Toshiba extends DVD life

Toshiba has announced a new technology that could help extend the life of current DVD libraries.

The technology, called XDE (eXtended Detail Enhancement), upgrades DVD picture quality to a higher definition of up to 1080p, according to Toshiba. The company was quick to point out that XDE does not give true HD, but says the improved picture quality comes close to it.

Although the enhanced picture does not give true HD, it could be enough to tempt people to watch their existing DVDs a while longer before buying more expensive new Blu-ray Discs.

Sony's Blu-ray format won out against Toshiba's HD-DVD in a bitter contest to set the next-generation standard.