I also say HDMI provides a superior picture over component, but some poeple here beg to differ, maybe they never see the PQ with HDMI thats why.

I had some problems with both stuttering and lip sync. But I was using a different USB cable then the one that came with the drive.

Regular DVDs were fine, but King Kong was pretty bad. And only got worse as I skipped through the chapters. When I put the MS cable on everything was fine.

You may want to double check your USB cable connections. Or if you have a really good USB cable with a mini-USB connection on one end try that one.

I would think that it would be obvious, but some people may not understand that all USB Cables are not created equal. Older USB cables may only be USB 1.1 compatible. Any newer cable generally comes with a "High Speed USB" tag on it to recognize the high speed versions.

I'm pretty positive that a data intensive task like playing back HD-DVD is going to require a USB 2.0 cable so if you replace the stock cable from Microsoft make sure you are using a USB 2.0 version cable.

TimT

I'm watching it right now as well and I also found this puzzling. All Broadcast HD content that i've seen fills the entire screen...so shouldn't this?

And about the VGA cable, it would only do you good if you wanted to use your 360 to up-convert SD-DVDs since that's the only limitation it's putting on your setup.

Matt

Big note about about Cable broadcasts of HD Movies. Most of them treat the consumer like morons. They are still of the mind that if someone sees the black bars at the top and bottom of the screens that they will complain. So they actually still are doing a form of zoom mode in most movies. They pick a zoom level that gets "MOST" of the movie in frame and then just let it go.

If you don't like this, tell your mom to stop calling them. I know mine would if she could frame the complaint to the right person in the right words so she could get the black bars to go away. That she doesn't understand is a problem.

Here is an example of what I mean. I was scanning my local comcast guide and saw that Ghostbusters was on. I figured sweet, one of my favorite movies. I own it on DVD but I want to see how the quality looks on HD. The quality looked pretty sweet and so forth. Then it gets to the portion where Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis are on the two stone altars on top of the roof near the end of the movie. During the KEY scene where they both turn into the Dog creatures, BOTH OF THEM WERE COMPLETELY OFF FRAME!!!! The entire scene showed an empty roof. Now before you say I'm wrong, I had this on my HD-DVR (comcast) and I went back and checked it numerous times. In fact I was so upset that I pulled out my DVD to verify what I was seeing.

CABLE Looks alot better but the people who do the transfers need to have their eyes examined and they need to be schooled in just what the hell an aspect ratio really is. Hint, it's not something to be ignored.

FYI,

KONG is supposed to have Black Bars on the top and bottom of your sets unless your using a projector and have it calibrated perfectly. TV Sets are setup to allow for all of the various Aspect ratios, and I believe that 1.78.1 is the actual AR of a 16x9 HD Set. On my TV the only movies that do not have Black Bars are movies that are at 1.85.1 AR


Hope this clears this up.

TimT

Do you think using a USB 2.0 extension cable would work. I want to place it on top of my entertainment center because right now on top of my 360 it only has about 3 inches of clearance and I think it's making it get too hot too quick and the fan is kicking on. Those of you who say it's ultra quiet, how much space is around the drive itself (clearence wise)

I'm watching it right now as well and I also found this puzzling. All Broadcast HD content that i've seen fills the entire screen...so shouldn't this?No, no, no, no, NO.

I have one slight problem, I need MORE HD-DVD MOVIES!!!

Do you think using a USB 2.0 extension cable would work. I want to place it on top of my entertainment center because right now on top of my 360 it only has about 3 inches of clearance and I think it's making it get too hot too quick and the fan is kicking on. Those of you who say it's ultra quiet, how much space is around the drive itself (clearence wise)

As long as you use a USB 2.0 capable extension cable, and the original USB cable from Microsoft it should function properly. However this is a new device and not all of the "strange" issues have been discovered yet. But I don't believe it would hurt to try and considering how many USB 2.0 devices are out there and coming out, I'm sure you'll find a use for it in the future if it doesn't work.

I would just look for a longer USB 2.0 cable and see if that works, but I have dozens at home to pick from.

Good Luck

TimT

Hi guys,

Hopefully there are some people here just as excited about this as I am. Now that I have my HD-DVD add-on (first impressions to be posted later), I'm wondering what movies people are planning on watching on it.

I for one cannot wait for the Special Collectors Edition of Forbidden Planet. It is one of my all time favorite movies and I was waiting for a good restored version to come on DVD before buying it.

But great news, the high end collectors version they are producing with a TON of extra stuff including a little robbie the robot doll, is going to be released Day and Date with an HD-DVD Version in the exact same packaging (nice tin box).

I can't wait to get this and see how good this movie looked in the theaters ( as the only versions I have ever seen were TV or SD-DVD ).

Later

TimT

So your guy's add-ons don't get louder as the movie progresses and the fan kicks on??

Maybe I'm just too conscience of it and I'm looking for it and don't have my volume high enough.

I don't hear the fans on my 360 or the add-on because I built an HTPC that's louder.

So your guy's add-ons don't get louder as the movie progresses and the fan kicks on??

Maybe I'm just too conscience of it and I'm looking for it and don't have my volume high enough.

I really didn't find the noise of the fans to even attract my attention. I noticed when i started a movie, but that's pretty normal with any high speed disc based device.

The Fan never kicked in loudly while watching movies, and to be honest, the XBOX360 and HD-DVD is quieter than my HTPC (which I admit I didn't build to be quiet, need to work on that).

TimT

I beg to differ but HDMI does NOT produce better PQ than component on my Pio FHD-1 plasma for any source I have tested. In fact, I prefer my Sammy BD player over component. The Tosh is the same for both, but I use hdmi for upconversion.....JMO.

As long as you use a USB 2.0 capable extension cable, and the original USB cable from Microsoft it should function properly. However this is a new device and not all of the "strange" issues have been discovered yet. But I don't believe it would hurt to try and considering how many USB 2.0 devices are out there and coming out, I'm sure you'll find a use for it in the future if it doesn't work.

I would just look for a longer USB 2.0 cable and see if that works, but I have dozens at home to pick from.

Good Luck

TimT

I am using a USB extension cable attached to another USB cable that is longer than the one that drive came with and am having no problems. Mine has to reach from my XBOX, which is above the tv to my cabinet below the tv.

I also say HDMI provides a superior picture over component, but some poeple here beg to differ, maybe they never see the PQ with HDMI thats why.

HDMI differs in how it is handled depending on the set, and there are plenty of implementations where component will yield a richer picture. Heck, there are some sets that will actually display more colors theough component due to improper or crippled color space isues over HDMI. For instance, I can still get a
punchier picture over component from my cable box than over HDMI. Sharpness and clarity is equal between the two, but I can get much deeper blacks, and more discrete shades over component. Part of that is because of the way the set/box handle colorspaces.

making a blanket statement like "component is better" or "HDMI is better" at this time is pretty re-darn-diculous.

Too many variables come into play - there is not a 100% right/wrong answer.

It depends on your Display, your player, the quality of cables, what you're watching and your personal tastse. Is color peresentation or detail more important to you? In some cases I would personally say HDMI looked better - in other situations I would say component looked better.

In a few years perhaps HDMI, dislplays, players and media will have advanced to the point of making this debate a no-brainer.

But if you make an over simplifed statement like "HDMI HAS BETTER PQ THAN COMPONENT" - it goes to show, you need to do more reading on this forum and less posting. Becuase you can't contribute much if you are uninformed and you end up looking silly.

My sincere personal thanks though, to all of the first hand accounts/pictures. You've helped me out a lot!

Does the VGA on your set even support 1080p? I am planning on getting the same set to replace my 32 (which will go in the bedroom) and would like to run through VGA just to get upsampled SD discs too. I know 1080p 1080i difference is superficial on 24 or 30fps material (essentially everything out) but can't bear to lose the upsampling on the SD movies. The 360 does quite well upsampling on my current Sharp (1360x768 VGA).


The 37D90u has a DVI-I jack not have a VGA jack. Several posters have confirmed analog 1080p via the DVI-I jack (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8793992#post8793992 post 697). However, there may be a problem with the 360 on both the Sharp 37D90U and Sony XBR2 sets (posts 696 and 698, same page) for 1080p via the VGA. Some have suggested that these sets anticipate 1080p/60 and that the Xbox 360 VGA is 1080p/24 or /30 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8816444#post8816444 post 742). Category 5, from your other posts, it would appear that you may have worked around a similar problem on your current Sharp. I’m not sure if your experience would extrapolate to the 37D90. All I can say is that the 37d90 will accept 1080p analog over the DVI-I port.

did anyone figure out yet how to use the eject button for the xbox 360 hd-dvd player via a HARMONY remote.

All other features work with the harmony remote and the hd-dvd player, just not the eject button. When I push the eject button on the remote, it ejects the xbox 360 consule.

OK.. I am here scratching my head. So there is no way to eject the HD-DVD drive from the remote huh?
Unless you can switch the disc with the remote as well, does it really matter?

Can someone point me in the direction (or give me a keyword to Google) of where I can read about these laws that says dvds cannot be upconverted thru component and 1080p cannot be displayed thru component. I'm interested in reading about how these came into effect. Many thanks!

Wow... a lot of people confused over "the black bars"... I thought DVD educated the masses on OAR and widescreen.... my head hurts.

Wow... a lot of people confused over "the black bars"... I thought DVD educated the masses on OAR and widescreen.... my head hurts.

No kidding. Especially considering the join date of some of these people. :rolleyes:

Can anyone find a way to zoom a HD-DVD using this device? I don't see a zoom option like other DVD players.

Can anyone find a way to zoom a HD-DVD using this device? I don't see a zoom option like other DVD players.

It's there. On my Harmony 360 remote I press the "A" button.

Did anyone try to play any WMV-HD discs, like "Coral reef adventures" on the HD-DVD add on.???

Haven't but that disk should play OK in the 360 by itself. No need for the external drive.

Alright guys, after sitting on the fence about buying this drive, I read this thread and decided to jump for it. I subscribe to all the premium HD channels through my local cable-co (HBO, Show, Starz, and Cinemax), and some movies really look great. But I keep feeling like they're missing that little extra oomph.

So I ordered from Circuit City online for local pickup, and will make the hour drive later this afternoon to pick it up. The woman wants to do some shopping up there anyway at a big outlet mall that we rarely make the drive to, so it works out.

I figured that I won't need 1080p or TrueHD anytime soon, so this $200 add-on is a great price and good starter to get me going with HD-DVD. Also, with it coming with King Kong as a freebie (being a movie I don't own on regular DVD), that makes the package that much nicer. I think I'll pick up V for Vendetta alongside the player also.

Thanks for the good discussion guys, I'll report back later tonight with my impressions!

Big note about about Cable broadcasts of HD Movies. Most of them treat the consumer like morons. They are still of the mind that if someone sees the black bars at the top and bottom of the screens that they will complain. So they actually still are doing a form of zoom mode in most movies. They pick a zoom level that gets "MOST" of the movie in frame and then just let it go.

If you don't like this, tell your mom to stop calling them. I know mine would if she could frame the complaint to the right person in the right words so she could get the black bars to go away. That she doesn't understand is a problem.

Here is an example of what I mean. I was scanning my local comcast guide and saw that Ghostbusters was on. I figured sweet, one of my favorite movies. I own it on DVD but I want to see how the quality looks on HD. The quality looked pretty sweet and so forth. Then it gets to the portion where Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis are on the two stone altars on top of the roof near the end of the movie. During the KEY scene where they both turn into the Dog creatures, BOTH OF THEM WERE COMPLETELY OFF FRAME!!!! The entire scene showed an empty roof. Now before you say I'm wrong, I had this on my HD-DVR (comcast) and I went back and checked it numerous times. In fact I was so upset that I pulled out my DVD to verify what I was seeing.

CABLE Looks alot better but the people who do the transfers need to have their eyes examined and they need to be schooled in just what the hell an aspect ratio really is. Hint, it's not something to be ignored.

FYI,

KONG is supposed to have Black Bars on the top and bottom of your sets unless your using a projector and have it calibrated perfectly. TV Sets are setup to allow for all of the various Aspect ratios, and I believe that 1.78.1 is the actual AR of a 16x9 HD Set. On my TV the only movies that do not have Black Bars are movies that are at 1.85.1 AR


Hope this clears this up.

TimT

As someone who used to project film for a studio (dailies and screenings) RIGHT ON. I HATE cropped/zoomed movies and refuse to watch them. I once went to see Snow White on a reissue in theatres and the idiot projectionist had it matted in 1.85!!! Arghhhh! I wanted to cry. :mad:

Can someone point me in the direction (or give me a keyword to Google) of where I can read about these laws that says dvds cannot be upconverted thru component and 1080p cannot be displayed thru component. I'm interested in reading about how these came into effect. Many thanks!

