The battle of the high definition non-compatible disc formats, Blu-Ray and HD DVD took a turn in favor of HD DVD this past week when Toshiba announced its price drop for its entry level models (HD A2, HD D2) to just $299, giving it a $200 retail price advantage over the lowest price Blu-ray player, the Sony BSP-S300. (Warehouse club Costco has priced the HD D2 at $279 and the Sony BSP-300 at $449)

In additional product news, a Toshiba spokesperson told the HD Guru it would discontinue the production its remaining DLP rear projection televisions in September 2007 with inventories expected be depleted before the end of 2007, devoting its large screen HDTV production facilities exclusively to LCD flat panels.Toshiba also announced the availability of new LCD flat panels in the 42”, 46” 52” and 57” screen sizes. The Cinema series products will include 120 HZ frame rate that will decrease the motion blur seen in all makes and models of 60HZ LCD flat panels. The new models are as follows:

Regza Series 1080p 52” 60HZ 52HL167 Now Available $3499 suggested retail
Cinema Series Regza 1080p 42” 120 HZ 42LX177 $2299 Now
Cinema Series Regza 1080p 46” 120 HZ 46LX177 $3999 Now
Cinema Series Regza 1080p 52” 120 HZ 52LX177 $3999 Now
Cinema Series Regza 1080p 57” 120 HZ 57LX177 $To Be Announced, July