My oops on the 1080p/24 fps. The XA-1 only supports up to 1080i. Therefore, the XA-1, the least expensive of the HD-DVD players and the one that has sold the most to date does not do 1080p at all.
Two out of three ain't bad.
Correct, the XA1 supports up to 1080i - as does my Sony HDTV, so they've been a good match for over a year & a half now. However, the XA1 is/was not the "least expensive" HD DVD players - it is in fact one of the
most expensive. When introduced in April 2006, the A1 had a MSRP of $499, the XA1 was priced at $799. I don't have sales stats for individual models, but with it's pricing I would expect the XA1 to be the lowest selling model so far. I do know the
A2 is by far the largest selling model.
The other HD-DVD players do support 1080p. The new HD-A3 is only a 1080i HD-DVD player. Seems that not all HD-DVD players support 1080p. Toshiba's point of view is that there are alot of HDTVs that do not do 1080p so there is no need to support that mode on all of their players.
Yes, I'm sure Toshiba has in mind that the large majority of HDTV's sold to date do not support 1080p. But Toshiba's strategy in almost all of its product offering is to provide a three-tier pricing / product offering:
Good / Better / Best.
For their 2nd Gen HD DVD Players:
A2: Lowest cost, max output 1080i - perfect match for 90% of HDTV owners.
A20: Mid-level, max output 1080p - good match for those with newer, more expensive HDTVs with 1080p input.
XA2: Top of the line, max output 1080p, Reon processor for superior upscaling, analog audio output for high-def audio with non-HDMI AV receivers.
The new 3rd Gen HD DVD players:
A3: Lowest cost, max output 1080i - perfect match for 90% of HDTV owners.
A30:Mid-level, max output 1080p - good match for those with newer, more expensive HDTVs with 1080p input.
A35:Top of the line, max output 1080p, analog audio output for high-def audio with non-HDMI AV receivers, HDMI 1.3a for bitstream output of high-def audio for the new HDMI 1.3 receivers to decode.
Does that mean if you purchase a new HDTV that does 1080p that you are going to have to buy a new HD-DVD player. Seems most posts that I read the supporters of HD-DVD are purchasing the lower cost player. How does that play into the consumers upgrade plans when they shop for a new HDTV?
Only for the very few purists. Their new 1080p HDTV is going to (hopefully) do an excellent job of displaying the max 1080i input from cable/sat/ota broadcasts in 1080p; the Tv should also do an excellent job of displaying the 1080i input from an HD DVD player in 1080p.
I would like to know the number of HD-DVD standalones that do not support at least 1080p -- anyone know?
Please see above. It's odd that the BD supporters who criticize Toshiba for "flooding the market" with HD players and suggest that with the low cost Toshiba must be "subsidizing" the cost now criticize Toshiba's strategy of controlling costs by offering higher end features only on the 2nd & 3rd tier players at higher price points for those discerning consumers who want them.
And Sony plays exactly the same game. Yes, their entry level player model - the 300 - supports 1080p for the 90% of HDTV owners who can't make use of it because Sony sees it as a marketing tool. But, want high-def audio decoding for TrueHD? Oh, well - you need to step up to our higher end model at almost twice the cost. Or buy our game machine thing - that has an interface far beyond the comprehension of Mr. & Mrs. J6P and requires a separate remote at additional cost that is incompatible with every other remote the consumer might have.
