Toshiba HD-A2 update disc

[MUDSHARK]

I received an update disk for my HD-DVD player A2. Since I have now updated it (3.0 I believe) I can mail it to anyone who may need the update.

 

[allargon]

4.0 is the current update. However, that is very nice of you to offer it to your fellow Audioholics. I burned at least 5 discs and mailed them out to people after the $99 sale. It's good to read that others on the 'net are just as generous!

 

[PENG]

4.0 is the current update. However, that is very nice of you to offer it to your fellow Audioholics. I burned at least 5 discs and mailed them out to people after the $99 sale. It's good to read that others on the 'net are just as generous!

Thanks for mentioning the 4.0 here. I hooked up my $69 Venturer to the router and sure enough it found the update right away. I just tried playing the last 15 minutes of the Bourne Ultimatum combo disc and it looked like 4.0 finally fixed it! With 3.0 it improved quite a bit but it was still hit and miss with that particular part of the disc. I am a little surprise Toshiba continues to provide fixes to their imperfect player. I am equally surpised the Venturer managed to get those updates every single time. I cannot know for sure but I am 99% sure it got the update from the Toshiba site.

I just finished playing this disc (just the part with the know problem) the second time and can confirm that 4.0 fixes the problem 100%.

Thanks again allargon, I can now fully enjoy my favorite Bourne movie!

 

[jostenmeat]

I've never updated by HD-A35 for some reason. I should look into that, as my Bourne Ultimatum also starts going nuts right about at the time of the intense action sequences in Morocco, IIRC.

Other bad playback disc is Assassination of Jesse James, but I doubt I'll rewatch that. Can't remember any others.

If you don't have them, I highly recommend The Thing and Darkman.

For other older movies, Last Starfighter is only ok PQ-wise, and The Frighteners suffers quite a bit.

 

[allargon]

Other bad playback disc is Assassination of Jesse James, but I doubt I'll rewatch that. Can't remember any others.

That is one of the most difficult (rental) combo discs I've ever tried to play. My A20 with 4.0 wouldn't even load it. My A2 with 3.0 would load it but would stop with the dreaded hex code playback error. My BH200 played it without a hitch!

Bourne Ultimatum was problematic for a lot of people when it first appeared.

 

[jostenmeat]

Thanks for this thread, guys. I called Tosh "concierge" and have a 4.0 FW disc coming later this month. At least for the A35, it releases on the 16th, and then 5-7 days for shipping.

Fingers crossed on Ultimatum.

 

[PENG]

Thanks for this thread, guys. I called Tosh "concierge" and have a 4.0 FW disc coming later this month. At least for the A35, it releases on the 16th, and then 5-7 days for shipping.

Fingers crossed on Ultimatum.

If my bottom of the line Venturer SHD7000 can play it after the 4.0 update I sure hope your top of the line (not counting the earlier models) A35 can do it.

I have over 40 discs and have not played all of them yet but so far Bourne Ultimatum was the only one I had problem with.

 

[jostenmeat]

I also have about 40 discs, and the two titles I mentioned were the only problem discs I've had so far. I think I only have a couple of titles I have not yet watched.

That Venturer is very affordable. Could you please describe the pros/cons of this unit? I sorta held out for the A35 for hi-def audio support, but it finally dawned on me how rare lossless is on HD-DVD, so I'm not sure that's such a deal breaker anymore.

Dang, even the "superceded" A30 is going for $700 new on Amazon.

 

[allargon]

I also have about 40 discs, and the two titles I mentioned were the only problem discs I've had so far. I think I only have a couple of titles I have not yet watched.

That Venturer is very affordable. Could you please describe the pros/cons of this unit? I sorta held out for the A35 for hi-def audio support, but it finally dawned on me how rare lossless is on HD-DVD, so I'm not sure that's such a deal breaker anymore.

Dang, even the "superceded" A30 is going for $700 new on Amazon.

? Lossless isn't rare, rare on HD DVD. It's just not as prevalent as it is/was on Blu. Moreover, non-lossless high def audio was still common on HD DVD. (Warner was messy across the board.) DD+ and DTS-HD HR are still better than run of the mill DD and DTS found on SD DVD's.

The Venturer=Toshiba HD-A3. Pros--it's cheap, it can internally decode DolbyTrueHD and DD+ to PCM over HDMI unlike quite a few brand new Blu-Ray players. Cons--it doesn't upscale as well as the A20/A30/A35/XA2/XA1/A1, it doesn't bitstream high res audio to a receiver, it doesn't internally decode DTS-HD HR or DTS-HD MA, it doesn't have multichannel analog outputs, it transcodes DD+/DolbyTrueHD to DD rather than DTS like the second generation units plus it doesn't do 1080p24/30/60.