Look here (http://www.aacsla.com/specifications/)
And here (http://www.dvdcca.org/)

The majority of DVD's I watch do not have black bars, however Aeon Flux HD DVD did have them.

I just got the HD-DVD add-on and like everyone else, I think the picture looks incredible.

But I am a bit disappointed with the sound. Someone else posted that they thought the bass was deeper and richer. However, at least on my receiver, it sounds flat and I don't get the same rumble when dinosaurs are running through the trench that I do on the regular SD version.

Any thoughts?

Hey gang,

Can the 360 HD add-on output dolby digital plus thru a toslink connection between the 360 and my receiver? I guess I am asking if the add-on can internally decode the dd+ soundtrack. Thanks!

I canceled my pre-order with Amazon when they bumped the delivery date till December.

Found a drive in stock at my local CC and bought it. I have a Samsung 6168 and viewed several chapters through VGA hoping that the washed out colors would not be that noticeable. Unfortunately, the colors did not look right with any amount of tweaking.

I went ahead and connected via the component and it was a huge difference in quality over the VGA! My tv internally scales 1080i to 1080p on component so no quality loss that I can see.

Hopefully, Microsoft can come up with something to correct the VGA output for those of us whose sets have that washed out look.

Over all, I am happy with this purchase. Just picked up Mission: Impossible III and watched the first 10 minutes. Wow! :)

Hey gang,

Can the 360 HD add-on output dolby digital plus thru a toslink connection between the 360 and my receiver? I guess I am asking if the add-on can internally decode the dd+ soundtrack. Thanks!
Check the Xbox 360 HD DVD FAQ (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=748740) in this forum, but yes it can internally decode both DD+ and TrueHD. It reencodes them to 640 Kbps DD.

I just got the HD-DVD add-on and like everyone else, I think the picture looks incredible.

But I am a bit disappointed with the sound. Someone else posted that they thought the bass was deeper and richer. However, at least on my receiver, it sounds flat and I don't get the same rumble when dinosaurs are running through the trench that I do on the regular SD version.

Any thoughts?

I think the sound and PQ is amazing on the HD DVD player, i get deep bass and excellent PQ in 1080i, my friends were very impressed. I cant wait to spend another $100 on more movies today.

HDMI differs in how it is handled depending on the set, and there are plenty of implementations where component will yield a richer picture. Heck, there are some sets that will actually display more colors theough component due to improper or crippled color space isues over HDMI. For instance, I can still get a
punchier picture over component from my cable box than over HDMI. Sharpness and clarity is equal between the two, but I can get much deeper blacks, and more discrete shades over component. Part of that is because of the way the set/box handle colorspaces.

Well some channels will look the same but 1080i will look sharper with a HDMI cable. I tested both out and i liked the picture HDMI produced over component. Its 100% Digital.

my pics

Keep on topic. Do not make personal comments.

making a blanket statement like "component is better" or "HDMI is better" at this time is pretty re-darn-diculous.

Too many variables come into play - there is not a 100% right/wrong answer.

It depends on your Display, your player, the quality of cables, what you're watching and your personal tastse. Is color peresentation or detail more important to you? In some cases I would personally say HDMI looked better - in other situations I would say component looked better.

In a few years perhaps HDMI, dislplays, players and media will have advanced to the point of making this debate a no-brainer.

But if you make an over simplifed statement like "HDMI HAS BETTER PQ THAN COMPONENT" - it goes to show, you need to do more reading on this forum and less posting. Becuase you can't contribute much if you are uninformed and you end up looking silly.

My sincere personal thanks though, to all of the first hand accounts/pictures. You've helped me out a lot!


I was thinking the same thing reading all the component is better or HDMI is better. It all depends on the quality of the electronics in the source (for the HDMI and the component one could be better in any given unit) the cables used and the quality of the electronics in the TV / Projector. So on one source/TV combo Component can kill HDMI and on another HDMI can Kill component while on others you will not even see a difference between the two.

Also agreed keep up the info on the HD-DVD Drives.

Thanks,

Rheal.

As someone who used to project film for a studio (dailies and screenings) RIGHT ON. I HATE cropped/zoomed movies and refuse to watch them. I once went to see Snow White on a reissue in theatres and the idiot projectionist had it matted in 1.85!!! Arghhhh! I wanted to cry. :mad:

That is insane, don't they teach these guys anything about AR?

Timt

Quick Question

I just got my addon last night and bought the VGA cable with it. Some of the whites seem to lose detail very easily. I calibrated my system last night so it's not that...I'm going to hook it up via component here shortly, but my only beef with that is the Upconversion of SD-DVDs.

BUT, since my TV is native 1080p and upscales EVERYTHING to 1080p it shouldn't make a difference if I connect it through component....am I right?

What is the best HD-dvd you have picture quality and movie.

making a blanket statement like "component is better" or "HDMI is better" at this time is pretty re-darn-diculous.

Too many variables come into play - there is not a 100% right/wrong answer.

It depends on your Display, your player, the quality of cables, what you're watching and your personal tastse. Is color peresentation or detail more important to you? In some cases I would personally say HDMI looked better - in other situations I would say component looked better.

In a few years perhaps HDMI, dislplays, players and media will have advanced to the point of making this debate a no-brainer.

But if you make an over simplifed statement like "HDMI HAS BETTER PQ THAN COMPONENT" - it goes to show, you need to do more reading on this forum and less posting. Becuase you can't contribute much if you are uninformed and you end up looking silly.

My sincere personal thanks though, to all of the first hand accounts/pictures. You've helped me out a lot!


I'm not going to educate you on digital vs. analog, but if you read MY post carefully, it states.


"My set doesn't support 1080p but it does have HDMI and HDMI does provide a superior picture to even component."

Now I was referring to HDMI on MY Set, Not YOUR set or YOUR dvd Player. Now there are many reasons to keep using Component, Almost everything I have uses component. But in my case, I explained that the Xbox360 SD-DVD playback was in MY OPINION, inferior to the HDMI output that I can generate from a properly setup and running HTPC using Theatertek or any number of other sources.

If you didn't get that from the CONTEXT of my paragraph, than I feel sorry for you. But you shouldn't take one line from someone's post and then call them silly for it.

For what it's worth I would have probably edited my post later on and said something like,

"With the proper hardware and calibration, HDMI has the potential to provide a far superior picture over component."

And since HDMI and VGA are the only ways to provide a 1080p picture from HD-DVD, then I believe that I can state in this particular thread, that HDMI would be preferable for those that can use it.

TimT

hello all, I just picked one up yesterday after checking about 5 different stores, majority of the people I spoke to had no idea what I was talking aout. got lucky at the last store I checked at CC...

does anyone know if microsoft is planning sending out a update to upgrade from dolby digital to DTS?

I hooked up a toshiba hd dvd player to my receiver using a toslink and it worked fine over DTS, same cable from xbox to receiver only dolby digital

hello all, I just picked one up yesterday after checking about 5 different stores, majority of the people I spoke to had no idea what I was talking aout. got lucky at the last store I checked at CC...

does anyone know if microsoft is planning sending out a update to upgrade from dolby digital to DTS?

I hooked up a toshiba hd dvd player to my receiver using a toslink and it worked fine over DTS, same cable from xbox to receiver only dolby digital


Are you saying it's not DTS out of the box? In the product description it says the hd-dvd add-on supports DTS.

I just saw in a previous post it mentioned pressing the "A" button on a Harmony 360 Remote (I assume it is the same as pressing A on a controller etc) to zoom an HD-DVD. Can anyone verify this? I tired it with Nacho Libre which is a 1.85 ratio movie and it did nothing. Is it 2.35 ratio HD-DVDs only? (I would check King Kong but I sold it to a friend). Thanks

Teddy

Hey gang,

Can the 360 HD add-on output dolby digital plus thru a toslink connection between the 360 and my receiver? I guess I am asking if the add-on can internally decode the dd+ soundtrack. Thanks!

Purduealum91,

Not being a jerk, just giving some advice. If you read through this thread you'll see that your question has been answered more than once.

But I will tell you that yes, the XBox360 does decode TrueHD, but what it does, and I believe that the 1st Gen HD-DVD Players do this as well, is it takes the TrueHD format and re-encodes it as a Dolby Digital stream that your receiver can decode. I can attest that this does work and that the TrueHD track on Batman Begins does sound better than the straight dolby 5.1; How much better will depend on later after I have heard more TrueHD soundtracks. But it's more inline with current DTS soundtracks at the moment.

But I have nothing to compare this to and I only have Batman Begins at the moment with a TrueHD Track.

Keep in mind that I do not have 7.1 speakers. I only have 5.1 without a dedicated subwoofer. I do have a 7.1 receiver though and plan to get more speakers in the future.

Hope this helps.

nice pics there buddy, how many pixels is ur camera?

Hey Mana, thanks! It's not my camera, it's my older bro's, he's into that photography hobby stuff, so i asked him to take pics using his Nikon D70 SLR, not sure how many MP it has.

As I stated before, the original pics sizes are 1300 x 1768, but the website down sized them to about 400 x 200, but they stil show pretty good, you can see the detail on the faces, clothing & fur.

This HD-DVD add-on is very impressive, but my 1 knock on it is that the sound is low, now I'm not sure if that's the player itself or the movies, but definitely sound levels are lower than usual. I have to crank up the vol, then when I switch back to a game, I have to lower the vol back down, too loud.

I bought this player knowing it lacked HDMI & the new HD audio codecs, although it can pass DD+ @ a lower level, but that's OK, b/c this is only a temporary fix for me, until a yr or so from now when more HD-DVD players arrive with a more polish product over the 1st-Gen HD-DVD players, plus you add the cost & PQ so far & this is a great bargain/product!

hello all, I just picked one up yesterday after checking about 5 different stores, majority of the people I spoke to had no idea what I was talking aout. got lucky at the last store I checked at CC...

does anyone know if microsoft is planning sending out a update to upgrade from dolby digital to DTS?

I hooked up a toshiba hd dvd player to my receiver using a toslink and it worked fine over DTS, same cable from xbox to receiver only dolby digital

I believe like some 1st gen HD-DVD Players, the new Dolby Digital + and Dolby Digital TrueHD, and the new DTS flavors of soundtracks will be RE-Encoded to a dolby digital stream that your receiver can decode. You have to remember that almost NO receivers yet can decode these for you. Which means the player has to do something with the sound to make it work with your sound hardware.

I'm sure someone here has more technical detail, but for simplicity I believe that is what is going to happen with HD-DVD soundtracks on the 360. Now soundtracks that your Receiver can decode such as the standard 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack, should be passed to your receiver just as they normally would be.

But that depends on how Microsoft wrote the software to handle this.

TimT

I don't see any difference between the two. I hope this is not what it's going to be like or I am going to be disappointed.

I see big difference like going from VHS to DVD few years ago.

The first Training Day screenshot is from Xbox 360 HD-DVD connected to Panasonic AE900 720P projector with component.

The second one is a old Training Day DVD playing on Toshiba HDMI 720P upscaled DVD player connected with HDMI to Panasonic AE900 720P projector.

I took 3000x2000 pictures so you can see the difference. Enlarge it and you will
notice "FRIENDLY HILLS MEDICAL GROUP" in the background is much sharper in HD you be the judge. Do you see other differences?


http://upload.georgeownsme.com/image.php/12660.jpg
http://upload.georgeownsme.com/image.php/12662.jpg

What is the best HD-dvd you have picture quality and movie.

Batman Begins

I canceled my pre-order with Amazon when they bumped the delivery date till December.

Found a drive in stock at my local CC and bought it. I have a Samsung 6168 and viewed several chapters through VGA hoping that the washed out colors would not be that noticeable. Unfortunately, the colors did not look right with any amount of tweaking.

I went ahead and connected via the component and it was a huge difference in quality over the VGA! My tv internally scales 1080i to 1080p on component so no quality loss that I can see.

Hopefully, Microsoft can come up with something to correct the VGA output for those of us whose sets have that washed out look.

Over all, I am happy with this purchase. Just picked up Mission: Impossible III and watched the first 10 minutes. Wow! :)must be your tv. i have a samsung dlp and the colors are great by vga. too many people dont realize that on component the colors are somewhat brighter, but that isnt the way its suppose to be. the colors are natural thru the vga and look amazing. that is if you calibrate it correctly and not just tweak.

t_tringle my post was not in response to anything you had posted.
Unless you were making blanket statements - and I missed it ;)
I understand analog and digital just fine - but thanks for the concern.
I'm trying my darndest not to have any more misinformation spread in this thread - over and over again.

I couldn't be happier with the drive for price.
It will tide me over nicely untill dual format machines come out.


sound and pq are outstanding.


