Toshiba to unveil Blu-ray killer

Upscaling extension to DVD player planned within 6 months

NEWS: 30 May 2008 15:01 GMT by Amy-Mae Elliott

If you are a little nostalgic for the red versus blue mud-slinging days of the next-gen disc format war then take heart with this news out of Japan - Toshiba is prepping Blu-ray killing tech for launch later this year.

The company is working on "an extension to the DVD format" which will offer video quality comparable to that produced by Blu-ray and the now defunt HD DVD discs, a Japanese newspaper reports.

Toshiba will start to offer a DVD player based on the new technology within 6 months, the "Yomiuri Shimbun" paper said, quoting unnamed sources within the company.

Following the price war strategy of the HD DVD format, the new "enhanced" DVD players will be cheaper than Blu-ray players, an obvious move considering that the high cost of Blu-ray is one reason consumers have yet to mass adopt the format.

The new DVD player will be backwards-compatible with ordinary DVDs. No information has been provided on the technology behind these players - Toshiba already offers upscaling DVD products, so its unclear at this stage how this "extension" tech will work.

>> News - Tosh on future after HD DVD
>> Via - VNU

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Have Your Say

Look at all the upscaling/upconverting DVD players that are gaining sales figures now. Who wants to fork down $300 (US) for an HD player, just to build a new library of $30 discs, with availability so anemic, when you can watch your current titles on your HDTV using a $50 upscaling player? Toshiba sees this market and they're trying to make a move that will use their existing technology IMO. They have this Vardia RD-A301 which I imagine will be tweaked to allow for HD content on the cheap existing DVD media. Just speculating, but isn't that what 95% of replies are about?
Austin, USA
HD, HD, HD, what to do? Too many formats in Cams. Too many questions left unanswered. We in this industry are not mystics who predict the future but we pretend to be. Smoke and mirrors have remained the one common factor in most new products. The one thing that is known for sure is that format should be in the dictionary as "Something that disappears". We could go with what we have learned.. When the customer was offered DVD Audio and SACD they chose MP3 downloads. Quality was obviously not the end all be all of most customers.Given this as a standard to plan on. let us look at the issue at hand, HD Video! Camcorders in both HD and standard recording on either a HDD or Flash memory are Climbing in sales. PVR and DVR climbing in sales. The one thing in common amoung all of these st downloaded/ uploaded information.Add the H265 comporession push and it can be clearly seen that it is there for downloading HD content to either a HDD or flash memory. All that is needed is High speed internet and you have a simplecheap delivery method for HD Video. Now look to Panasonic and the SD card slot on their newest Displays and you have yet another peak into the possible future. If the software companies can market HD content and only have to supply zeros and ones it maximizes the profit. Sounds like simplemath to me.
I work for a manufacturer and I do not own a Blue Ray nor do I plan on a purchase in the near future. I have an upconversion DVD player and a PVD which for the moment is enough for me. for that matter it is most likely good enough for the vast majority of consumers. Good luck on the future.
John, usa
WOW, Is all I can say. We finally have a format that makes since! Since when did Bluray no longer become backward compatible? Put a DVD in a Blueray player and it will upscale it for you! Bluray won for several reasons. I was an obvious choice. MOVE ON and step up to the new technology. Bluray is far superior than any other existing format. Upscaling DVD player are good but not great, DVD are only 480p! These players are now for the low end customers. Bluray players are becoming interactive, already stream media over your home network and are already on their way to a true 3-D version. How many years did it take for you to buy your first DVD player? I spent over $300 for my first Sony DVD and that was a few years after the format crushed Laserdisc. Bluray is still young but poised to be a great format. So stop complaining and backing a soon to be dead technology and buy a 1080p TV and a Bluray player and really enjoy the picture quality everyone has been waiting for!
Bryan, USA
Toshiba, why must you always be so difficult?

We want a STANDARD - not competing formats that don't show compelling differences and help the consumer. You only confuse them.

If you must be so competitive, you should compete with someone that consumers don't approve of, microsoft.

Bring forth the new Mac clone or Linux box please.
Travis Misterek, USA
"We want a STANDARD - not competing formats that don't show compelling differences and help the consumer. You only confuse them." - Misterek

Agreed, we want a standard but there are compelling differences between competing standards. HD DVD as a format is (was) backward-compatible with DVDs. BD is only backward-compatible due to additional hardware/lasers.

BD holds more: true. But, BD also scratches more easily than DVDs and HD DVDs due to the data being stored closer to the surface (needed due to the laser type). More than anything, however, is that BD has regional encoding like DVDs whereas HD DVD did not. Yes, no regions in HD DVD! While not a big deal for for US consumers looking for US-made movies, it's frustrating for foreign-film lovers on all sides of the pond.

But the war is over -- whether by backroom-dealing to end it, or by true competition, matters little -- it's BD as the future spinning-circular-format winner...today. But, there is an enormous installed base of DVD owners, and that installed base may be willing to pay a smaller amount for "less excitement" than BD.

Irrespective of all this, Toshiba should continue to innovate (as should all companies). The most-desireable solution will filter to the top. If that means confusion for those wanting to play on the bleeding edge, that only opens-up more opportunity for other standards to emerge -- something that doesn't spin; something that doesn't look like the same ol' CD technology we've come to both love and hate for it's size, and fragility vs. durability.

May there always be more than one choice -- with everything!
Joseph, US
If I were a shareholder of Toshiba, I would be calling for the CEO's head. He has spent hundreds of millions on a dead product formerly known as HD-DVD. He is now going to spend how much more on another quixotic quest. Stupid. And I suspect there will be a consumer backlash for this vanity.
RJ, USA
The article says, "an extension to the DVD format"

That means it is a modifed DVD disc as WELL as a NEW player.

So say, it is a DVD with 4 layers. The first 2 layers are just standard DVD layers and can be player in an normal DVD player, then layers 3 and 4 or HD layers with duplicate content.

So a new disc that will work in you normal players, but also has HD content on it.

Why is this really good? Because I have DVD player in my Living room, Kids room, my bedroom, and in our miniVan. If I buy the newest Disney movie on BluRay I can only play it in the living room. I can't take in the car for the kids and the kids can't watch it their room.

So people are always saying Blue ray is going to go under $299. Yeah, well to replace all my players to BluRay??

That's the real hidden cost of going Blu right now. Only other choice is to buy duplicate movies, one on Blu and same version on DVD to take in the Van and to watch in other parts of the house.

This tech is going to be cool!
JDawg, US