" Much of Toshiba's success can be attributed to smart design decisions, among them use of a Silicon Optix Reon-VX video scaling/processing chip, a new spin-off of SO's professional-grade Realta HQV processor."
"I won't waste much space talking about the HD-XA2's thrilling picture quality on HD DVDs. Where the HD-XA2 completely surprised me was in the superiority of its upconversion of standard-definition DVDs. The combination of 1080p output and the stellar Silicon Optix deinterlacing and noise processing provided stunning results that can actually make exploring your DVD collection tolerable even after you've been spoiled by Blu-ray and HD DVD."
"As a test, I threw on the DVD of the sexually charged thriller Wild Things. Typical of many DVDs, it looks pretty good in well-lit outdoor scenes, particularly close-ups, but dark scenes can be noisy and display mosquito-noise fuzz on edges of objects. In one demanding scene in which a champagne bottle is used as a murder weapon, the camera shows a close-up of the bottle being swung overhead in slow motion as it makes its way to the unseen victim below. With the XA2 set to 1080i output, there was some distracting judder in the picture and a very obvious series of trails visible behind the bottle as it tracked across the screen. Switching to 1080p output noticeably stabilized the image, added obvious clarity, and completely eliminated the trails. I'm convinced: On scenes that need it, superior 1080p upconversion can make a huge difference."
"Processing applied, the HD-XA2 delivered a superior upconverted image that, on bright close-ups, might be mistaken momentarily for true high-def. Not surprisingly, when I later put the XA2 through its paces on both the high- and standard-def versions of the Silicon Optix HQV test disc, the machine aced the "jaggies" deinterlacing tests with élan."
|