I had gone to BB and the first few guys didn't even know what I was talking about and twice led me to the area where they keep the 360 hard drives. and then they insisted that it wasn't out yet. Luckily an EB was in the same mall and they had one left. I brought it back through BB so the guys would know what it looks like when they see it...with a s**t eatin' grin on my way to the car.

Well I finally hooked mine up and the first thing I noticed is that the sound seems much lower that when I watch movies with my HD-A1. Other than that, the load times and PQ seem on par. Might be selling my Toshiba unit here in a bit. We'll see how the add-on holds up.

t_tringle my post was not in response to anything you had posted.

sound and pq are outstanding.


I had gone to BB and the first few guys didn't even know what I was talking about and twice led me to the are where they keep the 360 hard drives. and then they insisted that it wasn't out yet. Luckily an EB was in the same mall and they had one left. I brought it back through BB so the guys would know what it looks like when they see it...with a s**t eatin' grin on my way to the car.

I find it amazing that these stores don't seem to at least try to educate some of their employees about products that are coming out. BB is where normal people go to find out about this stuff and if they don't even know, then what good are they?

It took me 2 weeks to even get a PreOrder at Gamestop, they kept telling me that they had no idea. Finally I found one employee who allowed me to put my money down. Thank God too because If I hadn't pre-ordered it, I wouldn't have gotten it yesterday. Hopefully Microsoft will make plenty of these to handle the demand and help lay a huge format war ending smack to Sony.

Here's hoping. Either way 200$ is worth the risk.

TimT

I see big difference like going from VHS to DVD few years ago.

The first Training Day screenshot is from Xbox 360 HD-DVD connected to Panasonic AE900 720P projector with component.

The second one is a old Training Day DVD playing on Toshiba HDMI 720P upscaled DVD player connected with HDMI to Panasonic AE900 720P projector.

I took 3000x2000 pictures so you can see the difference. Enlarge it and you will
notice "FRIENDLY HILLS MEDICAL GROUP" in the background is much sharper in HD you be the judge. Do you see other differences?


http://upload.georgeownsme.com/image.php/12660.jpg
http://upload.georgeownsme.com/image.php/12662.jpg

Now obviously these pictures can't do the original sources real justice, they are good though, but the Second one, the one you say is the upscaling dvd player, does seem sharper. However the HD-DVD seems to be a much smoother picture. Since I have the HD-DVD player I know that true proof is in the small details during high moving shots.

The Tyranasaurus fight scene in King Kong is simply amazing and you see so much detail in the background objects that are just usually lost on DVD due to that information just not making it over.

I can't wait to see LOTR in HD on HD-DVD, BTW, Amazon has it listed but no real info, hopefully that means it is being planned.

That would be truly insane to see in HD.

TimT

I can't wait to see LOTR in HD on HD-DVD,


There has to be some term out there for having a nerd boner - that isn't as crude as saying nerd boner... but yeah I kept thinking the samething while watching king king. WHO CARES ABOUT APES GIVE ME SOME HOBBITTS STAT.

I have one slight problem, I need MORE HD-DVD MOVIES!!!

Agree bring them on!

The bad:
- I do get the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen, which is no good. It makes the picture appear smaller.


*sigh*

Are we going to go through the whole widescreen vs full screen OAR crap again in this format?

Both HD and BD are not anamorphically encoded. You will get black bars on the top and bottom for movies with an OAR > 16:9. A large majority of movies are larger than 1.78:1. This is in no way, shape, or form a BAD thing.

If there is a request here, it is for a zoom mode for people that don't like (for whatever deluded reason) to watch things in OAR and prefer losing some of the original, theatrical frame.

The bad:
- I do get the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen, which is no good. It makes the picture appear smaller.


Did you not own a widescreen version of a movie on DVD? :eek:

OAR is the only way to go.

I've been following this thread for sometime now.

and as a 360 owner I do admit the lack of HDMI option is frustrating but not a deal-breaker.

So it was quite amusing that when I ventured out to research gossip about an impending 360 HDMI cable at the xbox.com forums - that there were references to this very thread on that forum.

The HDMI is a deal breaker for me I own the 360 and like the idea of 1 cable going to my receiver and then to my TV. If MS releases the cable I will consider the 360 add on if not I will purchase the A2 or Xa2


Rob

I suppose I will throw my two cents in as far as the HD-DVD add on goes. I'm watching it on a 50" Sony Grand Wega V (KDF-E50A10), with a Onkyo TX-SR803B receiver, and an Athena 7.1 speaker set up, and HSU VTF-3 MKII sub.

Only movie I've been able to watch is KK, since I timed my Netflix returns wrong forgetting about the holiday (Monday should have V for Vendetta and MI:3). The movie looked fantastic. I've got the 360 set to output 720p over component. The details were all there and it was noticeably better than satellite HDTV because of the higher bit rate and resolution. No macro-blocking at all in fast scenes, all the detail preserved in picture perfect clarity. Love it!

I made some attempts to change the output setting on the 360 and see what difference it would make. The picture was definitely more lifelike and detailed in 720p (not suprisingly) compared to 480p. I'm not sure if I could tell much of a difference in setting the 360 to 1080i while comparing to the 720p setting. That will take more testing. I also have the 360 VGA cable, so I may run that through some tests to compare.

As far as sound I could hear a very discernible difference compared to regular DVD. The bass was much more defined, and all the highs were very clear. I don't think I'm confabulating that at all.

Anyways, so far so good! I'm happy to have joined the HD-DVD camp for the low price of $199. If you are on the fence about this add on I highly recommend it.

Just watched most fo KK and I am sure happy with my purchase.

1: Its $200 and the picture looks great.
2: Its sounds great. This is DD we're talking about. It may not be "next gen" but it sounds GREAT.
3: Its small and portable. I can loan it out and I can move it between the three 360's we own.

Are you saying it's not DTS out of the box? In the product description it says the hd-dvd add-on supports DTS.

I put in the SD versions of Kill Bill 2 and Saving Private Ryan. It passed along the DTS signal just fine. The only HD-DVD that I have is King Kong. I'm planning on heading out to the store in a few minutes to pick up one or two more HD-DVDs. Maybe Vendetta and Batman.

I've been following this thread for sometime now.

and as a 360 owner I do admit the lack of HDMI option is frustrating but not a deal-breaker.

So it was quite amusing that when I ventured out to research gossip about an impending 360 HDMI cable at the xbox.com forums - that there were references to this very thread on that forum.

ya it was me that posted that reference, lol.

"like the idea of 1 cable going to my receiver and then to my TV"

It' always better to directly connect any video sources to your TV, going through your stereo introduces more processing more entry and exit points and also sends your video signal with your audio signal which can introduce interfearence.

It's always better for audio and video to have the least amount of connections and to keep audio and video as seperate as possible.

Now obviously these pictures can't do the original sources real justice, they are good though, but the Second one, the one you say is the upscaling dvd player, does seem sharper. However the HD-DVD seems to be a much smoother picture. Since I have the HD-DVD player I know that true proof is in the small details during high moving shots.

The Tyranasaurus fight scene in King Kong is simply amazing and you see so much detail in the background objects that are just usually lost on DVD due to that information just not making it over.

I can't wait to see LOTR in HD on HD-DVD, BTW, Amazon has it listed but no real info, hopefully that means it is being planned.

That would be truly insane to see in HD.

TimT
How can the second picture be sharper? DVD (second picture) in the background you can't see individual floors and windows. a lot of info is missing. Also my display is only 720P. I like to see some 1080 pictures.
Let's do it.
1. use your camera's highest resolution.
2.hold it steady or use tri/monopode.
3.lowest ISO setting of your camera like 50 or 100 to reduce noise.
4. upload it to http://upload.georgeownsme.com because they do not have low file size restriction like AVS.(I agree that AVS should restrict file size of members' HT construction and setup pictures but they should allow hi res screen shots. I don't know how this can be reinforced though.)

http://upload.georgeownsme.com/image.php/12660.jpg
http://upload.georgeownsme.com/image.php/12662.jpg

Just got mine, and I agree with many on this board that it is a worth while pick up!

I have heard some complian about it being seperate pieces. Since I have two 360s this works great for me. Just move the HD DVD player to other room as needed. Plus it just looks cool! :D

Hey gang,

DOnt forget. Those buying the add-on at circuit city. There is a $40 off $199 purchase coupon out there.

I picked up my HD-DVD player from CC tonight and I'm watching King Kong right now. I bought the VGA cable because of the limitations it has with content. For those of you who are asking


I'm still waiting for my 360 and HD DVD drive to arrive. Do you have to purchase the VGA cable? I thought it came with the 360.

Do you have to purchase the VGA cable? I thought it came with the 360.

VGA cable doesn't come with 360. Ofcourse you can use the component cable that comes with 360 premium.

What is the best HD-dvd you have picture quality and movie.
not in this order but i will say


chronicles of riddick
batman begins
atl
training day
charlie and the chocalate factory
f and f tokyo drift
mission impossible 3 is good but i think its on the bottom of the list

also their a movie tier thread thing here but in the software part of the forum for hd-dvd that will tell you wich movies have so so quality and wich are amazing

I put in the SD versions of Kill Bill 2 and Saving Private Ryan. It passed along the DTS signal just fine. The only HD-DVD that I have is King Kong. I'm planning on heading out to the store in a few minutes to pick up one or two more HD-DVDs. Maybe Vendetta and Batman.

If you pick any of the new sound formats (Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD, DD+) then they will be downconverted to 648 Kbps DD.

Does anyone know if the 5.1 DTS soundtracks on some of the HD DVDs is better than the Dolby TrueHD downconverted to DD?

I see big difference like going from VHS to DVD few years ago.

The first Training Day screenshot is from Xbox 360 HD-DVD connected to Panasonic AE900 720P projector with component.

The second one is a old Training Day DVD playing on Toshiba HDMI 720P upscaled DVD player connected with HDMI to Panasonic AE900 720P projector.

I took 3000x2000 pictures so you can see the difference. Enlarge it and you will
notice "FRIENDLY HILLS MEDICAL GROUP" in the background is much sharper in HD you be the judge. Do you see other differences?
On the upconverted one, it almost looks like he is standing in front of a low res poster of buildings. The HD one looks like the buildings are real. Also, much more detail in the buildings on the HD image. And HD looks smoother. The upconverted one looks very blotchy and muddy (look at the dark building to the right).

(sorry for posting this question twice but this thread seems to get WAY more traffic)
I think a good entry for the FAQ is the power consumption of the 360 and HD DVD drive combined. Does anyone w/the drive have something like a Kill-A-Watt (http://www.p3international.com/products/special/P4400/P4400-CE.html) to report their findings?

With my Kill-A-Watt, I find that the 360 draws ~138 to 140 watts at idle in the dashboard and about 110 W while playing a DVD on the internal drive. I remember hearing that HD DVD decoding is pretty CPU intensive on the 360 so I'd expect it to be at least 160 W combined.

I just purchased the HD DVD add on for the 360 as well. I hooked it up to my Ruby and then my Pearl via component at 1080i using a 96" Firehawk. Setup was a breeze and the installation DVD seemed to take less than 30 seconds. I then powered off the 360 and turned it back on.

I like how the remote is backlit, but I do not like how the open button is for the DVD not HD DVD drive. Would be nice if there was a way to change this.

The first move I watched was Slither. Prety decent horror movie and funny too. Load times are fast <15 seconds and similar to DVD player. Much quicker than the HD-A1 which takes about a minute from hitting close to playing the movie.

The picture quality is excellent. I had zero playback problems with my first movie. Very similar to the HD-A1 from a video perspective. For $199 with King Kong this is a no brainer. I also like how I can take the unit with me to a friends, etc so now I can watch HD DVD anywhere.

Hey gang,

DOnt forget. Those buying the add-on at circuit city. There is a $40 off $199 purchase coupon out there.
:mad: BAH!

apparently I didn't know this...

:mad: BAH!

apparently I didn't know this...


Me either, woudl have been nice to save a few bucks.
Oh well I will hold out and wait for my shipment from Value Electronics...

where is the purchase coupon for CC?

Heres the link to the coupon. My Amazon add-on will be going back.

http://img242.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cc40200zk2.jpg

Bring in the receipt and coupon and I'm sure they'll honor it.

I've noticed quite a few aspect ratio questions in the course of this thread.

PLEASE READ THIS: http://www.rexer.com/cine/oar.htm

It will answer all your questions about the black bars.

Damn I just got the hd player from cc yesterday but I didn't know about the coupon!!!
Do you think if I take in my receipt and the coupon they will give me 40 bucks in store credit or something?
Anyone tried this yet?

Heres the link to the coupon. My Amazon add-on will be going back.

http://img242.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cc40200zk2.jpg


coupon says no photocopies or reproductions.....will they still take it?

