Here are the HQV bench marks for the HD-A1, it scores very high in the areas that count the most. I posted this on another forum to help the members there.
Reading the numerous post and threads here at AVS regarding resolution settings for the Toshiba HD-A1 reminds me of the famous game show “Lets Make A Deal”. Is the correct resolution setting for my display behind door number one, two, or three? With this in mind, I took a couple of hours and tested the HD-A1 with the HQV test disk at both 720p and 1080i resolutions. All testing was conducted with the Toshiba HD-Al firmware version 2.0 build date August 2006. The display device was the Sharp DT-400 (1280x720p DLP) using the HDMI output of the HD-Al and terminated to the DT-400 with a HDMI>DVI adapter.
For an explanation of the various tests and a scoring guide you may wish to visit
www.HQV.com. The HQV testing may clear up some confusion for some; however, during the evaluation and testing, I found some interesting results that may indeed add some confusion. Selecting various progressive modes in the HD-Al setup menu produced surprising results. An explanation of the results can be found below the test. I wish to apologize in advance for the format of the test results; the test template would not transfer to the forum.
HD-Al @ 720p Auto mode Max points HDMI 720p Pass/Fail
Color Bar Max points10 720p points10 Pass
Jaggies Pattern #1 Max points 5 720p points 3 Pass
Jaggies Pattern #2 Max points 5 720p points 3 Pass
Flag Test Max points 10 720p points 5 Pass
Detail Max points 10 720p points 10 Pass
Noise Reduction Max points10 720p Points 5 Pass
Motion Adaptive Noise
Reduction Max points 10 720p points 5 Pass
Film Detail Max points 10 720p points 10 Pass
Cadence 2:2 Max points 5 720p points 5 Pass
Cadence 2:2:2:4 Max points 5 720p points 5 Pass
Cadence 2:3:3:2 Max points 5 720p points 0 Fail
Cadence 3:2:3:2:2 Max points 5 720p points 0 Fail
Cadence 5:5 Max points 5 720p points 0 Fail
Cadence 6:4 Max points 5 720p points 0 Fail
Cadence 8:7 Max points 5 720p points 0 Fail
Cadence 3:2 Max points 5 720p points 5 Pass
Scrolling Horizontal Max points 10 720p points 0 Fail
Scrolling Rolling Max points 10 720p points 10 Pass
Total Points Max points 130 720p points 76
Comments on HQV 720p testing:
The Toshiba HD-Al tested fairly well @ 720p. The color bar test was very sharp, detailed, and no flickering occurred. On Jaggies pattern one, the jaggies were not produced until the relatively shallow angle of 20 degrees. On the Jaggies pattern number two, the two top bars were smooth, but the bottom bar had slight tearing and this lowered the score for this pattern. The Flag test surprised me, the image looked detailed with slight tearing and jaggies occurred at the very end of the flag. Given the relatively good jaggies one and two tests, I would have thought that the HD-Al would do better with the Flag test. The slight tearing and jaggies lowered the score on this test.
The HD-A1 has very good detail and it passed the Detail test with flying colors. The HD-Al did an average job with the Noise Reduction Test. The image of the flower and the desert scenes had a moderate amount of grain and noise. The desert flower looked sharp and detailed with a slight amount of grain present in the almost still image. This lowered the score on this test.
The HD-A1 did just an average job on the Motion Adaptive Noise Reduction Test. The roller coaster looked smooth and there were no visible trails or streaks, but there was noise and grain in the background. The leaves on the tree had a slight amount of jaggies and ringing was noticeable on the outline of the leaves as they were blowing in the breeze.
On the Film Detail Test, the HD-Al did a very good job. The HD-A1 locked into film mode very quickly and stayed locked throughout the scene. Moiré was only visible for a split second and after the player locked into film mode it was not produced again. The HD-A1 received a perfect score on this test.
The HQV test disk has eight cadence tests. In most home theater applications the 3:2- 24 fps film cadence and the 2:2- 30 fps video are the most significant cadences in the test but the other cadences may be important based on the application used. The HD-Al did a very good job with the 3:2-24 fps cadences. The cadence was very smooth and no jaggies, strobing, or flickering occurred in the scene. The HD-Al received a perfect score on the 3:2- 24 fps cadence and is among the best DVD players I have evaluated to date, in regards to this test.
