Toshiba may have lost out to Sony in the next-gen format war, but that doesn't mean it has given up completely. In fact, the company is rumoured to be preparing a comeback in the form of an upscaling DVD player. Details are sketchy but accordingto a report on Japanese news site Yomiuri, sources at Toshiba revealed the company's plans to launch a DVD player capable of upscaling standard-definition DVDs to 1080p HD.
With Blu-ray's still relatively high cost of standalone players (and fairly limited number of titles available compared to DVD) there actually may be a market for Toshiba's new players - if they significantly improve the image quality and are priced low enough. That said, DVD upscaling is nothing new, so at best this will give DVDs a new lease of life but demand will inevitably wane as prices of HD devices continue to fall - or digital distribution continues to gain traction. No official details have been announced by Toshiba, but it is thought we will see these new players before the end of the year at a cost considerably lower than that of Blu-Ray players.