The first hardware volley in the next-generation DVD format war, a.k.a. HD DVD vs. Blu-ray, was fired today by HD DVD developer Toshiba. The company announced a pair of HD DVD players to ship in March in the US: the HD-A1 (US$499) and the HD-XA1 (US$799).
While hardly "affordable" compared to standard DVD players, these prices are significantly lower than expected and less than those of any of the Blu-ray players announced at the show so far. Combined with earlier availability (Blu-ray supposedly ships in June), they could make HD DVD a more compelling option for big spenders who immediately want the latest in next-generation home video playback. Speaking of home video, HD DVD has fewer major studio backers than Blu-ray and so will launch with fewer titles available for purchase. More details on HD DVD launch titles are expected to be revealed at an event this evening, but regardless of how much software HD DVD promises, we expect most early adopters to choose Blu-ray thanks to its wider support.
The nitty gritty of the two Toshiba players should be familiar to anybody who's followed the next-gen format fracas. The units support a variety of video codecs, including MPEG-2 as well as MPEG-4 AVC and VC-1. The more expensive HD-XA1 has a couple of cosmetic enhancements (a motorised drawer!), a backlit remote, and a selection of three different user interfaces, as well as some improvements to construction. It also has a pair of USB ports "for convenient connection of gaming controllers," according to the press release (no further details were provided).
Interestingly, both players -- and all forthcoming HD DVD players -- will only output high-definition resolutions via copy-protected HDMI outputs, so people whose HDTVs don't have HDMI or DVI/HDCP inputs won't be able to enjoy the improved image quality of HD DVD. According to Pioneer and Philips, the competing Blu-ray players may still enable high-def output via analog outputs, but we're sceptical about that. If Blu-ray did allow HD resolutions via analog, it would have one more major advantage over the less expensive HD DVD players.
For the complete round up of stories from CES 2006, click here.
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