2006 is the year that most of us will probably think about buying a new TV, if for no other reason than the all important feature of HD (High Definition). Apart from the increased resolution and quality improvements, HD TV ready sets include the new and futureproof HDMI connection protocol. All forthcoming HD content, either on HD DVD or BluRay, will use HDMI to stream copy protected material. Neodigits recently announced their new line of HD compatible DVD players that have a neat feature, the ability to upscale DVD format up to 1080p, at the HDMI & Component outputs! NeoDigits kindly offered us a sample unit, the HVD2085, in order to test and write our impressions. First off, some background on Neodigits the company.

- NeoDigits Background

According to the company's website, NeoDigits.com was founded in 2003 and entered the market with its flagship brand of DVD players, NeuNeo. Riding on the success of this line, NeoDigits.com has since launched an entirely new brand of DVD solutions – HELIOS. From late February 2006, all NeoDigits.com's DVD solutions are only available under the HELIOS brand.

"...This line of DVD players embodies all the qualities of the Greek god after which it was named - young, powerful, and dependable. NeoDigits.com is a technology company focused on bringing the latest hi-tech DVD solutions to the home theatre segment. Our strong passion for all things audiovisual, together with our firm background knowledge in IT, allows us to bring cutting-edge and innovative early adopter technologies to the DVD player market. Our technologies are for those who appreciate the finer things in life. Especially those who appreciate the value of High Definition...."  

- HVD2085

NeoDigits.com announced on 29th March, 2006, their latest HD compatible DVD players with the name "HELIOS". As Managing Director Jean Chen comments "...HELIOS reflects the maturity in the quality of our products and services..."

The HELIOS HVD2085 is a player with the capacity to upscale standard DVDs to as high as 1080p resolution on component output. The player also has the capacity to upscale to 1080p resolution via the HDMI output, and 1280x1024 resolution via the VGA output. Moreover, the player is now able to support 480i and 576i resolutions. That's around 11 different resolutions to choose from! In addition, the player is region-free out-of-the-box. This means that it can play all your DVDs, regardless of which part of the world you bought them from. Lastly, a built-in UOP-off function, lets you bypass all those annoying trailers and automatically jumps to your favorite part... the main movie.