Got the drive myself on Friday and have been watching movies on it almost non-stop (Had to block out some time for Gears) :) Anyway, I am very impressed with the picture quality vs. standard DVD/upconverted DVD. This looks better than most HDTV content on my set and as good as Good HDTV. Audio quality is also an improvement on my gear vs. standard DVD and in my case, TrueHD downconverted sounded better vs. DD+ Hard to dexcribe the differences but, my impression was that the sound quality was "cleaner" - such as during a big bass hit for an action scene. On standard DVD this would cause some distortion to the sound, with DD+ the sound levels were a bit lower (as has been mentioned) but, I would still get a little distortion when the volume was raised and using True HD I have not had any distortion so far. My setup is a 52" RP HDTV, the 360 is connected via component and I am viewing content at 1080i. So far I'm very happy with the purchase and for anyone considering jumping into HD on disc, this is by far the cheapest way to try it out...

Have anyone try the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player on MCE PC or HTPC? How does it turns out? I might get one for my HTPC. Thanks.

coupon says no photocopies or reproductions.....will they still take it?

that's what I was wondering as well...

Where did you get that Circuit City coupon?

Just got mine, and I agree with many on this board that it is a worth while pick up!

I have heard some complian about it being seperate pieces. Since I have two 360s this works great for me. Just move the HD DVD player to other room as needed. Plus it just looks cool! :D

The seperate piece works out better for me also. The entertainment center where the Xbox is would not fit both, so I get to set the HD DVD add on behind glass.

The picture and sound quality are great, but how do I make my XBOX360 quieter?

That fan buzzing in the background drives me crazy!!!

Ok Guys I have $150 and I need some HD DVDs (watched KK twice already), what should I get?

I'm lovin it!!! For some reason SD-DVD looks better on this unit via VGA than on my $300 Farouja based player via HDMI. Who knew??

Gotta find Tokyo Drift, even though they trashed a perfectly good GT-500 and stuck in a ricer motor that sounds like a sewing machine on steroids!! So un-american, but consider the source!!

$200 well spent.

I have this puppy ordered through gamestop and should be getting it tomorrow. I have a 30" Samsung Slimfit CRT tv(1st generation) capable of displaying 720p and 1080i video. It only has HDMI and component connections. NO VGA. Currently, I have a samsung upconverting dvd player in which I use to watch my dvd's. For the most part the dvds look pretty good. My question is, is it worth it for me to keep the HD-DVD player add on or should I just return it? Will i be able to tell a diferenace and will that diference be enought to justify a 200$ price tag? I sit about 5-10 feet away from my tv when watching movies. Thanks for your help and time.

Ok Guys I have $150 and I need some HD DVDs (watched KK twice already), what should I get?


I think that the Kiss Kiss Bang Bang movie is the best looking of the bunch, not a bad movie either. MI3, Serenity are also some good choices.

Just bought the unit and here is my quick take on it.... Sweet mother of Jesus, I've hit the motherload! King Kong looks amazing on my 32 inch Westy. I love the increased detail but what really grabbed me by the booboo was the increased color(saturation?). I also picked up The Thing which looks very nice(a few grainy shots) and I'm seeing details that I never knew were there. So far I'm very impressed with this unit. I will be picking up The Searchers tomorrow and enjoy some Duke in HD glory. I was eye balling that Mission Impossible set too.

I picked up the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive yesterday. I'm loving every movie minute. It's the only reason I'm not playing Gears of War nonstop this weekend.

Also, I picked up Batman Begins, Training day, MI3, Constantine.

My only concern is the True HD sound. Can XBox 360 HD DVD output this?

I'm hoping it does because I'm going to pick up a new reciever by Xmas.

Is anyone else having problems with the "my scenes" menu? I bookmarked a few scenese by hitting the C button but when I bring up the "my scenes" menu it just shows the spinning circle for about 3 mins and then eventually closes the menu. Whatever I seem to do I can't get my scenes to show up.

Is anyone else having problems with the "my scenes" menu? I bookmarked a few scenese by hitting the C button but when I bring up the "my scenes" menu it just shows the spinning circle for about 3 mins and then eventually closes the menu. Whatever I seem to do I can't get my scenes to show up.

Yes I am having this problem too

I have this puppy ordered through gamestop and should be getting it tomorrow. I have a 30" Samsung Slimfit CRT tv(1st generation) capable of displaying 720p and 1080i video. It only has HDMI and component connections. NO VGA. Currently, I have a samsung upconverting dvd player in which I use to watch my dvd's. For the most part the dvds look pretty good. My question is, is it worth it for me to keep the HD-DVD player add on or should I just return it? Will i be able to tell a diferenace and will that diference be enought to justify a 200$ price tag? I sit about 5-10 feet away from my tv when watching movies. Thanks for your help and time.

Unless you are worried about upconverting SD movies, keep it. Your component connection should show of the add-on's capabilities nicely. Especially from what others are saying on the board. I will be using component once I receive mine. You should easily be able to tell the difference between SD and HD material. :cool:

Yes I am having this problem too

When I go to my scenes my stuff freezes completely.

Is anyone else having problems with the "my scenes" menu? I bookmarked a few scenese by hitting the C button but when I bring up the "my scenes" menu it just shows the spinning circle for about 3 mins and then eventually closes the menu. Whatever I seem to do I can't get my scenes to show up.

Had that same problem until I realized I need to press the center button once the spinning whell starts. The, voila, my saved scene selections.

Ok Guys I have $150 and I need some HD DVDs (watched KK twice already), what should I get?

Serenity and Batman Begins sound great (just ordered Serenity the other day). Constantine has some really awesome special features from what I've read.
There's also Brokeback Mountain, but it isn't coming out until January unfortunately. Will propably look stunning though.

Ok Guys I have $150 and I need some HD DVDs (watched KK twice already), what should I get?

It's time for Netflix. I watched two Hd-DVD titles this weekend. Slither and the Interpreter. Really enjoyed the 2nd one.

Bring in the receipt and coupon and I'm sure they'll honor it.


I'll soon find out!

I also picked up The Thing which looks very nice(a few grainy shots) and I'm seeing details that I never knew were there.

I got my drive yesterday, and this was the first movie I watched all the way through on it.

I've seen that movie at least a dozen times, and I never know the Doc had a nose ring. Heh.

I have this puppy ordered through gamestop and should be getting it tomorrow. I have a 30" Samsung Slimfit CRT tv(1st generation) capable of displaying 720p and 1080i video. It only has HDMI and component connections. NO VGA. Currently, I have a samsung upconverting dvd player in which I use to watch my dvd's. For the most part the dvds look pretty good. My question is, is it worth it for me to keep the HD-DVD player add on or should I just return it? Will i be able to tell a diferenace and will that diference be enought to justify a 200$ price tag? I sit about 5-10 feet away from my tv when watching movies. Thanks for your help and time.
You will see a much better picture with the add-on. And you don't need the VGA port, so don't worry about that. Component will do nicely and the 360 will upscale your current DVDs just the same. At your distance, the improvement should be very visible.

Where did you get that Circuit City coupon?

yeah, I'd like to know as well. I have like $80 in CC rewards..so if I could use it with the coupon I could get this thing for under $100. I'm not even sold on hd-dvd and said I wouldn't buy this till the format war settled out..but it's almost a no brainer at that price with a free movie.

edit: appears the coupon says it's not good on previous purchases for those wondering if they can go back in. also mentions its not good with select CC offers (which probably means rewards)

I have some questions that the manual doesnt answer.

1- Is the only way to start the HD DVD is to open and close the trey? I found no way to start it from the 360 guide or from the remote control. Only way for me is to open and close the HD trey.

2- Once I power on the system with the remote control again the movie wont start no matter what button I press on the remote it goes to the guide which is correct but wtf? I have to open and close the trey for it to start.

3- The power button on the remote control and the open/close control the 360 not the HD DVD player. Any one else find a way around this?

_______________

k now we know it rocks here are some questions i cant seem to figure out how to do.

1- I want to turn off the unit and then when i turn it back on continue the movie from that point....anyone know how to do this automatically?

2-I want the dam people signing into live updates to STOP, I cant take it. I do not want to unplug the live connection...i just want to turn off notification that some friend logged in.

thanks in advance for any and all informative info.

I received my 360 HD-DVD player from EB yesterday, and this thing looks nice, it has great PQ and for people like me who were looking to get into the HD arena without spending a lot of money, this is the way to go..You will not be disappointed.

2-I want the dam people signing into live updates to STOP, I cant take it. I do not want to unplug the live connection...i just want to turn off notification that some friend logged in.

thanks in advance for any and all informative info.

look in the dash. that option was supposed to be added with the fall update. sorry I can't give specifics..but it should be there.

i guess ill look again but i didnt see it.

Does anyone know if the bestbuy preorders come with KK? I contacted best BB about it and they told me they didnt know and to contact microsoft about it. So Im left here scratching my head like "wtf?".

Everyone's first allocations had KK and the remote bundled. I do not expect this special intro offer to last very long.

-Robert

k now we know it rocks here are some questions i cant seem to figure out how to do.

1- I want to turn off the unit and then when i turn it back on continue the movie from that point....anyone know how to do this automatically?

2-I want the dam people signing into live updates to STOP, I cant take it. I do not want to unplug the live connection...i just want to turn off notification that some friend logged in.

thanks in advance for any and all informative info.

You can disable the function where the pop ups come up.

1- Is the only way to start the HD DVD is to open and close the trey? I found no way to start it from the 360 guide or from the remote control. Only way for me is to open and close the HD trey.

If you look in the dash, the button that used to be just for loading a game from the dash, or loading a dvd from the dash is now split into two parts, one for the 360 drive and one for the HD-DVD addon drive.

As for the remote thing, I don't think they've adding logic to the receiver for it to be able to tell whether you're talking about the HD-DVD player or the 360 itself...

Matt

k now we know it rocks here are some questions i cant seem to figure out how to do.

1- I want to turn off the unit and then when i turn it back on continue the movie from that point....anyone know how to do this automatically?

2-I want the dam people signing into live updates to STOP, I cant take it. I do not want to unplug the live connection...i just want to turn off notification that some friend logged in.

thanks in advance for any and all informative info.

I think you can turn the notifications off. Can't you?

Well, if you bought the add-on and didn't know about the coupon, the simple thing to do is return the add-on and buy another one using the coupon, if they refuse to honor the coupon on the add-on you bought previously.

Well I went all out today , bought a 360 and hd dvd drive hours ago, I am so ready to hook it up

Looks like someone figured out how to get it to read in a pc, now you just need a player...

XBOX360 HD-DVDRom UDF.Reader - USE 360 HD DVD on PC

A drive has been released which allows you to use the Xbox 360 HD DVD reader on a PC!


quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Scoop:

The same day the XBOX360 HD-DVDROM Addon was released to the public in USA, we at blueprint figured out how to use it in windows, now as of this moment, officially, the movie that came with the hardware "King Kong" is currently a Dual Layer (30GB) disc so it would appear the studios are aiming for that size minimally for the majority of movies to start off with at least, this of course mean's you will not be directly copying any hd-dvd's as of yet. However, the most important thing is were now able to read the UDF (Universal Disc Filesystem) v2.5 which is currently used by the Toshiba Corp with there first generation HD-DVDRom drives. You can see the entire contents of the HD-DVD Media when in the drive. You can see the Label of the movie title next to the drive letter, you can copy the entire contents of the disc to your hdd, we have thus far only tested this in windows explorer, were anxious to hear about how folks take things from here, better methods of ripping the movies will come in the future, were also looking at the drives since there toshiba/samsung to possibly rip games in the future, of course thats not something were personally working on, but were pretty damn sure it will be possible. in any event, onto the direction's for installation/recongizing your drives contents in windows xp sp2.

The Install:

Right click on "thdudf.inf" and choose Install from the list of menu options. once this is complete, you should reboot your machine for a full installation of the new UDF 2.5 File system recognition. From here your drive should no longer just say CD-ROM when examining it in windows.

** Notes **

Again, these are litterally Toshiba Corp drivers for the file system used with HD-DVD. We did not create these drivers ourselves, so we cannot modify them, however there availability is limited to specific machines which were familiar with from our places of business, and we will continue to get the latest updates of these drivers and make them available to you as they're released to us.

If you would like to contact us about possibily contributing to the cause you can find us at pilgram@gmail.com please label the subject matter very specificly or your email will likely be over looked or even disreguarded due to the volume of questions we will recieve. we do not offer you any files via email. and you are on your own as far as getting these movies are concerned. Good luck to all of you who will take it from here and write some nice applications to use these methods more efficiently we anxiously await your mail.

This would be possible with our Mosb3rg and Watchy thanks very much guys your speed on cracking this was pretty amazing and also thanks for spending the money upfront so everyone else could enjoy there addon much more than if they just purchased before hand without this information.

