# Toshiba HD-XA2 2nd gen player.



## bobgpsr (Apr 20, 2006)

Well I have an XA2 on the way from VE tonight. FedEx picked it up from VE at 5:34 pm EST -- might get here by Friday.  Now I'll have standalone players upstairs and downstairs. Will be getting a couple of RCA Y adapters to feed my Yamaha RX-V2500 AVR's 7.1 Multi-Channel analog inputs. But the old XA1 may be going upstairs where the Yammie and 34" HDTV CRT Scenium are. Need to see the full video quality of the SiliconOptix Reon-VX video processing chip on my 37" 1080p LCD downstairs. The WAF factor will be better with it being easier to play upstairs all of the only new discs I've purchased in the past year. No more SD DVD for me for the whole past year. :jiggy:

The 1080p/24 output is promised in a February firmware update. Likely to be shown at CES.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

You lucky dog you... congrats! Obviously we'll expect a complete review... :yes:


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## Eddie Horton (Nov 8, 2006)

I'm jealous. Guess my trusty D1 will have to suffice for now, but I'm looking forward to seeing what this new unit can do with the processing power it has available.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Bob... did you ever get that unit in and what's the status?


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## bobgpsr (Apr 20, 2006)

Sorry Sonnie, a quickie review from me is coming promise. :snoring:. It came on time from VE and basiclly worked ok. Had a bit of an effort to get a good subwoofer cal using the 5.1 analog outs -- but I got there. It ended up upstairs (fit in cabinet better) with the 7.1 system but only a 34" CRT TV. Was hoping for the new firmware update this week (but it is delayed a week or so) to see if that would let the year 2002 TV DVI with HDCP interface work. Right now I have to use component -- which probably is best for an analog CRT anyway. Superb color! :T 

More later.

Bob


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## bobgpsr (Apr 20, 2006)

Very informative review of the capabilities/testing done by the HQV benchmark by Silicon Optix:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2923

This is the company that makes the Reon video processing chip used in the HD-XA2.


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## bobgpsr (Apr 20, 2006)

I may have actually boosted the 5.1 analog LFE by +15 dB or so (using the gain control on the PC Ultra subwoofer). The 5.1 analog audio calibration seems OK now only when playing a HD DVD with the new audio codecs; DD+ or Dolby TrueHD. But I do not like the result (too bass hot) when playing a SD DVD that uses legacy DD or dts -- instead I switch to using a S/PDIF (Toslink) input since my AVR has done an auto cal after I tweaked the PCU's gain control. Reports are that Toshiba has acknowledged an issue with low LFE on the XA2 and will address the problem in the next firmware update (beyond the version 1.3 available on the net now).

Other reports are that film mode 1080p24 output enabled by firmware update comming in July will be done the correct way (with minimal processing -- more of a raw output). Any PiP being used when 1080p24 is selected will be converted from 60i to 24p even though possible selected small PiP video may "judder" as a result -- but Toshiba understands that user who selects film mode 1080p24 wants the main feature to be pristine with minimal judder. This new 1080p24 mode only really helps if your display (projector, plasma, LCD, whatever) can use an exact multiple of 24 Hz for display refresh. Like 24, 48, 72, 96, or 120 Hz etc. I hope to get a new Toshiba 42" LCD with 120 Hz refresh that is comming out in July (model 42LX177) so I can take better advantage of 1080p24 (native frames on an HD DVD encode of a film -- the 3:2 flags are not needed for this type of output). Judder during slow pans or when the film credits scroll up should be reduced. :filmstrip:


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