The HD-A1 received a perfect score for 2:2-30 fps video. Once again the HD-Al produced a smooth, artifact free image with no jaggies, tearing, or flickering at all.
Cadence 2:2:2:4 is for camcorders and HD camcorders that can capture video at 24 fps.
The HD-A1 received a perfect score with this cadence and the image was smooth and artifact free.
Cadence 3:3:3:2 is also a camcorder cadence. The HD-Al failed this cadence. The cadence had significant jaggies, flickering, and strobing.
The HD-A1 failed the 3:2:3:2:2 cadence for film shows on TV. Jaggies and flickering were produced while displaying this cadence.
The HD-A1 failed all the animation cadences 5:5, 6:4, and 8:7. All three cadences had significant strobing and jaggies.
The HD-Al failed the Mixed 3:2 Film With Added Video Titles Test (scrolling test). The scene transitions produced significant crawl. I was very surprised to see this result. Most of the mid priced up converting DVD players I have evaluated to date have passed this test. I began a small investigation and thought this may be a set up issue. Entering the HD-Al’s setup menu, I changed the progressive mode from Auto to Film and retested. The results remained the same: significant crawl on the horizontal text. Next I went back into the set up menu and changed the progressive mode from Film to Video and retested. As expected, the horizontal text was smooth and artifact free; however the player is no longer in film mode. This seems to indicate that the HD-Al has difficulties holding the 3:2 sequences when 30 fps video is introduced. Regardless, you would not want to set your player’s progressive mode to video. We will have to see if future firmware upgrades can resolve this problem.
The final HQV test is Vertical Text Scroll (credits). The HD-Al received a perfect score on this test. The HD-Al produced an artifact free image. The text rolled smoothly up the screen and the background had no jaggies or scan lines.
HD-A1 @ 1080i Auto mode:
Ok all, here are the differences you have all been waiting for, are you ready?
The HD-A1 had the exact same HQV test score received in the 720p resolution test when the resolution was set for 1080i. I ran this test multiple times and there were absolutely no differences at all, none, zip, nada! I looked at the jaggies test many times: result-no difference. I looked at the flag test: no difference. Detail you say? Nope, no difference.
How about color bar, surely the horizontal lines are sharper at 1080i: nope.
What this seems to indicate is that firmware 2.0 has resolved many of the previous issues. My advice is to set the HD-Al to the resolution that either matches your displays native resolution or is the closest resolution.
Remember in the beginning, I told you that setting the progressive mode in the setup would affect the player’s performance. I found that if I set the HD-A1 to film mode that all the HQV tests were the same as when set to Auto with the exception on one. When the HD-A1 is set to Film mode the player will fail both the scrolling text and credits test. When the HD-A1 is set to Auto it will still fail the scrolling text but will pass the credits test. The correct progressive setting for the HD-A1 at this time with the 2.0-firmware version is Auto! I don’t know if Toshiba is aware of this oddity or not and perhaps this will be addressed in future firmware versions.
Setting the HD-A1’s progressive mode to Video produced very low HQV cadence scores. The HD-A1 didn’t pass any of them including the 2:2- 30 fps video cadence. I would call this the stinky chicken behind door number three.
Toshiba HD-A1 vs. Denon DVD 2910 (up conversion standard DVD’s):
Many have stated that the HD-A1 will outperform mid-priced up converting DVD players. There is little doubt, all faults aside that the HD-Al is a great DVD player for the money. Last year, I did a complete comprehensive evaluation of the Denon DVD –2910
Looking over my notes and test scores, I found that the 2910 did a better job than the HD-A1 in a couple of areas on the HQV testing but failed one area that the HD-A1 passed.
The DVD-2910 scores a perfect 10 on the Flag Test and also did a better job on Noise Reduction. However, the Denon DVD –2910 failed the Film Detail Test that the HD-A1 passed with flying colors. The Denon DVD-2910 also had trouble with macro-blocking. Given the choice, I would go with the Toshiba. Slow boot up time, quirky operation, lower score on the Flag Test and Noise Reduction aside, the HD-A1 is the better up converting DVD player.
I hope this will help clear up some of the confusion. I look forward to future firmware updates from Toshiba, as this player just gets better with each one. Just remember choosing the correct progressive mode in the set-up menu will affect the DVD player’s performance. What ever you do don’t select door number three!
