In a bid to popularize its HD DVD players among mainstream customers, Toshiba Corp. plans to sell a limited amount of its HD-A2 devices for $99 or even a little less. The move will help Toshiba not only to sell quite a number of HD DVD players, but to also attract attention of the masses to the format.

Best Buy and Wal Mart have released advertisements claiming that Toshiba HD-A2 player will be available at about $99 on Friday, the 2^nd of November. Both retail chains indicate that the entry-level HD DVD player will be available “while quantities last” and are “not available in all stores”. Moreover, it is impossible to reserve the items and customers will have to visit local retail stores to get the most affordable HD DVD player for less than $100.

Earlier a number of retail networks in the USA already announced that Toshiba HD-A2 will be available for about $199, therefore, the price-point of $99 is a limited time offer, which is useful for both retailers – to get customers into the stores – and Toshiba, which will attract additional attention to its format.

Toshiba HD-A2 is an entry-level HD DVD player capable of HD DVD, DVD and CD playback as well as hardware decoding of H.264 (MPEG4 AVC), VC-1 and MPEG2 (standard DVD) streams. Additionally, the player features Sharc DSP to process audio in Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD (2 channel), DTS and DTS-HD formats. The player can output video in 720p (1280x720) and 1080i (1920x1080) resolutions using HDMI or component interconnection and multi-channel audio using HDMI or S/PDIF connectors.