We panned Toshiba's first consumer high-definition DVD player, the HD-A1, for its bulky size, sluggish start-up, and long disc-loading times. The company is now selling its second-generation HD DVD players, and the HD-XA2 ($799.99 list) is the flagship model. The HD-XA2 packs an impressive list of videophile-pleasing features into its significantly sleeker, all-black exterior. Even better, its playback prowess produced the finest-looking HD DVD imagery I've seen to date. There are drawbacks, though. I found the player's treatment of regular DVD videos less than stellar, with plenty of distracting jagged edges showing up in my favorite scenes. If you want the absolute best HD DVD video image quality, however, the HD-XA2 is it. For regular DVD movies, I suggest using another player until Toshiba has something better.

I've been using Toshiba's previous flagship disc player, the HD-XA1, for months now, and the first thing I did after unpacking the HD-XA2 was to place it right on top of its older sibling. The differences are stark, because the HD-XA2 is an inch and a half shorter and a full six pounds lighter. The player's sides are corrugated front to back, and the top is a solid metal surface with a brushed and anodized finish. Whereas the HD-XA1 conceals its disc tray behind a mechanized fold-down door, the HD-XA2's tray is exposed, placed toward the top left-hand side between the power button and the open/close button. The top half of the HD-XA2's face is beveled back slightly, with its display on the right-hand side opposite the disc tray. The lower half consists of a brushed-metal door that matches the finished top. Opening the door exposes a simple two-way switch that is used to select standard- or high-definition video output, along with two USB ports that may be used for future expansion options.

The HD-XA2's reduced height means that Toshiba had to reposition some of the A/V connections on the back. Otherwise, the provided connections remain unchanged from the HD-XA1. Video-output options include component video and HDMI (v1.3), and audio-output options include 5.1 analog, stereo, and coaxial and optical (TOSLINK) digital outputs. A RS-232C jack is also provided for custom control applications, and like all official HD DVD players, the HD-XA2 provides an Ethernet port for accessing the Internet for firmware updates, clock synchronization, and interactive features with some HD DVD titles.

The HD-XA2's remote control has the same shape and button layout as the original HD-XA1's remote, but a few of the buttons have been repurposed to reflect various design changes. For example, the resolution and motorized-door buttons on the old remote are gone, and the concealed setup button has been relocated to just below the power button. The finicky motion-activated backlight of the old remote has been simplified to the traditional style of illuminating when a button is pressed. The backlight is disabled by default; pressing the backlight button for a few seconds turns this feature on or off. The remote's effective range was good enough to cover my 20- by 20-foot test lab, and I appreciated its audible feedback, which can be enabled in the player's setup menu. Unfortunately, the HD-XA2 offers no title selection function, which would have been helpful in navigating discs that are authored with multiple titles instead of chapters. Every DVD player I've ever seen offers this basic ability.

The setup menu remains largely unchanged from the HD-XA1, except for the addition of an option to select 1080p output when connected to a compatible display via HDMI. Using the HD-XA2's "up to 1080p" resolution option, I was able to switch the HDMI connection between a 1080i display and a 1080p display without any issues. This beats the original HD-XA1, which topped out at 1080i output and offered no automatic resolution detection; the resolution was manually selected via remote control. The HD-XA2's disc compatibility also remains unchanged. In addition to HD DVD support, it can play CD audio discs and can upscale standard-definition DVD movies (pressed or recorded on blank media) up to 1080p resolution. The HD-XA2 outputs 1080p at 60 Hz only. Owners of premium HDTVs that support 24-Hz input (matching the refresh rate of most HD DVD movies) may want to stick with 1080i output from this player in order to eliminate judder with 24p video.

One new feature of the HD-XA2 is its incorporation of Silicon Optix's Reon VX video processor, a more affordable version of the company's outstanding Realta HQV integrated circuit, used in high-end video-processing products. The Reon VX part used in the HD-XA2 offers a full 10-bit video pathway that can be configured to adjust a variety of picture qualities, including basic front controls (brightness, contrast, color, and tint), edge enhancement, mosquito-noise reduction (NR), (macro) block NR, and random NR. Three presets are also provided for saving custom settings—handy for use with calibrated displays. As noted in the detailed user manual, the Reon VX's NR features are enabled only with DVD video playback and not when the HD-XA2 is playing a HD DVD disc.—next: Testing the HD-XA2