Now, which setting looks better, 720p or 1080i? I have my 360 set to 1080i because my TV is 1080i native. I know the A1 looked better at 1080i even if your TV was 720 native.

Anyone know?

k now we know it rocks here are some questions i cant seem to figure out how to do.

1- I want to turn off the unit and then when i turn it back on continue the movie from that point....anyone know how to do this automatically?

2-I want the dam people signing into live updates to STOP, I cant take it. I do not want to unplug the live connection...i just want to turn off notification that some friend logged in.

thanks in advance for any and all informative info.

1. Before you turn off the 360 press A to create a bookmark. You can then return to it later.

2. Press the guide button and go to personal settings - notifications.

1. Before you turn off the 360 press A to create a bookmark. You can then return to it later.

2. Press the guide button and go to personal settings - notifications.


awesome, ty i just fixed the notify.....ill try the bookmark at the next play chance i get :)

Isin't 1080i 40% more pixels then 720P? Go with 1080i and see the full rez.

You will see a much better picture with the add-on. And you don't need the VGA port, so don't worry about that. Component will do nicely and the 360 will upscale your current DVDs just the same. At your distance, the improvement should be very visible.

Are you saying upscale current DVDs over component just teh same as VGA?

hey.. does anybody know if you can have games from the dvd drive at one resolution( 720p) and the hd dvd drive out put to 1080i ? I have noticed that my projector likes hd in 1080I better than 720p even though it is a 720p projector.. I know it isn't pixel perfect.. but 1080i seems to work better( smoother sharper) for hddvd and upconverted dvd.. but I would like to run games at 720p.. do i need to switch back and forth in the display option settings or is there a tab i am missing for hddvd/dvd settings with more settings like 3-2 pulldown etc.. ? thanks.. love the drive by the way..." i had the toshiba a1" for a short time and loved the picture etc and it upconverted dvd's beautifuly.. but the machine was 1st gen and kind of buggy etc.. from my memory the 360hdhdvd looks about the same in pic quility.. very punchy with great contrast.. very stable pic.. although the a1 I was using hdmi... anyways fwiw.. for 200 bucks .. the 360hddvd is a steal.. ya no hdmi ( for what I believe to be a very short time).. but the drive is much quicker smoother and looks and sounds spectacular.... oh by the way.. people who are concerned about lower volumes with the dd+ tracks etc... it is not the drive.. it is the hddvd's themsolves.. they are mastered at a higher bit rate with more detail and oomph.. but are also mastered a bit quieter.. most have to be turned up about 10 db or so on my reciever... it was the same with the A1

>>>>>>>>>The File (http://localhostr.com/files/c46c39057dc3fbe73d9f.rar)

Looks like someone figured out how to get it to read in a pc, now you just need a player...

XBOX360 HD-DVDRom UDF.Reader - USE 360 HD DVD on PC

A drive has been released which allows you to use the Xbox 360 HD DVD reader on a PC!


quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Scoop:

The same day the XBOX360 HD-DVDROM Addon was released to the public in USA, we at blueprint figured out how to use it in windows, now as of this moment, officially, the movie that came with the hardware "King Kong" is currently a Dual Layer (30GB) disc so it would appear the studios are aiming for that size minimally for the majority of movies to start off with at least, this of course mean's you will not be directly copying any hd-dvd's as of yet. However, the most important thing is were now able to read the UDF (Universal Disc Filesystem) v2.5 which is currently used by the Toshiba Corp with there first generation HD-DVDRom drives. You can see the entire contents of the HD-DVD Media when in the drive. You can see the Label of the movie title next to the drive letter, you can copy the entire contents of the disc to your hdd, we have thus far only tested this in windows explorer, were anxious to hear about how folks take things from here, better methods of ripping the movies will come in the future, were also looking at the drives since there toshiba/samsung to possibly rip games in the future, of course thats not something were personally working on, but were pretty damn sure it will be possible. in any event, onto the direction's for installation/recongizing your drives contents in windows xp sp2.

The Install:

Right click on "thdudf.inf" and choose Install from the list of menu options. once this is complete, you should reboot your machine for a full installation of the new UDF 2.5 File system recognition. From here your drive should no longer just say CD-ROM when examining it in windows.

** Notes **

Again, these are litterally Toshiba Corp drivers for the file system used with HD-DVD. We did not create these drivers ourselves, so we cannot modify them, however there availability is limited to specific machines which were familiar with from our places of business, and we will continue to get the latest updates of these drivers and make them available to you as they're released to us.

If you would like to contact us about possibily contributing to the cause you can find us at pilgram@gmail.com please label the subject matter very specificly or your email will likely be over looked or even disreguarded due to the volume of questions we will recieve. we do not offer you any files via email. and you are on your own as far as getting these movies are concerned. Good luck to all of you who will take it from here and write some nice applications to use these methods more efficiently we anxiously await your mail.

This would be possible with our Mosb3rg and Watchy thanks very much guys your speed on cracking this was pretty amazing and also thanks for spending the money upfront so everyone else could enjoy there addon much more than if they just purchased before hand without this information.

Works. Make certain you save the file as a .rar and then extract it.

Now, can anyone tell me where to find a copy or download of WinDVD 8 from Japan w/ HD-DVD?

What is the best HD-dvd you have picture quality and movie.

I would have to vote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. :)

Well I finally hooked mine up and the first thing I noticed is that the sound seems much lower that when I watch movies with my HD-A1. Other than that, the load times and PQ seem on par. Might be selling my Toshiba unit here in a bit. We'll see how the add-on holds up.

I would agree the above statement. I have compared the HD-Addon (over Component) with my A1 (HDMI) and the picture quality on my Sammy @1080i look pretty similar. I also noticed the audio was lower on the add-on than with the A1.

So....
Where did the Circuit city coupon originate? In store, by mail, sunday paper, any ideas???

I have some questions that the manual doesnt answer.

1- Is the only way to start the HD DVD is to open and close the trey? I found no way to start it from the 360 guide or from the remote control. Only way for me is to open and close the HD trey.

2- Once I power on the system with the remote control again the movie wont start no matter what button I press on the remote it goes to the guide which is correct but wtf? I have to open and close the trey for it to start.

3- The power button on the remote control and the open/close control the 360 not the HD DVD player. Any one else find a way around this?

_______________

Did you install the software that came with the unit? You should have a new "split" icon on to the left of the tray (on the game menu). Looks like a pokeball (if you have kids you will know what I mean.... :)) One section controls the HD DVD drive (if you have a HD DVD in the unit - it will indicate "play HD DVD"), the other portion controls the game drive. Works perfect on my system. There is no way to turn off the HD DVD drive when the 360 is on (e.g. you are just playing games) unless you pull the power plug going into the HD DVD drive - not sure you really care about turning it off anyway. It is an external drive just like a computer would have.... SJ

Question, why are most of you dling the Japanese Windvd player software? There isn't an english counter part of the program yet? I thought thats what WinDVD 8 was.

Can we get a couple of pics of the dash with the add-on installed. Maybe a few more movie pics as well.

I live in Canada and cannot seem to find a unit anywhere, although I do have one on order at Amazon.ca.It was supposed to ship Friday but alas it did not. I am very anxious to get my hands on one.

Thanks, Greg.

Can we get a couple of pics of the dash with the add-on installed. Maybe a few more movie pics as well.
360's HD DVD player in use. (http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/top/clips-360s-hddvd-player-in-use-213941.php)


I live in Canada and cannot seem to find a unit anywhere, although I do have one on order at Amazon.ca.It was supposed to ship Friday but alas it did not. I am very anxious to get my hands on one.
Canadian Xbox 360 HD DVD drive retailer thread. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=747782)

It seems NOBODY in Canada has one yet. However, as of Friday it was "in transit" from distribution centres to individual stores, and I think many retailers will have it by Monday or Tuesday though.

Isin't 1080i 40% more pixels then 720P? Go with 1080i and see the full rez.

Actually no, but this is really for a different topic. It's the "P" vs. "i" thing.
Set it to the native res of the TV you're using.

After 40 threads of this and confirmations coming from all over the nation with members having different displays that the HD-DVD add-on does deliver.

So I would expect pretty much no more arguments about HDMI being needed or USB plug in and so forth.

All of your responses have pretty much confirmed what MS is saying about HDMI not being needed at this time.

If HDMI comes it comes but if 40 threads of this can come up with majority being satisfied with 720P, 1080P, 768P displays then from this point on the argument needs to end here. Minus the sound quality which personally I don't see as an issue(I love my 5.1) I am here to say HDMI not needed at this point in time. It delivers simple as that.

Happy Veterans Day to all. We were still able to honor and celebrate the past and the present while being here in Iraq.

Hey I just bought The Fast and the Furious the Original in HD looks nice and also Apollo 13, has anyone seen this movie and know it the PQ is awesome or regualer in HD DVD, if not i want to return it for something else, i didnt open it yet, im having seconds thoughts??

here is my pic of my set up, wat u think? excuse the PQ, its form my analog camera phone.

here is my pic of my set up, wat u think? excuse the PQ, its form my analog camera phone.

Nice setup!

Nice setup!

thank you very much, im keeping it simple for now

The HDMI is a deal breaker for me I own the 360 and like the idea of 1 cable going to my receiver and then to my TV. If MS releases the cable I will consider the 360 add on if not I will purchase the A2 or Xa2


Rob

For those that feel the lack of an HDMI is a deal breaker, there are more than one rumor floating around that microsoft is about to drop an announcement on the 22nd, it's supposed to include a few things and MAY include an HDMI cable for the XBox 360.

It is still just hearsay, but there have been a few posts on these boards that people have heard from a number of sources that this is going to be done.

If it's true, than Sony loses quite alot of it's firepower about 1080p and TrueHD (sony's description of 1080p). I would both love and hate this, because it would mean I would need an HDMI switcher for my HTPC and XBOX360. But if it allows upscaling of DVD's to 1080i or 720p with the HDMI cable I would at least have to see the quality over that connection.

TimT

>>>>>>>>>The File (http://localhostr.com/files/c46c39057dc3fbe73d9f.rar)
Thanks for this ;)

You will see a much better picture with the add-on. And you don't need the VGA port, so don't worry about that. Component will do nicely and the 360 will upscale your current DVDs just the same. At your distance, the improvement should be very visible.

Amir,

Can you confirm this, there have been conflicting statements by people and even one person displayed an image of his TV showing 480p through component when playing a standard DVD.

I however with my eyes as the only judge feel it is not upscaling over component, which has been microsofts statement on this feature, due to Macrovision's limitation as part of the CSS package.

Either way unfortunately the quality of the SD-DVD playback doesn't stand up to my HTPC so I will be continuing to use that. It also seems that the original software package is whats playing SD-DVD's and not the HD-DVD player which I found odd. Also playing some Video based or misflagged footage such as the recent Marvel's Avengers animated movie shows some noticable (to me) interlacing issues which I find distracting.

Will Microsoft be continuing to improve the HD-DVD and DVD Players as part of future updates. If so I would consider this a huge bonus to having an XBOX 360. It's one of the reasons that I have been a huge HTPC user over the years, as adding and upgrading playback software is a very important feature.

TimT

For those that feel the lack of an HDMI is a deal breaker, there are more than one rumor floating around that microsoft is about to drop an announcement on the 22nd, it's supposed to include a few things and MAY include an HDMI cable for the XBox 360.

It is still just hearsay, but there have been a few posts on these boards that people have heard from a number of sources that this is going to be done.

If it's true, than Sony loses quite alot of it's firepower about 1080p and TrueHD (sony's description of 1080p). I would both love and hate this, because it would mean I would need an HDMI switcher for my HTPC and XBOX360. But if it allows upscaling of DVD's to 1080i or 720p with the HDMI cable I would at least have to see the quality over that connection.

TimT

Here's a link to the Neowin forum about the Nov 22nd rumors. They include the HDMI cable...mind you, rumors:
http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=510528

Will Microsoft be continuing to improve the HD-DVD and DVD Players as part of future updates. If so I would consider this a huge bonus to having an XBOX 360. It's one of the reasons that I have been a huge HTPC user over the years, as adding and upgrading playback software is a very important feature.

Though I can't speak for MS, I could almost guarantee you that there WILL be future updates. It's only logical.

here is my pic of my set up, wat u think? excuse the PQ, its form my analog camera phone.
What model # receiver is that?

just hooked mine up today. this thing is sweet. what a bargain for $200 if you already had the 360.

