NEW YORK — Toshiba Corp. gave progressive-scan technology a big boost this week when it announced apparently the first DVD player that outputs in a progressive format, along with a digital TV capable of supporting progressive scanning. Until now, DVD players have had to reformat the 480-line progressive-scan signal (480p) of DVD video disks into an interlaced NTSC image for display on conventional TV sets. That process results in the appearance of visible scan lines and flicker.

But the company appears to be hedging its bets on the interlaced vs. progressive format debates that are now raging among TV and computer makers. Toshiba signaled its plan to support both formats in the digital TV and future set-top boxes.

"It's a sign of flexibility on our part," said Craig Eggers, director of product planning for Toshiba America Consumer Products Inc. (Wayne, N.J.). "We're not sure which format each set top will be designed for."

The DVD and television models feature a progressive-scan component video input/output technology that Toshiba calls ColorStream PRO, which preserves the native progressive-scan signal from DVD disks. Toshiba claims the new DVD player, model SD7108, is the first to meet the 480p standard for picture performance for digital television.

Another new technology featured in the Toshiba televisions is a DTV interface terminal located on the back of each set. Designed to work with future set-top-box receivers for digital television, the terminal will allow Toshiba's color TVs to display the maximum picture resolution of DTV programming and output, whether it be 480p or 1,080i (interlaced), according to Eggers.

Next year Toshiba plans to introduce its own set-top box that will upconvert the digital television signal to 1,080i, Eggers said. He declined to give any details on the box except to say that Toshiba chose the 1,080i format because it is more economical to deliver than 720p. He also said more manufacturers are choosing to produce a set-top box that delivers a 1,080i signal.

The digital interface terminal is one of two separate three-channel component video inputs on the back of each of Toshiba's three new home-theater televisions, the 71-inch TP71H90, 61-inch TP61H90 and 65-inch TW65H80. The other video input is the ColorStream PRO, which allows connection to a DVD player to display 480p.

Toshiba claims that when the SD7108 DVD player — one of four models introduced here this week — is hooked up to one of the three ColorStream PRO-enhanced-TVs, the result is "a flicker-free picture, free of NTSC line structure."

Audio enhancements
The new DVD players pack 27-MHz advanced digital filters that Toshiba claims yields D/A conversion four times more accurate than conventional 8-bit, 13.5-MHz systems.

The three players equipped with ColorStream PRO — the SD7108, 3108 and 2108 — are also outfitted with enhanced audio features, including compatibility with Digital Theater Systems (DTS)-encoded movie soundtracks. DTS is designed to deliver a high-resolution multi-channel audio experience.

In addition, the SD7108 and SD3108 also have built-in Dolby Digital (AC-3) decoding, which allows consumers to connect each player's outputs directly to a Dolby Digital-ready amplifier.

All four DVD players include Spatializer's N-2-2 sound-enhancing process and 24-bit/96-kHz pulse-code modulated audio processing, with multibit delta-sigma D/A converters for compatibility with PCM audio-encoded DVD-video disks. Some claim the 24-bit/96-kHz resolution provides a more natural digital representation of the original performance than CDs.

The model SD2108 will be available in June for $600. The model SD2008 will be out in July for $500, the SD3108 model will be on sale in August for $800 and the SD7108 will be offered in September for $1,200.