TOSHIBA
HD-XA2
HD DVD player
May '07
We declared Toshiba's inaugural HD-XA1 HD DVD player our 2006 Product of the Year on the strength of its breakthrough audio/video performance. But it suffered from sluggish and quirky operation, not to mention an atrocious-looking 720p output that demanded you mate it with a 1080p set. Shortly after, though, Toshiba roared back with the XA2 ($999), a successor that addressed nearly every problem with the original. Boot-up and disc-load times are vastly reduced, connections are more robust, and a Silicon Optix video processor not only fixes the 720p problem but turns this into one of the best upscaling DVD players we've seen. The company is now onto its third-generation players, but the universally praised HD-XA2 still deserves recognition for its outstanding performance.
tacp.toshiba.com
-Rob Sabin
PHILIPS
42PFL7432D
42-inch LCD HDTV
September '07
Between going to trade shows, browsing stores, and hunkering down in our lab with various test samples, I saw an awful lot of LCD HDTVs last year — too many, in fact. But the big surprise of the lot turned out to be this affordable ($1,799) Philips 42-inch. First, the image, even with less-than-stellar sources, proved highly stable and film-like, most especially for an LCD. (Some of these TVs have a sparkly, unstable quality and tend to exaggerate noise.) Second, the color was unusually accurate and natural for an LCD — in particular, the highly sensitive reds. Third, the set was outstanding at cleaning up standard-def material like DVDs and cable broadcasts and showing them to best advantage. Throw in 1080p detail, a huge number of picture tweaks, a user-friendly remote, and Philips's trademark Ambilight feature, and it's easy to see why the 42PFL7432D can be declared a winner on all counts.
consumer.philips.com
-Rob Sabin