Here's a link to the Neowin forum about the Nov 22nd rumors. They include the HDMI cable...mind you, rumors:
http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=510528


Yeah, the quoted this from the destructoid article I read on that site. I hope this is true, I want a larger hard drive for downloading shows (Star Trek: TOS in HD, Woot!) and possibly renting movies. But I have Netflix so renting is a big problem until they realize that I want to pay about $10.00 a month for at least having 3 movies on my HD at the same time. I wouldn't think that would be too hard to convince studios since it should be easy to limit you to 3 movies at a time, and they already do it with Netflix.

TimT

What model # receiver is that?

Sony STR-DE835, I love it, its like 4 years old, but the sound is awesome with my 7.1 surround sound.

Will Microsoft be continuing to improve the HD-DVD and DVD Players as part of future updates. If so I would consider this a huge bonus to having an XBOX 360. It's one of the reasons that I have been a huge HTPC user over the years, as adding and upgrading playback software is a very important feature.

TimT

I've thought that about the 360. Aside from the internals, everything could theoretically be upgraded if Microsoft chooses to do so.

For instance, if HD-DVD fails to become the standard, who's to say MS couldn't develope a Blu-ray addon. Or the removable harddrive could be upgraded to a larger one. MS could even one day offer a wireless N adaptor.

It seems the 360 is futureproof by way of being upgradable.

Got mine today, I just walked into my local Game Crazy and asked for one! For those asking about regular dvd upconversion, I tried a regular dvd in both drives over component and both output 480p, so it looks like no upconversion over component. I'm off to pick up a vga cable tomorrow.

i really hope it's true about the HDMI, primarily because i don't have an upconverting DVD player and it'd be nice if the 360 could do it for me. plus, i recently got Monster components, and while it was an upgrade from the stock, i can return them to switch to HDMI (i got them less than a month ago).

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8872426&&#post8872426

I have an 8800GTX . And I now have, I believe, a hybrid BD/HD DVD player. I'm going to do some more testing and make sure everything is still working correctly, and then I'll document the entire creation process and how it all works together. It's not exactly the most intuitive system but I think it works! I'm not trying to be a tease, it will likely be Monday evening before I can have everything up. So if you want to try it yourself, then here's what you need:

The Japanese WinDVD release with patches
Altiris' Software Virtualization Personal Edition (free)
XBox HD DVD drive
Blu Ray drive
HDCP compliant video card
Fairly beefy system or a card that can handle the decoding

Use the Altiris software to create virtualization layers of both the HD and BD versions of WinDVD. Activate whichever layer you require for the disk you want to play. It worked for me with the HD DVD drive, and based on that it should work fine with BD. I'll be able to tell you for sure on Monday evening. Is it cheap? Nope. But having a hybrid player feels pretty good.


Here's a link to a post describing how to order Intervideo WinDVD 8 with HD-DVD/Blu-Ray support.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8871286&&#post8871286

And another discussion on TheGreenButton (WINMCE forums)

http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/permalink/148348/148368/ShowThread.aspx#148368


:D

Thanks Microsoft & Toshiba!

So in theory assuming one had all the compliant parts already the HD-DVD addon drive for Xbox 360 is the drive to buy for PC as well! WOOHOO!

i really hope it's true about the HDMI, primarily because i don't have an upconverting DVD player and it'd be nice if the 360 could do it for me. plus, i recently got Monster components, and while it was an upgrade from the stock, i can return them to switch to HDMI (i got them less than a month ago).

I believe the xBox will up-scale standard DVD's via the vga output.

does anyone have their set with a mitsubishi wd-52631?
if so do you use a regular VGA to DVI adapter to display 1080p?

Anyone willling to part with there coupon for CC. Or where can I get one.

Hey Gang,

THe link to that CC coupon came from I believe fat wallet. I downloaded, printed it out and took it to the only CC that had it in stock. Yes, it says no phorocopies are accepted. Mine took it with no questions asked.

From the xbox scene forums, seems to be a driver released for the xbox hd drive for the pc. With it you can view the file structure and dump your bought movies to the hard drive, but it won't play the movie without the right software player. King Kong read as 30 gigs and Batman 24.8 gigs.

How do I get hd dvd to play from dashboard? I know its something very simple

Gotspeed,

You need to go to the media tab on the dashboard I believe. Look towards the bottom for a spere on the left hand side. The sphere is bisected. Move your cursor over the upper-hals, and you eject the 360 drive. The lower half of the sphere ejects the add-ons tray.

Hi everyone! Can someone let me know if the HD-DVD playback has small black bars on the left and right side via vga on lcd's, with the settings on the 360 at 1360x768. Preferably recent 768p samsungs.
I notice this during regular dvd playback with the 360. A small minor annoyance but the picture was still great.

I am here to say HDMI not needed at this point in time.

So your saying my 12m $150 HDMI cable i use for my Denon DVD player should sit there and do nothing...?

I would say its best to have "The Best Of Both Worlds" to please everyone. If its possible then why not?
So stop with the not needed. It is needed!!!!
:p

Can someone please let me know if the Ghosting problem over component on the Xbox360/DVD playback (as seen on Pany AE500/700/900 projectors) is a problem with this Add on over component.

Realy need to know...Thanks


Sorry to quote myself but while my HDMI cable sits idle waiting for the Microsoft HDMI cable to to come out id really like to know if my component cable will work with the AE700. Someone has already pointed out that it should be fine as the HD-DVD add on will output 720p not 576p but id love to have proof. :)

here is my pic of my set up, wat u think? excuse the PQ, its form my analog camera phone.

Nice Yptonw193. I especially like the Sony RX as I have the very same one downstairs! :)

Gotspeed,

You need to go to the media tab on the dashboard I believe. Look towards the bottom for a spere on the left hand side. The sphere is bisected. Move your cursor over the upper-hals, and you eject the 360 drive. The lower half of the sphere ejects the add-ons tray.

thanks like I said VERY SIMPLE

It's been said before but I'll say it again. If your 360 is loud while playing DVDs/HD-DVDs you need to ventilate the system better.

During games, well the disc is spinning 12X constantly then and its quite loud. It's not the fans that make all the racket.

If someone has a "loud" player (louder than their DVD playback w/ internal drive) then I'd presume they got a bum drive.

There's more to it than that.....the launch units had two different drives, one of the drives was really loud, the other wasn't so bad....they've since replaced the really loud drive entirely. I read this on one of the xbox sites. If you've got the loud drive you've just got a loud system. My hand falls there for my launch day unit........the xbox 360 is loud enough to not want to be used as a dvd drive.

Has this been posted yet?

From another forum:

As discussed earlier, I was quite excited to discover a little package from Microsoft when I got back from Montreal. A brand new Xbox 360 HD DVD drive. After installing the hardware and associated updates I was I horrified to discover that when I hit the eject button for the first time the unit decided to rip out its HD DVD laser diode.

When the tray ejected it stopped about one third of the way out, did a little back and forward movement and then fully ejected. Of course sitting happily on the tray was the laser. Unit completely broken.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v663/sehnzeleid1/hddvd.jpg

What The *#$%

I've found both Charlie & Chocolate Family and V for Vendetta to be on the softer side as far as image quality goes. King Kong though looks razor sharp. I'm using a Westy 37" 1080p set via VGA cable. Just my observations. I returned my initial HD-DVD drive because it was REALLY loud and exchanged it and the new one is mega-quiet.

So your saying my 12m $150 HDMI cable i use for my Denon DVD player should sit there and do nothing...?

I would say its best to have "The Best Of Both Worlds" to please everyone. If its possible then why not?
So stop with the not needed. It is needed!!!!
:p

Um, did you think you were impressing us by letting us know you have a $150 HDMI cable? I hope you realize that most people here will think you are quite foolish for spending that much on an HDMI cable.

Well because it's $150, won't my 0's and 1's be transferred at a higher quality???

Heres the link to the coupon. My Amazon add-on will be going back.

http://img242.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cc40200zk2.jpg


Does this work?, If so does anyone know if EB Games does returns?, Cause $40 is definatly worth the hassle.

Why do you need the Japanese version of WinDVD? Doesn't WinDVD 8 offer HD support already? So I'm going to assume the menu's and options are all in Japanese as well?

Has this been posted yet?

From another forum:



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v663/sehnzeleid1/hddvd.jpg

That's f-ed up...glad mine didn't do that.

Does this work?, If so does anyone know if EB Games does returns?, Cause $40 is definatly worth the hassle.
I inquired about returns when I did my preorder at the local EB. I was told once it was opened, it couldn't be returned. You could trade it in towards another purchase(but the credit is BS, as always). So I canceled my preorder. Try it and see, but I dought it.

Nice Yptonw193. I especially like the Sony RX as I have the very same one downstairs! :)

thanks a lot bro, it works great right and give out nice sound in DTS. Cheers to you.

Wow i cant believe that happened to you, definately defective. oh well go back and get a new one.

I've found both Charlie & Chocolate Family and V for Vendetta to be on the softer side as far as image quality goes. King Kong though looks razor sharp. I'm using a Westy 37" 1080p set via VGA cable.
Thats really odd. Charlie and the chocolate factory is beyond amazing on my set. Not soft at all. (Mitsubishi 65731) not sure if it has anything to do with VGA or not. Or perhaps even the player (Toshiba HD-A1).

I picked one up this morning, the various Electronics Boutique stores and their variants seem to be the way to go. Installation is a snap. The drive also has 2 USB ports which can be used as a hub. The drive tray seems pretty flimsy. The overall audio volume seems a bit low as reported, at least on Batman Begins. The remote is back lit and responsive...remember to remove the plastic film from the remote. Picture quality is excellent, I'm using 720p component out to a Samsung 50" 720p DLP HDTV. BB is nice and sharp with deep blacks. Havent tried King Kong yet, and I also have MI:3 as well. First impressions are impressive, excellent value for the money, especially when you throw in the remote & the KK disc. One nice feature of HD DVD is you can access all the disc menus without interrupting the movie.

Um, did you think you were impressing us by letting us know you have a $150 HDMI cable? I hope you realize that most people here will think you are quite foolish for spending that much on an HDMI cable.

No i didn't. Your point is, apart from being pointless?
:rolleyes:

http://www2.dvigear.com/hffiopcaff10.html

http://www2.dvigear.com/hdmi12metershr.html

Mine looks cheap now.. happy :o

I picked one up this morning, the various Electronics Boutique stores and their variants seem to be the way to go. Installation is a snap. The drive also has 2 USB ports which can be used as a hub. The drive tray seems pretty flimsy. The overall audio volume seems a bit low as reported, at least on Batman Begins. The remote seems a little sluggish in terms of response. Picture quality is excellent, I'm using 720p component out to a Samsung 50" 720p DLP HDTV. BB is nice and sharp with deep blacks. Havent tried King Kong yet, and I also have MI:3 as well. First impressions are impressive, excellent value for the money, especially when you throw in the remote & the KK disc.

KK is what makes the deal, great movie, awesome PQ

So your saying my 12m $150 HDMI cable i use for my Denon DVD player should sit there and do nothing...?

I would say its best to have "The Best Of Both Worlds" to please everyone. If its possible then why not?
So stop with the not needed. It is needed!!!!
:p

I don't know or care about your $150 HDMI cable which by the way you paid WAAAYYY too much for if it is just sitting around waiting for the announcment about HDMI for the 360. Get a PS3 to fill that void.

I did say at "this time" it isn't needed because obviously the 360 has been delivering visually especially with my display. I have been gaming in 1080P since Feb. Anyone with a 1080P display should already see the best they are getting with those displays. I don't understand the concern and it all started just because the PS3 has HDMI but even if the 360 got an HDMI cable I would not expect the picture to be leaps and bounds over component. Look at the HD-DVD add-on that is proof right there. Whyare people saying the PQ looks just as good as the stand alone?

As I stated we can all keep asking for it but do we really need it now. 1.3 HDMI isn't even mainstream yet and even then I don't see every one here running out to get a 1.3 HDMI reciever at the average price of $900 just to get better sound. 5.1 and 7.1 will do me just fine until the prices come down. Alot of people see it that way too.

I can’t believe the rudeness and hostility of the responses to my review of the xbox 360 player.

Goodness .. I know people on this site are into AV – but do you all sit around all day with oscilloscopes measuring and making sure your whites are 6500K?

Most of the responses basically said (in a nutshell) – you’re an idiot and don’t know what your talking about.

But really.. how much detail do I need for movies like Little Man? The DVD thru the upscaling player looked excellent.

The transferring and compression authoring quality of regular DVD's now is just amazing.

Also HD-DVD almost has a bit of an artificial sharpness to it. Like an over sharpened digital image from photoshop.

I'm into digital photography (above average amateur). To the noob - the sharper the photo the better. If you take a photo straight out of a good digital SLR (ie a raw file)- they are not overly sharp.

Also look at many professional photos ie weddings and such - not razor sharp either.

All of you don't fret - I will never waste my time being trying to be helpful again.