 

[jostenmeat]

? Lossless isn't rare, rare on HD DVD. It's just not as prevalent as it is/was on Blu. Moreover, non-lossless high def audio was still common on HD DVD. (Warner was messy across the board.) DD+ and DTS-HD HR are still better than run of the mill DD and DTS found on SD DVD's.

I understand DD+ and HR are better, but that's about as good as it gets on my collection. Even my "blockbuster" movies: Bourne trilogy, Batman Begins, T3, Transformers all have DD+ as its best, AFAIK. If those don't have it, I'm pretty sure most of collection doesn't.

I got the A35 for the reasons outlined, and from there I chose movies by content and PQ. Out of my collection, I cannot remember a single title with lossless, although I must have one or two. Out of my Bluray collection, I cannot remember a single title without lossless, although I must have one or two.

The Venturer=Toshiba HD-A3.

oh

Pros--it's cheap, it can internally decode DolbyTrueHD and DD+ to PCM over HDMI unlike quite a few brand new Blu-Ray players.

ok

Cons--it doesn't upscale as well as the A20/A30/A35/XA2/XA1/A1,

Don't care.

it doesn't bitstream high res audio to a receiver, it doesn't internally decode DTS-HD HR or DTS-HD MA, it doesn't have multichannel analog outputs, it transcodes DD+/DolbyTrueHD to DD rather than DTS like the second generation units

Bit of a shame, if not a deal breaker. Is DD ... ok, nm googled for myself. 504 kbs capable on HD as opposed to 640 on BD. Even DTS on DVD is significantly better. Oh well.

plus it doesn't do 1080p24/30/60.

This is what is most disappointing to me.

Thanks allargon, the price still makes it something to ponder. But, that might still be too many compromises for me, particularly the last.

 

[PENG]

I also have about 40 discs, and the two titles I mentioned were the only problem discs I've had so far. I think I only have a couple of titles I have not yet watched.

That Venturer is very affordable. Could you please describe the pros/cons of this unit? I sorta held out for the A35 for hi-def audio support, but it finally dawned on me how rare lossless is on HD-DVD, so I'm not sure that's such a deal breaker anymore.

Dang, even the "superceded" A30 is going for $700 new on Amazon.

I thought most of my 40+ movies offer Dolby True HD. I can double check this weekend and give you an accurate count. As for the Venturer specs, I do believe as allargon said it is actually an A3 inside a different box. I am almost certain it found (online) its firmware updates from Toshiba. As for its pros and cons, allargon got it covered quite well. I have nothing to add.

 

[allargon]

I understand DD+ and HR are better, but that's about as good as it gets on my collection. Even my "blockbuster" movies: Bourne trilogy, Batman Begins, T3, Transformers all have DD+ as its best, AFAIK. If those don't have it, I'm pretty sure most of collection doesn't.

I got the A35 for the reasons outlined, and from there I chose movies by content and PQ. Out of my collection, I cannot remember a single title with lossless, although I must have one or two. Out of my Bluray collection, I cannot remember a single title without lossless, although I must have one or two.



oh


ok




Don't care.



Bit of a shame, if not a deal breaker. Is DD ... ok, nm googled for myself. 504 kbs capable on HD as opposed to 640 on BD. Even DTS on DVD is significantly better. Oh well.


This is what is most disappointing to me.

Thanks allargon, the price still makes it something to ponder. But, that might still be too many compromises for me, particularly the last.

You're welcome. However, I can look at the list you have without even going to a stats site and tell you that Bourne Ultimatum and Batman Begins have Dolby TrueHD. Bourne even has *good* Dolby TrueHD with 24-bit audio as opposed to the 16 that Warner is so known for.

1080i=1080p for most people.

 

[jostenmeat]

Thanks allargon.

You're right, of course. I haven't watched Ultimatum in quite a while, for apparent reasons, and I guess I stupidly assumed BB didn't. I think the master audio track is not all that. Wasn't that impressed with the DVD track, nor the HD-DVD. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie a lot, and have lost track on how many times I've seen it.

As for 1080i, I can tell, at least I think I can tell. Just put on Ganges on BD last night, and it seemed apparent to me. I have a 159" screen. Still some nice PQ here and there, if with great inconsistency (probably common with doc's).

edit: ok I checked out some other titles I own, that I would hope would have lossless, the action/scifi types. It appears to me that Serenity, Aeon Flux, U571 have + at best. (Until I'm corrected by allargon, again )

 

[allargon]

edit: ok I checked out some other titles I own, that I would hope would have lossless, the action/scifi types. It appears to me that Serenity, Aeon Flux, U571 have + at best. (Until I'm corrected by allargon, again )

Yep...those are ooooooooold titles. I don't think those three even have good DD+.

