Man, what a toll the loss of HD DVD has taken on Toshiba. Judging by the vast expanse of floor space at Tosh's booth not covered with people (seriously, look for anyone in the gallery below) and the inclusion of CES-announced DVD / VHS recorders (yes, really) as premiere products, we'd say the outfit is still hurting from the outcome of the format war. In all honesty, we felt kind of sad sashaying through its installation while reading slogans like "See everything in HD (even the non-HD stuff)." We even viewed the Super Resolution Technology demonstration with an open mind, and while there's certainly a mild difference with SRT, these sets hardly make SD signals into high-def. Grab a tissue and wander through the gallery at Engadget HD.

Toshiba got official with its new RV / XV REGZA families last week at IFA, but now Tosh is debuting 'em along with a smattering of other lines at CEDIA. The main news here is the US pricing and availability, but if you care to get neck-deep in marketing hoopla, we'd be happy to oblige. The company is trumpeting its Super Resolution Technology (now available in the REGZA RV535 and XV545), which purportedly uses a "proprietary processing system" to "improve image sharpness, brightness and color, [thereby] enhancing standard movies, TV shows, camcorder movies and most video games to near HD quality." For details on how much he AV500, RV525, AV502, RV535 and XV545 sets will cost here in America, head on past the break.

[Image courtesy of TWICE]

We're still pondering the difference between Toshiba's Cell-based Resolution+ technology and its "good enough for everybody else" XDE tech, but we got a look at Resolution+ today -- featured in Toshiba's new ZF575 Regza TVs -- and it seems to work well enough. Unlike XDE, which is designed with DVDs in mind to mess with contrast and colors, in addition to sharpness, Resolution+ just focuses on sharpness, for a multitude of SD inputs, and seems to do a decent job of it. Comparison shots up ahead, don't poke your eye on any jaggies!

IFA's apparently given Toshiba just the opportunity necessary to refresh its line of Regza LCDs, for those without the Resolution+ itch with a few new sizes and features. The existing entry-level XV line of 1080p LCDs gets 46- and 52-inch models, plus a gloss black design that helps it fit in at the Regza family reunion. The brand new RV line of 1080p LCDs bring similar features to the ZF Series, sans Resolution+ technology and one HDMI port, but with Active Vision M100 HD 100/120Hz 5:5 pulldown image processing intact. 37-, 42- and 46-inch sizes are confirmed for the October Euro launch, prices and U.S. availability for both TBD.

IO Data took the wraps off of a new HDD unit made specifically to attach to those new Regza ZH500s, the DiXim HVL4-G2.0 is compliant with the latest DLNA / DTCP-IP standards to easily record TV shows via the network. It's got space for four drives up to a maximum capacity of 2 TB in a RAID 5 array, limiting recording space to a max of 1.5 TB. Because of copy protection, it only records from Toshiba's TVs right now, and can be controlled completely via remote. Doubt we'll be seeing this here anytime soon, but it'll be on store shelves in Japan later this month for 111,615 ($1,090 US).

[Via AV Watch]

In Japan, the hand can be used as a knife. And you can't swing a Yume Neko Smile cat without defacing a 1080p TV with built-in Ethernet and a hard disk drive recorder. Case in point, Toshiba's latest batch of REGZA LCDs, ten in all. The top of the line ZH500 series measures in at 52- (52ZH500) and 46-inches (46ZH500) with 120Hz VA panels, 4x HDMI (1080/60p, 24p) inputs, 3x Ethernet (with DLNA support), 2x USB, Bluetooth, Firewire, SD slot, and a DVR to record your shows to the built-in 300GB disk. These lack the eSATA jack found in the 42-, 37-, and 32-inch RH500 series, but you can add more disk over Ethernet via an I-O Data REGZA drive wrapped in DTCP-IP DRM to keep your HD recordings off the global torrents. Rounding things out are the 42- and 37-inch ZV500 series of 120HZ IPS panel LCDs and the relatively low-end, 42-, 37-, and 32-inch CV500 series of diskless TVs. Prices will range from ¥160,000 ($1,560) on up to about $5,850 when products start hitting shelves between April and July. Pics of the in/outs on the ZH500s after the break.

Read - ZH500 and ZV500 series
Read -- RH500 and CV500 series

As you've surely saw in our liveblog of the Toshiba press conference, the firm went wild with new LCD releases for 2008. The overriding theme was thinness and early release dates, with essentially every set listed shipping by April. We'll get down to the dirt: two new 720p sets were introduced -- the AV500 and REGZA CV510 -- the first of which will be available in sizes ranging from 19- to 42-inches and feature DynaLight, HDMI and a PC input, while the latter will only be available in 32- / 37-inch sizes and sport PixelPure4G 14-bit internal processing, a 1.5-inc ThinLine Bezel design and a trio of HDMI 1.3 ports. For more on the outpouring of 1080p sets, click on through.

You know those oh-so-sexy RF350U LCDs that Toshiba has slated for Japan? Yeah, they're heading stateside, too. According to Tosh, the latest duo of REGZA LCDs boast 1080p resolutions, the "world's thinnest LCD TV bezel" at less than one-inch wide, and PixelPure's 14-bit internal processing. The duo will be available in 40- and 46-inch flavors, and will tout a "high-gloss black with chrome trim," xvYCC signal support, DynaLight backlighting, an uber-slim SoundStrip2 speaker system, and a trio of HDMI inputs with CE-Link control. Both of the REGZA Super Narrow Bezel (SNB) models will be landing this month, and while the 40RF350U will cost $1,899.99, the 46RF350U tacks on another $600.

