Toshiba Launches Upscaling DVD Player

Still shunning Blu-ray, Toshiba claims its new upscaling XD-E500 DVD player "breathes new life" into existing DVDs.

Toshiba may have lost the high-definition format war—throwing in the towel to Sony’s Blu-ray format earlier this year—but that doesn’t mean the company is embracing Sony’s technology. Instead, Toshiba has been focussing on the digital movie format with the largest market penetration: plain, simple DVD. And it’s new XD-E500 DVD player aims to put new life into existing DVD through upscaling and a plethora of picture mode setting via the company’s new XDE (eXtended Detail Enhancement) technology.

"Consumers have embraced the DVD format like no other technology and invested in large libraries of their favorite movies. As the market moves towards high definition, XDE lets them experience their existing DVD library and the tens of thousands of DVD titles in a whole new way," said Toshiba director of product planning Louis Masses, in a statement.

In addition to upscaling standard DVDs all the way to 1080p/24fps, the XD-E500 carries HDMI output, JPEG display capability, MP3 and WMA playback, and DivX certification. The XDE technology also offers a Sharp mode (bringing out more detail), a Color mode (adding richness to colors), and a Contrast mode that brings out foreground images, and can be combined with Sharp mode.

The XD-E500 should ship this month for a suggested price of $149.99, almost double what a typical upscaling DVD player goes for these days.