Toshiba HD-A2 – Will the Toshiba HD-A2 end the war between HD DVD and Blu-Ray?

As the consumer market continues to gobble up new HDTVs and a larger percentage of households have access to HDTV, the desire to display HD content on these TVs will continue to grow as well. Consumers have many options to consider in the war between HD DVD and Blu-ray, including the Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player.

For those unfamiliar with the war between HD DVD and Blu-ray, there are two competing technologies vying for the money we spend on electronics. Just like in the VHS vs Beta wars of old, the two competing technologies are pulling out all the stops to gain market share and become the sole survivor in their quest to be the next generation movie disc player and successor to the VHS. DVD.

Both formats offer six times the resolution of current DVDs along with enhanced audio capabilities like Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD over HDMI for lossless digital audio for superior movie sound. The disks also offer greatly expanded disk capacity, among other benefits.

Enter the Toshiba HD-A2. Toshiba has made some bold moves in late 2007 by offering the Toshiba HD-A2 at mass market outlets like Wal-mart. Player prices have dropped to around $200 and even a few lucky shoppers were able to take advantage of pre-Black Friday sales at Wal-Mart, where the HD-A2 was on sale for less than $100.

Toshiba’s goals seem to be to try and turn the tide of the format war by flooding the market with affordable, high-quality players to gain market share. As more and more consumers own Toshiba HD-A2 and other HD DVD players, they will put pressure on movie studios to offer more HD DVD content and be more profitable for both studios and manufacturers.

It’s important to note that while Toshiba offers a variety of HD DVD player options and appears to be dominating standalone HD player sales, the Sony PS3 includes a Blu-ray player and has sold millions.

So will the Toshiba HD-A2 and its affordable, high-quality player turn the tide in the war between HD DVD and Blu-ray? Let’s face it, while price is certainly a major driving force in winning the war, content availability is just as important. Blu-ray currently has a bit of an advantage in the studios that offer them exclusive content.

Now is a great time to get on board with a next generation DVD player. The Toshiba HD-A2 is a logical player to consider given its recent price drop. The video and audio quality these players deliver will blow your mind and give you something to proudly display on your new flat panel HDTV.