With Jurassic Park we noted that everything looked great with picture enhancement off. As soon as we turned the player to 'sharpness', we could see more pronounced MPEG compression noise. Colour mode was our favourite here, but this disc is incredibly well-encoded, so little can be done to improve it beyond what the movie studio has already done.
So, what do we make of the picture modes? Well, sharp mode adds edge detail selectively where the player thinks it's needed. This looks okay, if slightly artificial at times. The colour mode gives a boost to the greens and reds, which makes the films look more cheerful, but it might not be what the director intended.
On the other hand, contrast mode seems to make the film look like it was shot when colour movies were just starting out. For each film you watch, you're likely to find a mode you like, but to be honest you could just turn the thing off and enjoy the E500 as an upscaling DVD player without the trickery.
Conclusion
Ultimately, this player lives and dies based on the quality of the DVDs
you put into it. If they aren't encoded well, there's nothing any
hardware can do to cheer them up. If they have a good bit rate, you
should be in for a decent experience. Just don't feel forced into
turning the picture mode from the 'off' position.
If this player were £80 it would be a more attractive deal for us. We hate to say it, but if you can still find a Toshiba HD DVD player, snap it up, as they did a pretty amazing job of upscaling video -- even the entry-level E1 made DVDs look amazing.
It's noteworthy that Toshiba has some TVs on the horizon that feature a more advanced upscaling system, and the early samples we've seen have been brilliant. So perhaps this is a good time to wait and see what arrives on the market in the next few months.
Edited by Marian Smith
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leon515 8 February 2009
Good: Makes well encoded Dvds look Awesome
Bad: average encoded Dvds look... average
Comment: Having had this player for three weeks now I can safely say my initial enthusiasm was Well Justified. It just hasn’t ceased to impress me. It is just Awesome. Full stop. The clarity detail and colour this device brings out of DVDs has to be seen to be fully appreciated. It has got to be the best upscaling DVD machine out there.
I have watched so many of my DVDs on this and it’s just like watching a New and Seriously improved film. I just can’t fault it. I have seen details and colour in the movies that I have previously watched and never never seen before. All my family say the same thing. Toshiba have really done something special with this player.
Don’t believe me. Get the movie Transformers or FF Rise of the silver surfer. The lord of the rings trilogies or SW Return of the Seth and get back to me. Surely only BluRay can top this quality. I saw Transformers on my friends BluRay and was seriously impressed. The quality is just Wow. I then got the DVD and played it on the XDE and I have say it was hard sometimes to remember I was Not watching a Bluray version. That’s how GOOD this player is.
I have read reviews where more than a few Bluray owners have Dismissed it as a gimmick. Then there are others who after trying it have said they regretted buying their bluray players and the expensive movies that go with them. I know that’s what put me off Bluray initially. And I am seriously glad it did. All my DVDs can now be watched in glorious upgrade and that’s just a joy to me.
I must air on caution here though. I think this player will only work its real wonders with DVDs that are of a reasonably well encoded quality. I don’t think some of the movies I downloaded and then played on this machine really look that much better. But hey...that’s the breaks. I am sure they wouldn’t on a bluray either. And before you tell me I know they wouldn’t play on it in the first place. Just saying is all.
But an original DVD will be a joy to watch on this player. Believe me. Some decent speakers. The HDMI cable connection for its purest quality and I will be shocked if you aint as overwhelmed as I have been.
I am also taking full advantage of the ToshibaLoveFlim rental promotion which operates with this purchase in the UK to grab hold of movies that I had forgotten and are gems to watch on it for Free.
Did I mention that I love this player? Ok then. All I can say is ..Go get it. You will love it too !!!
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