Toshiba was also present at IFA and that was where they announced two new HD-DVD players. We are talking about th HD-EP35 and the HD-EP30. These are third generation models and come to play a role in the HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray disk format war. As expected, the two players are full 1080p and come with 24 frames per second playback while containing REGZA-LINK through HDMI. This means you can synchronize it with other Toshiba kits. When talking about audio we have pretty good features here. Both HD-DVD players support Dolby Digital Plus, DTS HD and Dolby TrueHD. We have high definition in mind so, as expected, these babies can upscale standard definition DVDs to 1080p, 1080i and 720p formats.So far the announced selling prices are acceptable. The Toshiba HD-EP30 will be available at around £240 and the HD-EP35 for just around £300.

Sony’s 2207 Bravia home theatre in a box (HTIB), DAV-HDX500, is something new on the market, stepping away from Sony’s classic Dream systems. It comes with a compact head unit that can combine with an AV receiver and a five disc DVD changer together with a 5.1 audio system. It presents a generic design but with a twist because of the black plastic that makes it classy in a world of silver. Previous models were very noisy but with the DAV-HDX500 we are pleased to announce that this part is quite fixed. The HTIB model weighs 11.5 pounds and measures around 3.5X17X17.25 inches. There is even a glow in the dark remote and the box’s button organization layout makes it very easy to find what you are looking for.The Dav-HDX500 does not offer any treble or bass tone controls and access to the subwoofer volume level is difficult. This was a problem with all of Sony’s HDTIBs and it does not change now. On the upper hand we are pleased to see each of the 5 satellites having a maximum of 143 watts and a subwoofer that offers 285 watts. We can also notice a varied jack pack. The only thing that might be needed and is not present stands in the lack of audio outputs.

A good video feature is the possibility of up scaling DVDs to 720p and 1080i resolutions. You can not compare this with the quality of a Blu-Ray disk or of a HD DVD but it sure comes close and can make regular DVDs look better on HDTVs. Switching resolutions is a button away so easiness in DVD and CD playback has reached an acceptable level.Audio performance is high with the DAV-HDX500. Every DVD used in our tests was handled very well. Even concerts had a very good audio output. Unfortunately not the same can be said for every audio CD we did listen to. By cranking up the volume on some popular rock tracks we saw that the speakers started to sound a little hollow and combined with a going down quality of bass. Acoustic CDs on the other hand sounded incredibly good and Pink Floyd’s Aqualung track was a delight to listen to.

To conclude the review of the DAV-HDX500 we can sum it up as a HTIB that is perfect for home theatre oriented users. When it comes to music orientation we can not say the same thing. An Onkyo HT-SR800 is a lot better but this model does not have a DVD player on the stand-mounted front speakers although the overall sound quality is better. The Sony DAV-HDX500 is a great device but if you do not buy it to watch movie DVDs you will be disappointed. If you do use it for movies you will be thrilled.

This is something that will stop you from wasting pixels when you’re displaying those ultra-wide letterboxed images. It uses a system made out of lens and projector settings that let you see that whole 2.35:1 aspect ratio which means the black bands at the top and bottom of the screen will be gone and will be repleased by an image part.

It works pretty easy; first it stretches the picture vertically, covering those pesky black bands at the top and bottom. The second part stretches out the image using an anamorphic lens. Sounds pretty hard to understand, but it works. It works very good. But the bad thing is that it’s expensive.

Unlike most others, this portable DVD player can dock and play movies from your video iPod. It can also play DivX and MPG4 files saved on an SD card.

It has a 8.5-inch widescreen display, which can be folded back slate-style but the battery only lasts about 2.5 hours. Price is $200.

Panasonic released two portable DVD players, the LX87-S and the LS80-K. They both have a 8.5-inch screen, but the noticeable thing is that the LX87 has the longest battery life, 12 hours, three times more than most of the other.

The DVD players don’t bring any other radical features, just the usual: MP3 playback, JPEG viewing, compatibility with SD and SDHC memory cards, the LX87 even has a 1Seg TV tuner. The models will be released soon.