Toshiba HD-E1 - Reviews? (User or published)

Hello.

First, "newbie alert," in case it's not obvious to you.

After a tortuous process, I'm on the verge of buying a Denon DVD2930 as part of a package deal. This is for a Optoma HD72i projector, with the screen about 15 feet away from the projector. The 2930 has very good reviews, and it also does very well with audio, which is important as this will also by my main CD player. I demo'd it and was very impressed. It's supposed to upscale well to 1080p.

I see that the Toshiba HD-E1 is even a bit cheaper than the 2930. I know that HD technology is the next step up.

1. Are there any comprehensive reviews on the HD-E1 yet? Any users who think it's fantastic? How is it for music?

2. I'm a newbie so sorry for the question, but will I notice the difference between the 2930 and the HD player with a 15 foot throw?

Thanks a lot for any comments.

 

I can't help you with question 1 because I have no idea.

It's not really the throw that makes the difference, the size of the image makes the difference, the bigger the image the more obvious the picture defects.

Having a look on a projector calculator your Optima should be producing a 100" plus size image at 15 feet at that size the difference is huge making HD material a must imo.

Upscaling to 1080p isn't needed as your Optima is 768, a HD-DVD player will also upscale.

 

According to this new HD-E1 owner, its even better than his DVD-1930, for upscaling of ordinary DVDs. It could be just as good as the 2930, who knows.:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3983644&postcount=195

On top of that, it does HD-DVDs.

 

Could someone who understands tech jargono read this review and let me know what they think of the trade-offs?

Thanks a lot.

http://www.hometheaterblog.com/hometheater/2006/08/denon_dvd2930ci.html

 

Halenz

Are you asking

1) What will provide a better image the E1 or Denon with DVD
Or
2) Will the E1 produce a better image than the Denon with HD DVD

I have the A1 and it is a decent upscaling DVD player. The newer Denons use a Reon HQV chip so in theory combine a DVD transport with a video processor(VP). The addition of this VP should yield better results than the E1 with normal DVD.

That said the E1 playing HD DVD will be better than an upscaled DVD version of the same title (even using a dedicated video processor i.e.Crystalio, Lumagen, Dvdo etc). I already use a VP with a decent DVD tranport and there is no contest with HD DVD image being superior even on a 1366x768 res display. The difference is even more pronouced on a 1920x1080 PJ.

Don't get bogged down with 1080 upsacling. DVD is encoded at 720x576 and do cannot see what is not there in the first place. Whereas HD DVD is encoded at 1920x1080 so you are starting with far more image information that produces beautiful result even when using lower res displays.

AVI

 

For DVD use, Denon will better.
But if you could choose one player, I would go E1 because you have the oppurtunity to view things in HD

 

Thanks a lot. Those two comments make things crystal clear for me - and what more can I ask for on such a thread?