That's according to an article by the Associated Press.
Toshiba was the chief backer of HD DVD, the high-def disc rival to Blu-ray. But the company pulled the plug on HD DVD at the end of March due to disappointing sales and overwhelming studio support for Blu-ray.
At the time of the exit announcement. Toshiba executives hinted that it would soon release a standard-def DVD player that could compete with Blu-ray rather than endorse its rival.
Toshiba's new XD-E500 DVD player.
However, the AP today reports that Toshiba was careful not to compare the image on the new DVD 'upconverting" player (model: XD-E500) with the Blu-ray.
"If you want Blu-ray, go get Blu-ray. This product is meant to improve playback of DVDs," said a Toshiba spokesman.
In fact, in a presentation to reporters last week, Toshiba did not even demo the player's image next to the image of a Blu-ray player. Instead, it played the same disc on the XD-E500 next to a standard, upconverting DVD player.
"The new player produced a subtle but noticeable sharpening of the image," the AP reported, which added that Toshiba's XDE technology can't surpass the image detail of a Blu-ray high-def disc.
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