Around a week ago I posted a whole bunch of info on the GGW page about a new technology that toshiba was using called Resolution +

You can get an overview of that here: http://www.toshiba.co.uk/upscaling/

"Toshiba’s new upscaling technology enhances standard definition content to near high definition quality. With upscaling, you’re not limited to watching only certain channels or DVDs to see the difference in picture quality. Images will be richer, sharper and clearer every time, on any channel or DVD, meaning everything you watch will be astonishing.

For the Regza ZV TVs and the F50 and G50 series
of Qosmio laptops, upscaled via Resolution+ technology, images are brought to life by enhancing edges of images and increasing the sharpness and focus of the texture.  

The XDE-500 DVD player, which incorporates the new XDE (eXtended Detail Enhancement) technology, upscales standard DVDs from 480i to 1080p resolution. However, what makes the player truly unique is its three additional video processes which improve detail, colour and contrast of the image."

The basic rub of the problem is that HDTVs basically have more lines than a standard definition signal, so any image you put on one has to artificially scale an image by faking/duplicating pixels.

Resolution  + uses Toshiba's Spursengine and the Cell Processor derivative from Sony's PS3 to give you a better type of upscaling.

So, well aware of SD-HDTV transition problems I went ahead and bought the dvd player to see the new tech. I wasn't about to get one of the new Regza ZV TVs which only come in 42-46"

So I have spent about a week with it and some reviews have made bold claims about it looking close to Blu-ray etc. And the final verdict is.... it does!

BUT! Yes there is a big but. The XD-E500 is a relatively cheap player, this may sound expensive to americans used to cheaper prices, but over here to get a player of this quality for $180 is a good deal.  I tested a variety of media in this thing throughout the week. Firstly, it has great compatibility, so whether you choose DVD-R/W/+ etc, it works. You can also very easily enter a number code to make it multi-region. Double bargain.

I have heard some complaints online about the remote, no problem here, sure it could be smaller, but its a lot more responsive than some complaining has given it credit for.

A little irksome is the sound it emits whilst turned off, ut still plugged in. It's very minor but there is a high pitched tone, that can mess with pets and annoy humans if they have nothing else to listen to.

There is also no resume feature. If you stop and play, it does pick up where you left off. But as soon as you turn off the machine it forgets your position and you have to go through the scene select. And go through the unskippable copyright crap on dvds again.

But now onto what you need to know about: the picture.

I will say this, if you have great quality dvds, it does scale the picture, so sharply and so well that yes, it does look damn near close to the high definition blu-ray discs you see in stores. I put in my 3 disc special edition of the Host and it looked incredibly sharp and clear. there is a difference so minor between the end result and Blu-Ray that you wont even care.

So, if you are someone who buys or rents the latest releases, the picture will look fantastic. And given the price difference between buying Blu-ray discs and DVDs, this is a very attractive option.

It also works wonderfully on remastered dvds like Indiana Jones or Star Wars.

HOWEVER

It can make bad looking dvds look worse. Its biggest problem is moderate movement. Small movements and fast scenes are okay, but on some dvds, any kind of moderate movement seems un-natural, almost like it's skipping frames. I checked my SDTV and it's actually pretty close, but because the picture looks cleaner and sharper you notice movement lag more on an HDTV.

It's a particularly bad player for any kind of animation. For animation which is digitally assisted for instance Studio 4C's Paprika, it's fine, perfect in fact. For movies that are hand drawn like Spirited Away you will notice that little touches of movement are missing, it lacks nuance and it does almost seem like it is missing frames at times.

If you are watching older animation there are often imperfections on the print and the advanced scaling scales up the flaws too. So far I would say that 90% of my collection I have tested looks better, either slightly better or amazingly crisp better. But the 10% looks worse and if one of your favourite movies falls into that camp you wont be happy.

Overall it's an impressive technology that needs to improve upon response time.

It's interesting because I want to see how the Regza ZV handles a videogame system via components and whether the slow response time would appear and make games unplayable or not. Games consoles have a great constant signal, not like an old movie on dvd. So I'm hopeful. There is a lso a game mode, but I hear that it works through the HDMI in which case your gaming rig would already be HD.

Overall 8.5

+ Can look amazingly crisp

Improves the look of the majority of modern dvds.

- Bad for animation and dvds whose pictures aren't up to snuff

Overall it's a player that lives and dies by the quality of the disc you are using. If you put in a bad disc, it will look bad, put in a good, it will look good, put in an excellent disc, it will look almost high definition.

It's an acheivement just getting dvds to look as good as an SDTV on an HDTV, this player frequently does at least that and in more exceptional cases makes great pictures look near HD for sure. But it can make a small section of your discs look poorly.

SteelAttack said:

WTF is this shit?

A new technology in Toshibas Regza Zv and XD-E500 dvd players that scales standard definition pictures to near HD resolutions. So for instance when you use a wii with an HDTV it looks shitty because the scaling in your TV is fucking things up. With this new tech, theoretically Wii on a Regza  ZV TV should look as good as it does on an SDTV, sharper, clearer, awesomeness.

I can't afford a new 42" or 46" TV, so I got the dvd player as I'm always after a better picture.

Ravenprose said:

$180 for a DVD player? *Looks over at $30 Walmart special DVD player on shelf*

As long as you're happy with it, GG. Then it's worth it.

Well like you said, Wii Speak is $50 here and $25 in the US.

In the U.S this should be under $100.

31160618 said:

Hmm... that does sound like a steal, especially if your looking for crisper images without having to payout for an HDTV.  The cons still make me want to hold off and save for an HD-TV (cause... I'm still broke ).  It really depends on how much longer will movie DVD's be sold before Sony pulls the plug on them.

o_o

I  thought I was meant to be stalking you!

31160618 said:

Hmm... that does sound like a steal, especially if your looking for crisper images without having to payout for an HDTV.  The cons still make me want to hold off and save for an HD-TV (cause... I'm still broke ).  It really depends on how much longer will movie DVD's be sold before Sony pulls the plug on them.

Hullo there. This players main feature is scaling for use on HDTVs. You can still use it on an SDTV but that removes the whole point of the player.

Dvader said:

Ah, explains it so much better than the wall-o-text above. I would love to see pics of this thing in action.

So would I, I tried searching the web but only found one crappy comparison pic. As I said though, you have to have an excellent quality dvd to make it look crispy HD. And I should note that I'm using a 720p so it will look better on a 1080p, it's actually made to work on 1080p better and has a 100hz more 24 FPS.

I saw some reviews online that were quite bad which I couldn't understand. If you check the amazon user reviews, you'll see similar impressions to mine. It's not perfect by any means, but with the right discs it can look startingly clear... considering that it's a standard definition signal being scaled up to HD resolutions.

gamingeek said:

Holy Moly!

I just learned that I can claim a free 12 month DVD rental mail order service as a promotion for this player. That's $30 X 12 months for FREE.

This player just paid for itself.

May I suggest renting Taboo Charming Mother the complete version and Bible Black  

Coopersville said:

Did someone say Bible Black?

He said it. Filth pot. I seen em anyway.

Anyhow on the animation issue I was watching another episode of Batman the Animated series from the 90s and it actually looked pretty good. It really does depend on the animation you watch. If it's poor quality you will notice missing frames. On good looking animation it can look good. On digitally assisted animation like Studio 4C films, it looks excellent. And on CGI movies like Shrek, forget about it, looks superb.

In the UK, maybe europe, if you register your new player before the 31st Jan 2009 you get a years free DVD rental. But you have to register online within 7 days of purchase:

toshiba.co.uk/lovefilm