Not to be left behind in this rapid concentration of HDTV devices in the market, Toshiba unveiled the marke launch details for its lineup of first HD DVD players for the U.S. Among the two models that are launched, HD-A1 leads the pack. It is designed to take advantage of the capablities of the HD DVD format,including outstanding picture quality supported by leading-edge video compression technologies, the high resolution audio specifications and the capability for enhanced functionality including, Advanced Navigation, also referred to as iHD.

The design of the new HD DVD players was developed to complement the newly designed DLP Projection TV models as well as Toshiba's extensive flat panel TV line-up. This is the common thing that we find in the most Home theater companies. It supports the leading-edge efficient video compression standards of MPEG-4 AVC and VC-1, as well as MPEG2 and also utilizes the new video decoder chip developed by Broadcom. To meet the latest advancements in Audio/Video interfaces, both models connect to HDTV sets via a High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI). The feature which we find in almost every DVD player these days. The new HD DVD players will output copy-protected HD content through the HDMI interface in the native format of the HD DVD disc content of either 720p or 1080i. It includes lossy and lossless formats from Dolby Labs and DTS -- including the newly developed Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD. It has a built-in multi-channel decoders for Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD (2 channel), DTS and DTS-HD.

The Toshiba HD-A1 DVD player will be available in march 2006 at $499 MSRP. For more details visit Toshiba's Website.