Onkyo Reveals First HD DVD Player August 14, 2007

Read more Gizmodo UK , HD , HD DVD , HDMI , HDTV , Home Cinema , Home Entertainment

Home cinema specialist Onkyo has announced details of its first dedicated HD DVD player.

The DV-HD805 will debut in the US first and will support the latest version of HDMI, 1.3a. On top of the support for high resolution audio formats like Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD that version 1.3 brings, version 1.3a increases the amount of video bandwidth that can be transferred from a player to a HDTV. Colour depths go from 24-bit to 48-bit and resolutions higher than the top 1080p picture supported by most displays today.

The DV-HD805 supports different frame rates, including 24fps – the same speed as directors shoot movies in. The player uses the HQV Reon VX video processing chipset to playback in 720p, 1080i or 1080p, and standard DVDs can be upscaled. There’s also an Ethernet port for using any interactive content on the HD DVD.

Still, it’s not being targeted at the mainstream since its $900 price tag is more than twice that of Toshiba’s players.-Martin Lynch

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