My goodness people are touchy on here. Forget about my wasted $$$
My point is id like one to use my cable and TruHD as im sure others do/will.
My apologies.

My God ;)

Edit...
As my m8 pointed out i should have said
"very long, heavily shielded permanently installed cable"
:p

All of you don't fret - I will never waste my time being trying to be helpful again.

Dont worry m8 they have issues ;) you carry on. I thought you put your points well. I look forward to getting my hands on one though!!


swanlee / twak
Thats not an issue m8y (your posts below) im not going to explain :cool:

Got mine today, I just walked into my local Game Crazy and asked for one! For those asking about regular dvd upconversion, I tried a regular dvd in both drives over component and both output 480p, so it looks like no upconversion over component. I'm off to pick up a vga cable tomorrow.

OK I have not checked in a couple of days but is the general consensus that it does not upconvert through component video. Does anybody have hard evidence either way.

"So your saying my 12m $150 HDMI cable i use for my Denon DVD player should sit there and do nothing.."


Umm you do know you will never ever be able to use that with the 360 even if they do release HDMI for the 360?


The back input for the 360 has a seperate and unique input for it's cables. You would need to buy a HDMI cable specifically made for this input.

Has anyone posted on the quality of the upconversion of standard dvds? Perhaps compared to other upconversion dvd player (oppo, samsung, panny).

"So your saying my 12m $150 HDMI cable i use for my Denon DVD player should sit there and do nothing.."


Umm you do know you will never ever be able to use that with the 360 even if they do release HDMI for the 360?


The back input for the 360 has a seperate and unique input for it's cables. You would need to buy a HDMI cable specifically made for this input.

BINGO!

Has anyone posted on the quality of the upconversion of standard dvds? Perhaps compared to other upconversion dvd player (oppo, samsung, panny).


I'd like to know this myself. I have the drive with component cables; and while King Kong looks awesome, SD-DVDs look awful. Ok, not awful, but I'd rather use my Oppo by far. I dont want to spend $40 on the VGA cable to find out its still not upconverted, and I'd hate to have to use 2 dvd players

Ok, so you are saying SDs look like crap? Worse than they would appear on a non hd or upscaling player?

"I dont want to spend $40 on the VGA cable to find out its still not upconverted, and I'd hate to have to use 2 dvd players"


Dude read a faq or even this thread, using VGA gives you 1080P for games HD-DVD's and standard DVD's.

VGA= 1080P on everything

"So your saying my 12m $150 HDMI cable i use for my Denon DVD player should sit there and do nothing.."


Umm you do know you will never ever be able to use that with the 360 even if they do release HDMI for the 360?


The back input for the 360 has a seperate and unique input for it's cables. You would need to buy a HDMI cable specifically made for this input.

<HDMI female to HDMI female> adaptor would allow usuage of any existing HDMI cable. Basically, to extend the Xbox cable.
http://www.national-tech.com/catalog/hdmiadapter.htm

HDMI female > HDMI female adaptor would allow usuage of any existing HDMI cable.

;)

I dont want to spend $40 on the VGA cable to find out its still not upconverted

It is confirmed that the 360 does upconvert with the vga cable. My question is how well compared to other upconversion dvd players.

P.S. you can fin 360 cables a lot cheaper tham $40. I just ordered some for $15.

Hi all :)


I'm from Belgium, i've just ordered my hd dvd 360 drive add on in France, in the mean time i ordered too two hd-dvd movie from Amazon (Last Samuraï and The Thing).

I was looking for informations when i heard about region locking.... i've found that the HD-DVD movie "The Thing" is region 1 locked!!! Huhh :(

Is that mean that i will not be able to play it with my drive?

There is some guys here telling that there is no region locking for HD-DVD, then why the selling sites are specifiyng that this movie is region1?

All informations are welcome :)

Thanks to all of you

Best regards

GB

on the other 360-HD-DVD thread on this site, it's been noted that vga is:
A) not availble to all newer tv's and
B) most of the time, does not look as good as component - VGA appears soft and the blacks are light.

Hi all :)


I'm from Belgium, i've just ordered my hd dvd 360 drive add on in France, in the mean time i ordered too two hd-dvd movie from Amazon (Last Samuraï and The Thing).

I was looking for informations when i heard about region locking.... i've found that the HD-DVD movie "The Thing" is region 1 locked!!! Huhh :(

Is that mean that i will not be able to play it with my drive?

There is some guys here telling that there is no region locking for HD-DVD, then why the selling sites are specifiyng that this movie is region1?

All informations are welcome :)

Thanks to all of you

Best regards

GB

Confused and a recognisable way to say the disc is from the US.

No region coding on discs or players.

I got some stick over my $$$ cable. Like to point you to this....
Cable choice (http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-11246_7-6361815-1.html)

In my case i needed 12m
"The exceptions are long runs--say, more than 10 feet--where high-quality cables often work better,"
and i didnt want any sign of sparklies.
"image degredation, which sometimes appears as "sparklies" in digital transmissions."

VGA will suffer loss as its analog so if your going over distance best to spend a bit more. In most cases it is irrelevant. Not for me :)

on the other 360-HD-DVD thread on this site, it's been noted that vga is:
A) not availble to all newer tv's and
B) most of the time, does not look as good as component - VGA appears soft and the blacks are light.

I disagree with point #2. I can't speak to the blacks are light issue. I am guessing that not every TV has the same image quality via VGA.

The back of the system was fairly hot while watching a movie, but the rest of the box stayed cool. No lockups at all while watching pieces of King Kong, Batman, and the entirety of "The Thing".

I'm trying to watch King Kong all the way through, but after getting just 35 - 45 minutes into the movie, it starts to studder and freeze up every 10 or so minutes. :( Does anyone here know why this might be happening? KK is the only HD DVD I own at the moment, so testing it out with another HD DVD is out of the question. Currently, I have the HD DVD drive sitting on top of the 360, with the 360 sitting on the floor right next to my TV stand (don't ask!). Might this somehow be the problem? :confused: Both the HD DVD drive and the 360 are in a wide-open spot with lots of ventilation, if you're wondering.

I posted this question in a different thread, but no body answered. Basically, the stand alone Toshiba players upconvert copy-protection free DVDs (home made movies or DVDs stripped of protection) over component. Does the add on do the same?

on the other 360-HD-DVD thread on this site, it's been noted that vga is:
A) not availble to all newer tv's and
B) most of the time, does not look as good as component - VGA appears soft and the blacks are light.

I think you will find it depends on the screen you use. If it prefers VGA or component. Other peoples opinions on this don't really count. The only way is to try both yourself on your equipment.
I have found VGA sharper but like you say blacks lighter. Component is not as sharp but blacks seem blacker (but it may just be my eyes!)
Its a shame component is restricted to 1080i. Will love to see what HDMI does. :)

I'm trying to watch King Kong all the way through, but after getting just 35 - 45 minutes into the movie, it starts to studder and freeze up every 10 or so minutes. :( Does anyone here know why this might be happening? KK is the only HD DVD I own at the moment, so testing it out with another HD DVD is out of the question. Currently, I have the HD DVD drive sitting on top of the 360, with the 360 sitting on the floor right next to my TV stand (don't ask!). Might this somehow be the problem? :confused: Both the HD DVD drive and the 360 are in a wide-open spot with lots of ventilation, if you're wondering.

Have you tired clearing the cache on the 360's hard drive ? I read this may cause this but no proof. If you could try it now and report back??
Here is how...



8.1 How do I clear the Xbox 360's cache? - NEW
If you find games loading slower, it may be caused by cache fragementation. Some games (such as Oblivion) provide the ability to clear the cache when starting up the game. For those that don't you can use the method below, brought to AV Forums by mjpartyboy. Note that this method removes all software updates and cache files for all games, not just a specific title.

Go to the "System" section of the Xbox Dashboard
Select "Memory", and then press the A
Choose a the HDD or a memory unit but do not press A - press Y to view "Device Options" which shows two options, "Rename" and "Format".
Press X, X, LB, RB, X, X.
Once you do this a blade will pop up saying: "This will perform maintenance on your Xbox 360 storage devices. Do you want to continue?"
Choose yes to clear the cache and update files, or choose no to cancel

Confused and a recognisable way to say the disc is from the US.

No region coding on discs or players.


Thank you for ur fast answer, i will then soon enjoy this old goood 'The Thing' movie, hiiiiiaaaaaaaaaahhhh.

C u soon ;)

GB

I'm trying to watch King Kong all the way through, but after getting just 35 - 45 minutes into the movie, it starts to studder and freeze up every 10 or so minutes. :( Does anyone here know why this might be happening? KK is the only HD DVD I own at the moment, so testing it out with another HD DVD is out of the question. Currently, I have the HD DVD drive sitting on top of the 360, with the 360 sitting on the floor right next to my TV stand (don't ask!). Might this somehow be the problem? :confused: Both the HD DVD drive and the 360 are in a wide-open spot with lots of ventilation, if you're wondering.
I wish you had other disc to compare! About 2 months ago I purchased the RCA stand alone player for $300 at Wal-mart. Played 4 movies, Training Day, Constantine, Van Helsing, and Swordfish :D . The problem you are now having, I only had with Van Helsing. But many people posted about the same problem. Did you check the disc for scratches, finger prints?

How many of these drives are coming out defective? I just picked one up this morning from the local CC. The clerk told me that they received 10 of them and one had already come back defective.

Now I install mine and it won't work. It will only spin up and displays "reading" on the screen with an HD disc and when I insert an SD disc the screen will go black in 10-15 seconds.

The SD drive in the original Xbox 360 plays SD discs just fine.

Has anyone else seen this? Has anyone else figured out a work-around? I'd rather not go through the return process.

Thanks.

King Kong was shot in 2.35:1 aspect ratio which is even wider than 1.85:1 aspect. When you watch 1.85:1 on a widescreen television you'll get no black bars, but 2:35:1 will have them. Rest assured though, you are getting all the picture, and the 360 has zoom and p-size functions if you just have to fill your whole screen. :)

Where are these zoom and picture size buttons? I don't see them on the DVD remote that came with the player.

Not that I wanna fill the screen on a 2:35:1 movie, just curious really.

I just purchased Troy today and I'm watching it right now. It looks AMAZING. Everything is so clear and the colors are more vibrant than I've ever seen, but it's yet another film shot in a format wider than my screen, but o well, I'm not complaining. My setup is:

Samsung HL-S5087W
Onkyo HT-540 7.1 Home Theater System
Xbox 360 w/ HD-DVD Addon across VGA

Hi All,
I printed a coupon from a previous post where purduealum91 posted a copy of the 40.00 off at circuit city went to the store and had no trouble getting the discount on the Add-on. I am one happy camper. I took a quick look at the image quality and it looks fantastic.
Steve

OK I have not checked in a couple of days but is the general consensus that it does not upconvert through component video. Does anybody have hard evidence either way.

Anybody?

It does not upconvert through component video cables. The ONLY way is with a VGA cable.

Go to the "System" section of the Xbox Dashboard
Select "Memory", and then press the A
Choose a the HDD or a memory unit but do not press A - press Y to view "Device Options" which shows two options, "Rename" and "Format".
Press X, X, LB, RB, X, X.
Once you do this a blade will pop up saying: "This will perform maintenance on your Xbox 360 storage devices. Do you want to continue?"
Choose yes to clear the cache and update files, or choose no to cancel

This seems to have worked fine! :)
I've been watching the movie for almost an hour now, and the "perform maintenance" trick seems to have gotten rid of all the studdering and freezing!
Thanks for the tip, Spooksta! ;)

Have you tired clearing the cache on the 360's hard drive ? I read this may cause this but no proof. If you could try it now and report back??
Here is how...



8.1 How do I clear the Xbox 360's cache? - NEW
If you find games loading slower, it may be caused by cache fragementation. Some games (such as Oblivion) provide the ability to clear the cache when starting up the game. For those that don't you can use the method below, brought to AV Forums by mjpartyboy. Note that this method removes all software updates and cache files for all games, not just a specific title.

Go to the "System" section of the Xbox Dashboard
Select "Memory", and then press the A
Choose a the HDD or a memory unit but do not press A - press Y to view "Device Options" which shows two options, "Rename" and "Format".
Press X, X, LB, RB, X, X.
Once you do this a blade will pop up saying: "This will perform maintenance on your Xbox 360 storage devices. Do you want to continue?"
Choose yes to clear the cache and update files, or choose no to cancel

Keep in mind that this will erase all of your game updates and patches, so do not be alarmed when you insert a game and it has to re-update.

Is it possible to burn the 720/1080 HD trailers from Apple onto a DVD-R, and then play it in HD on the 360?

Is it possible to burn the 720/1080 HD trailers from Apple onto a DVD-R, and then play it in HD on the 360?
Yes, but you have to convert them to WMV. Then they will play. They wont work as the .mov files that Apple uses.

