Toshiba released an innovative DVD player which upscales and enhances standard DVD-Video discs to near-HD quality through a technology dubbed eXtended Detail Enhancement (XDE), which delivers a 1080p picture on HDTVs.

In addition to providing upconversion from 480i/p up to 1080p, Toshiba says that the new XD-E500 player and all subsequent models which employ XDE will offer user selectable picture enhancement modes that allow for greater detail, more vivid colors and stronger contrast.

Toshiba, which saw its HD-DVD standard doomed recently, is looking for new ways of capitalizing on its technical expertise. The Japanese experienced company is pushing hard to market XDE and has even launched a website, www.toshibaxde.com, which aims to educate consumers on the benefits of XDE technology and how it works.

The XD-E500 is shipping this month with an MSRP of $149.99 and packs HDMI-CEC, DivX certification, JPEG capability, MP3 and WMA playback and much more. Expectedly (at the price), the XD-E500 does not play HD DVD or Blu-Ray discs.

In July, Toshiba said that it was working on enhancing DVD players’ image scaling capabilities to a level that was said to rival the native HD DVDs.

Also, on June 11, at the Los Angeles DVD Steering Committee meeting (DVD Forum), Toshiba's DVD Download Logo received full approval. It is still unclear whether this means the possibility to add Internet connectivity to DVD players is down the road.