6. Toshiba HD-A20

The best way to understand the HD-A20 is to look at it as an intermediate step between its HD-A2 predecessor and the new Toshiba top-of-the-line HD-XA2. To the HD-A2's capabilities, the HD-A20 adds 1080p output. What the HD-XA2 has that the HD-A20 lacks is HDMI 1.3 (as with other HD-A series players, the HD-A20 sticks with tried-and-true HDMI 1.2 instead), Silicon Optix video processing (which provides improved display rendering, edge handling, and motion than units that lack this feature), and multi-channel analog outputs (which may be a better fit with older receivers that lack HDMI, when it comes to ferrying multi-channel surround sound from player to receiver, especially if digital coax or optical audio links also aren't available).

Figure 3: The HD-A20 adds 1080p support to the HD-A2's bag of tricks, and ups the ante by $100.

The only other changes to the HD-A20 as compared to the HD-A2 include a (literally) more polished front panel, and a little sleeker styling. Those interested in 1080p output who aren't afraid of the trade-offs looming in the future (covered in our HDMI, HDCP, Gotchas and Workarounds sidebar) may find that this unit represents a real sweet spot between cost and capability for HD-DVD players.

As we write this guide, the HD-A20 hasn't yet made it to retailer's shelves (it was announced at CES 2007 in early January, and is expected to be in stores no later than April, probably sooner than that).