I got the XBOX360 HD-DVD Player yesterday from CC and it works great over component @ 1080i (Sony KDL-46XBR2 runs native at 1080P anyway). I compared the normal King Kong DVD I have in my collections w/ the HD-DVD version and it's a dramatic difference.

we Canadians have to wait a couple more days before we get ours!!! :mad:

just asking again: how does King Kong look vs. the downloaded HD trailers on XBL? it can't look worse, but how much better is it?

Got the drive, now 360 won't recognize the HD-dvd drive. I insert the software disk, and it says connect the player. OK the player is connected.
Then I unplug everything, reboot system, insert disc. Plug in player, same outcome. PLEASE HELP!

Assume the add on is powered up (AC) and connected via. USB? I put the software into my xbox 360 (gave the same message as you). I already had the USB cable connected to the add on. Inserted the AC adaptor into the back of the add on. Everything worked perfectly. If not, take it back and get another one. Also, are you connected to XBOX Live? SJ

Assume the add on is powered up (AC) and connected via. USB? I put the software into my xbox 360 (gave the same message as you). I already had the USB cable connected to the add on. Inserted the AC adaptor into the back of the add on. Everything worked perfectly. If not, take it back and get another one. Also, are you connected to XBOX Live? SJ
AC cord was connected. Is it suppose to say "play game" at the bottom where you load the disc? Just tried un plugging the AC cord of the player and rebooting the system. Then running the software. Same problem.

I would connect your X Box to the internet & let it do a player update. If your dashboard doesnt list 1080p as a supported resolution, then it probably needs that update to recognize the drive.

I manage to pick one up at EB games at the Clackamas Mall in Clackamas, OR. To bad it is for a friend and not me. I'm curious how it would look against my HD-A1. I think when my friend comes over tomorrow to pick up his drive I'll have him hook it up to my 360 so we can compare. Then again he may just want to take it home and start using it right away. :p

I got it working! I had to unplug the power supply for both! The 1st plug in the usb, then plug in AC for the player 1st, then the AC cord for the 360. Powered up the 360, then I got the pie thing on the bottom left. Good to go now.

Anybody?

it runs @ 480p on component. when i press display on my 40xbr2 it says 480p.

"So your saying my 12m $150 HDMI cable i use for my Denon DVD player should sit there and do nothing.."


Umm you do know you will never ever be able to use that with the 360 even if they do release HDMI for the 360?


The back input for the 360 has a seperate and unique input for it's cables. You would need to buy a HDMI cable specifically made for this input.

TRUE, and on top of that, anyone who pays more than 50$ for an hdmi cable (mine was 16$), is missing a few chromosomes.

Hey Gang,

Would someone please tell mw how to disable friend notifications while watching a HD DVD movie? Thanks!

Hey Gang,

Would someone please tell mw how to disable friend notifications while watching a HD DVD movie? Thanks!


Push the Xbox guide button, scroll down to personal settings, scroll down to notifications, uncheck the box about movies.

is there anyway to get the remote, either xbox's or a harmony, to eject a dvd from the hd-dvd player?

If MS decides to offer an hdmi cable, do you think 7.1 true HD sound will be offered also

is there anyway to get the remote, either xbox's or a harmony, to eject a dvd from the hd-dvd player?

Ok, so it does an eject. Aren't you still going to have to walk to the drive and physically move the disk? I've never understood the importance of having an eject button on a remote. Just my 2 cents.

Deezul

is there any sort of color correction for hd dvd or sd dvd playback in the player? i know i have this on my tv/projector, but more is better....are there basic adjustments like color, tint, brightness, contrast, etc? just wondering...i dont have a 360 or the drive, but was thinking of getting both.

Ok, silly question. Dont laugh. Which button is the guide button?

Is there an easy (and free) way of converting from QT to WMV then?
I only use iMovieHD to compile my trailers (Mac user).

Thanks

Ok, silly question. Dont laugh. Which button is the guide button?

The silver and green X sphere thing in the center of the controller

Is there an easy (and free) way of converting from QT to WMV then?
I only use iMovieHD to compile my trailers (Mac user).

Thanks

If by QT you mean Quicktime then no I don't think so because last time I Checked Quicktime wan't a codec, however you probably mean H.264 or .MOV so yes there is a way to convert them, just search Google.


Visual Hub looks like a Good one.

I'll soon find out!

I printed the coupon on my printer (be sure to click again on the image of the coupon so it appears in full resolution).

Brought the printed coupon to CC and voila - $40 off the 360 HD DVD drive that I purchased on Friday. This on top of the $24 off I received because it was not available for pick-up 24 mins after it purchased on-line. $64 off - not bad.

Lumpy

If MS decides to offer an hdmi cable, do you think 7.1 true HD sound will be offered also

All speculation...but I would bet they do offer an HDMI and probably right around the PS3 launch.

Wether they will offer HDMI 1.3 right away to allow 7.1 I am not sure but am sure it could be integrated in a software update.

Do they 720p trailers in XBL look any better than from 480p DVD?
On my 2 screens, they look the same!

I can’t believe the rudeness and hostility of the responses to my review of the xbox 360 player.

Goodness .. I know people on this site are into AV – but do you all sit around all day with oscilloscopes measuring and making sure your whites are 6500K?

Most of the responses basically said (in a nutshell) – you’re an idiot and don’t know what your talking about.

But really.. how much detail do I need for movies like Little Man? The DVD thru the upscaling player looked excellent.

The transferring and compression authoring quality of regular DVD's now is just amazing.

Also HD-DVD almost has a bit of an artificial sharpness to it. Like an over sharpened digital image from photoshop.

I'm into digital photography (above average amateur). To the noob - the sharper the photo the better. If you take a photo straight out of a good digital SLR (ie a raw file)- they are not overly sharp.

Also look at many professional photos ie weddings and such - not razor sharp either.

All of you don't fret - I will never waste my time being trying to be helpful again.

Jeff,

While people being rude is wrong, the people that frequent these boards do not like being told that Standard DVD / VHS / CD / etc is good enough. We can be the judge for ourselves whether or not S-DVD is good enough for us. The very fact that HD-DVD exists is because for some people, good enough is NOT good enough.

So if you want to avoid being flamed here, you should simply remember to tone down your demands that HD-DVD is not required (from what I can understand this is why you probably got flamed, but I didn't read your posts). Also if your such an avid digital photographer, then I don't really see how you can say that HD-DVD is artifically enhanced. There is nothing artificial about HD-DVD's resolution improvements over SD-DVD. In fact most people don't have the equipment to take full advantage of HD-DVD right now.

Nobody is going to say that SD-DVD transfers haven't improved. A blanket statement like that would be incorrect and frankly just plain misinformed. Of course SD-DVD transfers have improved. Here's a little secret, the best SD-DVD transfers all look good because they started with HD Masters. Which is why some of us are so keen to have HD-DVD. This will allow us to get even closer to those HD-Masters and see films in the quality we haven't seen them since the first time in the theaters. I for one can't wait to see movies like Alien, Aliens, and others in HD-DVD. It will be some time before Fox gives up it's folly of Blue Ray but hopefully before the end of 2007 they will have to concede.

Hope this helps you to not get flamed in the future.

TimT

Anybody?

I'm sorry, I don't mean to be curt, but this has been asked and answered at least 5 times during the past two days.

Over component Copy Protected SD-DVD's are not upscaled, this is due to Macrovision and CSS. I am not sure about unprotected DVD material.

HD-DVD's are limited to 1080i over component, again due to copy protection,

VGA can upscale ALL SD-DVD Material up to 1080p and HD-DVD operates at 1080p over VGA as well.

If your TV has VGA input, then purchase the VGA adapter for the XBOX360 to get full quality on all SD-DVD and HD-DVD material

TimT

For Real A Lot Of People Dont Know Wat They Are Talkin About Here. If You Know Anything, You Will Know Hdmi Produces A Sharper Image Then Component. So Please Stop This Ridiculous Talk That Component And Hdmi Are The Same, B/c It Is Not True At All. You Just Want It To Be The Same. Just B/c For Some Reason You Cant Affored A Cable That Cost 100+. Enough Said. Hdmi=100% Digital Signal.

Ok, so it does an eject. Aren't you still going to have to walk to the drive and physically move the disk? I've never understood the importance of having an eject button on a remote. Just my 2 cents.

Deezul


LOL VERY TRU, BUT PEOPLE ARE LAZY AND JUST WOULD LIKE THE DISC TO BE THERE WAITING TO BE REMOVED IN ADVANCE.

All speculation...but I would bet they do offer an HDMI and probably right around the PS3 launch.

Wether they will offer HDMI 1.3 right away to allow 7.1 I am not sure but am sure it could be integrated in a software update.
lets hope so

For Real A Lot Of People Dont Know Wat They Are Talkin About Here. If You Know Anything, You Will Know Hdmi Produces A Sharper Image Then Component. So Please Stop This Ridiculous Talk That Component And Hdmi Are The Same, B/c It Is Not True At All. You Just Want It To Be The Same. Just B/c For Some Reason You Cant Affored A Cable That Cost 100+. Enough Said. Hdmi=100% Digital Signal.

HDMI cables are not 100$+, monoprice have them for 10$+ (depending on lenght). HDMI is nice for reducing cable and such (with a HDMI AMP) but it doesn't really change the picture unless the player and the display have piss poor DA converters witch are rarely the case now a day...

>>>>>>>>>The File (http://localhostr.com/files/c46c39057dc3fbe73d9f.rar)
I cannot open the file. Can you repost it? Thanks.

Do they 720p trailers in XBL look any better than from 480p DVD?
On my 2 screens, they look the same!

Well they are not the 'Real Thing' they are overly more compressed than HD DVD. And Hard Candy trailer look better than any dvd out there, the detail in faces is quite nice.

That's why i'am not convince about Microsoft HD movie download has they'll probably be 1/2 bitrate of the HD DVD and in this came they'll look worst..

HDMI cables are not 100$+, monoprice have them for 10$+ (depending on lenght). HDMI is nice for reducing cable and such (with a HDMI AMP) but it doesn't really change the picture unless the player and the display have piss poor DA converters witch are rarely the case now a day...


Yes HDMI cables do vary in quality. Some are specially sheilded and some arent which will give a better picture, im very sure there is a difference with a cable that costs $160 with one that costs $20 and its not just the size. Please do some research. its not goin to be 100% difference but there is a difference.

Jeff,

While people being rude is wrong, the people that frequent these boards do not like being told that Standard DVD / VHS / CD / etc is good enough. We can be the judge for ourselves whether or not S-DVD is good enough for us. The very fact that HD-DVD exists is because for some people, good enough is NOT good enough.

So if you want to avoid being flamed here, you should simply remember to tone down your demands that HD-DVD is not required (from what I can understand this is why you probably got flamed, but I didn't read your posts). Also if your such an avid digital photographer, then I don't really see how you can say that HD-DVD is artifically enhanced. There is nothing artificial about HD-DVD's resolution improvements over SD-DVD. In fact most people don't have the equipment to take full advantage of HD-DVD right now.

Nobody is going to say that SD-DVD transfers haven't improved. A blanket statement like that would be incorrect and frankly just plain misinformed. Of course SD-DVD transfers have improved. Here's a little secret, the best SD-DVD transfers all look good because they started with HD Masters. Which is why some of us are so keen to have HD-DVD. This will allow us to get even closer to those HD-Masters and see films in the quality we haven't seen them since the first time in the theaters. I for one can't wait to see movies like Alien, Aliens, and others in HD-DVD. It will be some time before Fox gives up it's folly of Blue Ray but hopefully before the end of 2007 they will have to concede.

Hope this helps you to not get flamed in the future.

TimT
i agree sdvdv and hddvd not even close, i really think hd will prevail. the cost all the way around is lower then bd . and again the ps3 wont make a diffence to gain in this war. the thing it will do is make a lot more people aware of bd ,so will the xbox hd drive then theres wil.

Yes HDMI cables do vary in quality. Some are specially sheilded and some arent which will give a better picture, im very sure there is a difference with a cable that costs $160 with one that costs $20 and its not just the size. Please do some research. its not goin to be 100% difference but there is a difference.

Please do tell us what the difference is... with under 20 posts and a few weeks here, you can't just come in here spouting off "facts" without some back up... your post saying "expensive=better" with no facts to back that up is the same as saying that "cheaper=the same or better..."

I have a complete HDMI setup using Blue Jeans Cables.... all under $25 a cable...

I'm running Ture 1080p to a projector 20 feet away from an Anthem D2... I've tried more expensive cables in this setup, and there was no difference in video quality (resolution patterns and color reproduction were the same) and absolutely no differnce in audio quality.. and I made the masters for some of the source I checked, so I know of what I speak...