I do believe that Serenity was the first high def disc--ever.

As this is Audioholics, here are two Universal HD DVD movies withTrueHD tracks that I will recommend to you that are not on Blu (no rhyme intended) -- Pride and Prejudice and Elizabeth (not that crappy sequel--the original).

BTW, if you need 1080p, do realize that the only HD DVD standalone players that do 1080p60 properly are the Toshiba HD-XA2, the Onkyo DV-HD805, the LG BH200, the Samsung BD-UP5000 and that Integra player.

In addition to the above, the LG BH100, the Toshiba HD-A20, HD-A30 and HD-A35 do 1080p24 but not (proper) 1080p60.

I did watch Apollo 13 recently, that was pretty sweet. Some PQ inconsistency, but when it looked good, it really did look good. Having a large FP setup really was nice for space scenes . . . makes me re-re-re-reconsider 2001 yet again. The blast-off was particularly sweet.

Apollo 13 is also ooooooold DD+, but that lift-off does make for a nice workout of the system. When Universal re-releases that on Blu, with DTS-HD MA, it should be something.

 

[jostenmeat]

Thanks allargon. I tried giving you rep again, but I think I'm all out for the day. And I think I need to give more to others before giving more to you anyways.

Man, you really know your stuff. I know with my BD collection, almost everything is 24fps, and I think its the same with my HD collection . . . (waiting to be corrected once more . . . )

I've had Elizabeth forever. And still haven't put it on. I've been waiting on it so that I can have parents over to watch it, but the opportunity just hasn't come up yet . . . can't wait though . . .

I did watch Apollo 13 recently, that was pretty sweet. Some PQ inconsistency, but when it looked good, it really did look good. Having a large FP setup really was nice for space scenes . . . makes me re-re-re-reconsider 2001 yet again. The blast-off was particularly sweet.

newayz, thanks again for the excellent list and summary.

 

[PENG]

I can confirm that 20 out of my 41 HD DVD discs have Dolby True HD, 20 has Dolby Digital Plus and 1 has Dolby Digital only. None has any DTS-HD or DTS-MA so my Venturer is doing everything I need it to do. I also don't think I can reliably tell the difference between 1080i or 1080p on LCD/Plasma panels.

 

[jostenmeat]

I can confirm that 20 out of my 41 HD DVD discs have Dolby True HD, 20 has Dolby Digital Plus and 1 has Dolby Digital only. None has any DTS-HD or DTS-MA so my Venturer is doing everything I need it to do. I also don't think I can reliably tell the difference between 1080i or 1080p on LCD/Plasma panels.

Decided to do likewise and count! Found a lot more TrueHD than expected. I kinda did this quickly, but everything appears to at least have Plus. 25 titles with Plus. Maybe a dozen titles with TrueHD.

They include Blue Planet, Last Starfighter, For Love of the Game, 300, Dawn of the Dead, Feast, Elizabeth, Batman Begins, Darkman, Constantine, Carlito's Way Rise to Power (a mistake buy, do NOT get this!!!!). LOL.

I think I never much paid much attention because I think only bought about 10 of these titles. Got a bunch with promotions, and a bunch received as gifts.

 

[PENG]

I picked up the cheapest yet HD DVD disc today at Walmart, for $5.00. Apparently this store had a box full of them earlier but by the time I got there they had only the transformers and Shrek 3 left. I am going to try another store in the next couple of days.

 

[jostenmeat]

Whaddya get?

Thanks for the idea. Maybe its high time to check out the local Walmart...

PENG/allargon, is it a must that I get either King Kong or The Pianist? Have been waiting on BD releases forever... just not sure quite yet...

 

[allargon]

Whaddya get?

Thanks for the idea. Maybe its high time to check out the local Walmart...

PENG/allargon, is it a must that I get either King Kong or The Pianist? Have been waiting on BD releases forever... just not sure quite yet...

King Kong (2005) (They released the 1976 version w/ Jessica Lange on HD DVD in Europe.) still looks phenomenal even compared to the latest Blu-Ray's, but the audio may be considered a let down. It is old school DD+.

The Pianist HD DVD has lossless audio, but many reviews say the mix itself is lacking. (n/m--it was Peter Bracke's review. ) The European version has DTS-HD MA. The US version has Dolby TrueHD. Enjoy!

The Pianist is a good, but depressing movie. Some people don't find it rewatchable. As the audio is lossless, what would you gain by waiting for it to be released on Blu-Ray? King Kong is up to you. Many people don't like the movie. Moreover, once Universal re-releases it on Blu, it will likely have lossless audio. Will it get the DNR treatment that made many re-releases look worse than the original HD DVD? I don't know.

BTW, what's your issue w/ Carlito's Rise to Power?