Toshiba Unveils First Blu-ray Player

Toshiba has come full circle in abandoning HD-DVD, debuting its BDX2000 Blu-ray player with BD-Live support.

Toshiba BDX2000 Blu-ray player

Toshiba might have been the company that championed HD-DVD technology against Blu-ray a couple years ago in the so-called “format war” for domination of high-definition discs…and when Toshiba threw in the towel on HD-DVD it kinda of licked its wounds, focusing on wringing features and quality from standard DVD players without committing to licensing and making its own Blu-ray gear. However, last month the company announced it was joining the Blu-ray Disc Association, and now the company has officially announced its first Blu-ray player, the BDX2000.

“Toshiba is a technology leader in high definition products,” said Toshiba’s digital a/v group’s marketing VP Jodi Sally, in a statement. “From listening to our consumers we know they demand access to full high definition content. With the introduction of our BDX2000 we are offering consumers what they want with a breath-taking HD viewing experience to meet the needs of today’s home theater.”

The BDX2000 offers 1080p output via HDMI and supports Blu-ray Profile 2.0 and BD Live: pop the player onto a home network via the integrated Ethernet jack, and users can download additional content associated with Blu-ray movies, like bonus scenes, trailers, shorts, games, and other material. The BDX2000 features a flip-out front panel that exposes controls; when combined with one of Toshiba’s Regza TVs, both units can be controlled from a single remote. The BDX2000 also supports Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio, and sports an SD slot for putting photos, video, and other media on the big screen.

Toshiba says the BDX2000 will be available in November for a suggested price of $249.99.