Toshiba HD-A35

Editors' note: Toshiba officially announced it will stop producing HD DVD products, bringing an end to the format war. For that reason, CNET recommends that people avoid buying this player for high-definition movie playback.

The Toshiba HD-A35 is the most expensive model in Toshiba's line of third-generation HD DVD players. While we have not reviewed the HD-A35, we have reviewed the similar step-down model, the HD-A30. The models are very similar, with the major difference being that the HD-A35 adds support for bit stream output of the new high-resolution soundtrack formats, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. Bit stream output of these soundtracks means that the encoded audio can be sent to a compatible AV receiver with onboard Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding. This might be a worthwhile upgrade for audiophiles with new AV receivers, who want to hear the full resolution of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks.

Toshiba continues to sell the Toshiba HD-XA2 as its flagship model. For more information, please refer to our full review of the HD-XA2.

Lastly, Toshiba also offers the entry-level Toshiba HD-A3, which lacks 1080p output and bit stream output for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. Still, given the disappointing performance of standard 1080p mode on the HD-A30 (and we suspect the HD-A35 performs similarly), the HD-A3 may be a good deal for those who don't want to pay extra for bit stream output of high-resolution soundtracks.