While there's certainly been quite a few new Blu-ray players to emerge from IFA, Toshiba is making sure the HD DVD faithful (at least those in Europe) aren't slighted by launching a new duo for that crowd. The standalone HD-EP30 and HD-EP35 players will both tout "REGZA-Link (HDMI, CEC-Link) connectivity and native 24 frames per second playback support," and moreover, the HD-EP35 also supports High Bit Rate Audio and Deep Color via HDMI. Additionally, both October-bound units play nice with Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby True HD, and DTS HD formats, and while the lower-end iteration is set to launch between €349 ($477) and €399 ($545), the EP35 will demand between €449 ($613) and €499 ($682).

[Via TechDigest]

Toshiba continued its onslaught of LCD TV announcements today with two additional new lines for your purchasing pleasure. The two families joining the recently crowded gang are the REGZA RF350 (pictured above) and the REGZA C3500. The former "design minded" displays come in 40-inch (¥330,000 / $2,866) or 46-inch (¥390,000 / $3,388) varieties, deliver 1920 x 1080 resolution, and feature VA panels, 1080p / 60p / 24p, x 2 HDMI, x 2 S-Video, X 3 composite, D-sub, and ethernet jacks, plus HDMI, digital, and optical audio. The latter appears to be the company's play for the cheaper end of the market, though they don't scrimp too badly on features. The C3500's come in 26-inch (¥150,000 / $1,303) and 32-inches (¥170,000 / $1,476) at 1366 x 768, or 37-inch (¥250,000 / $2,171) and 42-inches (¥300,000 / $2,606) at 1920 x 1080, and rock an IPS panel, 1080p / 60p / 24p formats, 2 x HDMI jacks, ethernet, plus your standard slew of S-Video, component, D-sub, and audio ins and outs. Both lines will be available this September.

Read -- REGZA RF350
Read -- REGZA C3500

Toshiba just launched a pair of updated Qosmio media laptops in Japan. A new G40/97D configuration sports a 17-inch WUXGA (1920 x 1200) display; 2GHz, T7300 Core 2 Duo proc; 256MB of NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics, 2GB (up to 4GB supported) memory, 320GB of disk (2x 160GB); Gigabit Ethernet; HDMI out; a 2 megapixel webcam; and an HD DVD-R drive. It also brings plenty of expansion with 5x USB, Firewire, multiple memory card support, and a PCMCIA and ExpressCard/54 slot. Pretty much what we've seen before. Now, however, we're looking at a pair of digital tuners so that you can record and watch that sweet, sweet TeeVee at the same time. It's also pre-loaded with CyberLink SoftDMA allowing it to pull your HD recordings off your VARDIA series of recorders wrapped in a DRM-ladden, DTCP-IP hard candy shell. Want more Tosh integration? Great, 'cause it also supports HDMI-CEC allowing the G40 to control your new HDMI connected REGZA series of TVs. All that for ¥400,000 or about $3,470. Too much? Then check the new Qosmio F40 which does much the same only on a 15.4-inch screen for about $850 less.

[Via Impress]

Like TVs do ya? Then go ahead and block off the next few hours to decipher the machine translated Japanese surrounding Toshiba's 11 new HDTVs. Of these, the new top of the line REGZA Z3500 series of 37-, 42-, 46-, 52- and 57-inch LCDs are by far the more interesting. Each offers a 120Hz / 10-bit IPS panel with 3x HDMI (1080/60p and 24p) supporting x.v.Color / DeepColor, 2x Firewire, and a whopping 3x Ethernet jacks for surfing the internet (browser built-in) or streaming DLNA and DTCP-IP media from Tosh's own VARDIA recorders, Qosmio PCs, your local NAS server, and plenty more. Better yet, sling a few disks off the included 2x USB jacks and you've got an instant DVR -- suuuweet. Prices start at ¥360,000 ($3,123) and run up to ¥950,000 ($8,242) for the biggie 57-incher. We'll bring you the rest of the new sets a bit later, mkay?

[Via Impress]

What better way to start the day than with a pair of big-azz 120Hz LCD televisions with integrated HD recorders? Meet the new 52- and 46-inch REGZA H3300 sets for Japan. Each features a bevy of tuners and 300GB slot loading disk with a hunger for more via eSATA expansion. With support for 1080p (60p/24p) frame rates over 2x HDMI, Tosh's 120Hz panels will surely make the most of your native 24fps programming (read: Blu-ray or HD DVD films) without any messy frame doubling or interpolation (24 x 5 = 120, after all). But it's your world, and we're just a squirrel trying to get a nut, so the ¥620,000 (about $5,099) for the 52H3300 or ¥520,000 (about $4,276) for the 46H3300 makes us want to move our butt. Everybody dance now! Um, sorry for that.

[Via Impress]

What with Sony announcing two new Bravia series LCDs for the European market to go with the new PlayStation 3s, Toshiba had to jump in with two new lines of their own -- for connecting to HD DVD players, naturally. The X-series will start off at 40- or 46-inch sizes, and have three HDMI and two SCART interfaces. Moving up to the higher-end Z-series will add 100Hz Active Vision M100 refresh rates, and a wider range of sizes, from 37 to 57 inches. Both model lines support 1080p and built-in Freeview tuning. As with Sony's sets, prices and exact release dates are forthcoming.