Toshiba Corporation today launched in Japan the RD-X3, the flagship of its “RD Style” family of video recorders incorporating a hard disc drive (HDD) and DVD video recorder. The new recorder offers the largest HDD capacity in the market*1, advanced image-enhancement circuitry with progressive video scan, and Internet connectivity that supports diverse functions, including program recording by PC or mobile phone that overcomes constraints of time and place. RD-X3 will be available in Japanese market from the end of January 2003, with an open price.

HDD and DVD-Video recorders combine the recording, time-shifting and editing capabilities of high-capacity HDD with a DVD-RAM and DVD-R recording functions. Toshiba’s HDD & DVD video recorders complement these advanced digital recording capabilities with high-resolution playback technologies, user-oriented operability, and a range of functions that add up to an unprecedented level of flexibility and utility.

The RD-X3 offers home users a 160GB HDD, the largest drive of any HDD & DVD video recorder*1, capable of recording a maximum of 208 hours*2 *3 of programming. The recorder also supports a DVD-RAM/-R drive that can record up to 12 hours of video on a 9.4GB double-sided DVD-RAM disc.

A wide range of enhancement technologies supports superb image quality. A progressive scan video circuit delivers the impressive 540 horizontal line resolution that brings out the best of DVD images, while a Ghost Reduction Tuner (GRT) assures clearer, sharper picture reproduction. Other imaging technologies include Digital Noise Reduction (DNR), a 12bit 108MHz Video Digital to Analog Converter (DAC), and D1 terminal input that enables reception of high-quality images from other tuners.

Internet connectivity is provided by a LAN (Ethernet) terminal with broadband capacity. It allows the RD-X3 to connect with an in-house LAN and the Internet, and to access the value-added functions offered by Toshiba’s original “Net de Navi” software. These include selections of programs to record through the Internet Electronic Program Guide (iEPG), including e-mail selection by a mobile phone. “Net de Navi” also supports PC-based remote control of the RD-X3 and download of titles and images that can be used to add a creative personal touch to the menu of DVD-R discs during recording. These appear on the replay display during playback of the DVD-R.

Toshiba took the initiative in combining a HDD with a DVD video recorder in April 2001, when it launched the RD-2000. This introduced the company’s defining concept of “RD Style”—the freedom to record to HDD, to edit recorded images and then to save selected programs on DVD to build a video library. The company has refined this concept with successive model introductions. The RD-XS30, an entry-level with no Internet capability, is specially designed for simple operation. It has a 60GB HDD, able to record a maximum of 78 hours of video. The RD-XS40, a high-end model, integrates 120GB HDD with a 156-hour capacity, and has full Internet connectivity. The newly introduced RD-X3 rounds out the family with the most advanced HDD & DVD recorder in the series.

Combination HDD and DVD video recorders are finding wider acceptance, in parallel with the shift away from tape-based VCR to DVD. Toshiba expects this trend to accelerate, and that “RD Style” products will lead the way.

Toshiba creates innovative digital products at its Ome Operations, site of the company’s development center for advanced digital and mobile products, including PCs, cellular phones and TVs. The center supports interaction among product developers working in different areas, allowing them to draw on one another's experience and expertise, and to explore promising new products. The “RD” series is one of the fruits of the development center.

Notes:
*1 For HDD & DVD video recorders as of December 4, 2002.
*2 Image and sound quality are set at 1.4Mbps in manual mode and DD1, respectively
*3 Up to nine hours of continuous recording is possible