it just seems like any HD-DVD i watch is worse than i remember it being on my 360 add-on i was using before. i threw in Planet Earth yesterday and while previously i had been blown away by the perfect PQ, i found it VERY sub par yesterday. very grainy in dark scenes, and very jumpy -reminiscent of a very poor scaler trying to upscale. i think i have the settings set as good as they could be, i've tried changing the res setting from 720p to 1080i but it makes no difference.

any other A3 owners out there that can vouch they dont suffer from these symptoms? i'm wondering if its a faulty unit, or if its just an out and out POS...?

It seems unlikely; as far as I know the output for HD-DVDs should be identical to anything else. Have you looked through all the new player's settings? Are you hooking it up at all differently compared to your Xbox?

hmmm... yes i am, i have it running through my reciever (set to pass through, no scaling), while the 360 runs HDMI directly to the TV and optical to my reciever. i had considered this being a problem but then nixed that thought as my PS3 and Elite DVD player both run through the reciever via HDMI without any problems.

but who knows, i suppose it could be a handshaking issue with toshiba and pioneer...? i'll troubleshoot that tonite or asap.

thanks Daniel.

handshaking should not affect quality (except if the handshaking is doing it at a lower resolution).

what resolution is your TV?

also could it be the technogeek curse?

I know you must be tired from all your fact digging involved with the Highdef arguements Anthony, but it's in his signature.

I'd write it down but I want to make you look... ;)

I don't tend to read signatures, but isn't that a wxga set? so that means no matter what he sends out, it would be processed internally

well i finally got the opportunity to compare a BD title to an HD-DVD title last night, and so happens it was The Planet Earth so it addressed this issue at the same time. the BD does the exact same thing. it is the 3rd episode "Freshwater".... the poor quality can be seen right from the beginning, especially when the camera goes off the edge of the cliff at Angel Falls. i GUESS one could say it may still be a handshaking issue as the PS3 also goes through my reciever, but given the absolute perfection i've seen from other BD titles i dont think so (i think this is an issue-once your used to perfection i now see flaws much more prominently). so i suspect its just that episode. if anyone reading this owns Planet Earth and has a chance, check out that episode and LMK if you find the same thing.

so the PQ was exactly the same. but while the sound codecs are the same (both plain old DD) the BD sounds alot better. for starters i dont have to turn my reciever up near as high, in fact on HD DVD i have the vol set to -10, where as bd i get the same level with my vol set to -30 (which is a lower vol-we all know how that works). also with HD-DVD i have to turn on the dialogue enhancer otherwise the narrators voice is drowned out, where as BD he comes through clearly without said engancment. the bass was also much more prominet on BD, and the SS seems to travel better.

i suppose all this is moot now, but at least i know i wasnt comparing apples and oranges by having a defective HD-DVD player.

It should be noted that Planet Earth was taken from a wide variety of sources and cameras, so one scene may not look as good as the rest. I think the only thing to do is compare the exact same thing on your Xbox again and see if it's just your memory playing tricks on you.

Otherwise, play a dark movie and see if it has the same problem.

this happens more than i'd like to admit. ;-)

yeah, i'm on that, i actually sold my add on but my buddy is going to lend it back to me for just this purpose.

either way i think i'm going back to the add on as my wifes dvd just crapped out so she can have the toshiba. also the way i have things hooked up i cant watch HD-DVD (i have the fireplace HD-DVD and a few other scenery discs) whilst listening to music due to no video switching with HDMI on my reciever, and my xbox runs straight to the tv (just thought you should be in loop with that info - haha).

Is It Possible I'm Getting Sub Par Quality From The Toshiba A3 Compared To Other HD-DVD Players?

not any more