriced luxuries?

[Colin Potter @ Aug 19th 2008 3:48PM]

I don't know why everyone makes the point of "I don't want to re-buy every movie I own!" Oh really? Then don't. They still play in your blu-ray player, and at much higher quality than any non-upconverting player. I have a blu-ray player and by no means do I ever plan to replace my DVD collection. I have not yet bought a single movie on Blu-ray that I already own on DVD, and the first one I do will be Transformers, and only because I loaned the DVD to a friend and it got scratched to hell. If you don't have an HDTV this player is as useless to you as a Blu-ray player, and if you do, save the money because the Blu-ray player will make the most of your TV and surround sound.

[phanbouy @ Aug 19th 2008 3:56PM]

alternatively, i could wait until there's more movies and prices come down and 1080p TVs get cheaper and i have tons of extra money lying around just for watching home video

[telepheedian @ Aug 19th 2008 11:03PM]

Hey, i'm not hating on Toshiba, I just noticed a resemblace in the X.
http://www.cybertheater.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/divx.jpg

The codec, not the crappy doomed-from-the-start limited video disc system.

[primetime4 @ Aug 19th 2008 3:16PM]

Why would you have to invest in a brand new video library if you buy a Blu-ray player? All Blu-ray players already upconvert so now you are really only looking at Joe's who don't want to fork out for a Blu-ray player and sooner or later, that is also going to be change.

[Rob @ Aug 19th 2008 3:16PM]

I'm curious to see what this player can do. Hopefully the stores won't play bs bias games and connect them via the regular rca cord instead of the component or HDMI. Sony doesn't pay my bills, and neither does Toshiba. So, I'm looking for ways to get the most out of my dollar. I already have the PS3 and the 360 HD-DVD player. But, I can't afford to have more than one in the house. So, if this player hits the under $100 sweet spot, then it might be worth considering.

[zargon @ Aug 19th 2008 3:17PM]

It would be interesting to see how well this does against the best upscaling DVD players out there, like the Oppo's or just about any REON based player (mostly the flag ship HD-DVD players and one or two Blu-ray players).

[Deadmeat @ Aug 19th 2008 3:30PM]

The bad news.

It is not a Super Upconversion(960p native video out of DVD) player.

The good news.

Super Upconversion is still coming, in Toshiba ZF REGZA HDTV sets this fall and in XDE2 players next year.

[Chris @ Aug 19th 2008 3:33PM]

Most (if not all) Blu ray players upscale dvds anyway so go ahead and buy this but in a year or two when you want more your gonna be spending the same amount of money buying a blu ray player so why not just buy one now.

[Deadmeat @ Aug 19th 2008 3:38PM]

Most Blu-Ray standalones feature crippled DVD upconversion on purpose and this is why you would want a dedicated DVD Upconverter and Super Upconverter(960p native)

[Colin Potter @ Aug 19th 2008 3:43PM]

Deadmeat I don't know what Blu-ray players you've seen/used but I work in retail and I can assure you, the blu-ray players from samsung, panasonic and sony all best every upconverting player i've seen for under $200 and are only now bested by the dirt cheap HD-DVD players.

[zargon @ Aug 19th 2008 4:30PM]

Oddly I don't believe that is true with Samsung Blu-ray players. I recently picked up a refurbished Samsung 1400 on the cheap and before I bought I did some research, AVSForum and other places seem to have Samsung players as being sub-par for scaling DVDs. After hooking it up, it does not looks as good as either the Toshiba A2 or Oppo DV-981HD.

Currently, the chip sets to look for the best DVD scaling are the Reon or Anchor Bay and sometimes Faroudja depending on the chip model.

[primetime4 @ Aug 19th 2008 4:50PM]

@Deadmeat... why are you making stuff up? What is this crippled upconversion you speak of? That it only works over HDMI? Standalone DVD players have the same limitation and it's not because of the hardware manufacturers.

[Ian @ Aug 19th 2008 3:45PM]

Sounds likea good DVD PLayer. And if it can be "adjusted" to Region Free I thiunk they have a winner.

[Mik @ Aug 19th 2008 4:04PM]

So in short, this is just a DVD player, with a massively cut down Cell chip and some smart algorythm.

How long before the much more capable PS3 does exactly the same thing? Weeks or Months??

[Jake @ Aug 19th 2008 4:07PM]

The PS3 already has a pretty smart upscaler. I would love to see a side by side comparision of this Toshiba, and the PS3. I suspect the PS3 will be on-par, with of course the ability to play proper HD.

[chefgon_ign @ Aug 19th 2008 5:18PM]

The PS3 costs more than three times what the XDE costs. I don't really think this thing is aimed at the same market as the PS3.

[chefgon_ign @ Aug 19th 2008 5:20PM]

My math is a little off, I was thinking the PS3 was still $500. But the point is unchanged, the XDE is much cheaper and likely aimed at people who haven't already invested in Blu-ray.

I sure as hell won't buy one, but I can definitely understand its intended purpose in the market.

[Max @ Aug 19th 2008 4:10PM]

The market is ripe for this. We have a BD player, but we buy and watch mostly DVD's (a lot of children's stuff.) For us, something like this would better bridge the gap until the amount of material on BD is sufficient to make the switch.

DVD is still the standard. Toshiba was wise to stop trying to reinventing the wheel and work on improving upon something everyone already uses instead.

[CraigJ @ Aug 19th 2008 4:16PM]

What I really want is Super Upconvert software that will allow me to rip a DVD, upconvert it, and save it as an ISO, all in one step. Then I can play it on demand via my Media PC...

[solomon @ Aug 19th 2008 4:35PM]

what a waste.. just upconvert in real time with ffdshow - i'm sure the XDE is just using similiar filters.