TMSKILZ, ok you had yours long enough. Now send it to MEEEEEE!!!

LINK (http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/09/xbox-hd-dvd-hands-on/)

Well looky looky here, we landed an Xbox HD DVD drive. We're already all well aware of what it can and can't do; we just know you want the pics of the unboxing, it sitting next to the Xbox, and maybe a few bonus shots next to a real life HD DVD player. Hell, we'll even throw in some pics of it next to the competition (you know what we're talking about). Click on, enjoy!

I just picked one up from Gamestop near my office. Walked in and saw 5 unpacked brown boxes behind the counter and 2 boxes opened with bubble wrap still hanging out. Asked it he had any Xbox 360 HD-DVD drives and he paused and then said yes. He had 2 that just came in. Went to the back and grabbed one for me. He was keeping the other for himself he said. Didn't asked if the pre-orders were fulfilled or not, so don't know if the store had only 2 or 2 after pre-orders were fulfilled.

Mine came with the Drive, Remote, and King-Kong HD-DVD. No upgrade CD though. However, it downloaded the driver when I logged into Xbox Live. I have both my xbox 360 and my Toshiba A1 hooked up to my Sanyo Z4. The Toshiba is hooked up via HDMI and the Xbox 360 via Component. Comparison wise, both looked fantastic. I honestly couldn't tell a difference in PQ between the two players. Even though the Toshiba is HDMI, Xbox 360 is Component, it looked just as good as the Toshiba A1. If I'm able to get another King Kong HD-DVD and do a true A-B comparison with both playing at the same time, I will let you know then if I can tell a difference. So those with component, enjoy the marvelous detail of HD-DVD.

On a side note, the Xbox 360 load time is night and day faster than the A1. Took literally 5 secs after inserting the disc before it began playing. I'm seriously considering using the Xbox 360 HD-DVD as the primary player in the theater room now just for load times. However, I would lose TruHD Sound. Oh the dilemma!

Have you seen an HD DVD movie? And I don't mean at Best Buy. The picture will blow you away. I bought my Toshiba back in April and now own almost 70 HD DVDs. There is no comparison. I especially like the way the menu system works now. DVD's menu system seems archaic compared to the HD DVD menu system.


While your sentiment rings true with just about all of us members, here at AVS, the general Joe 6pack (although mostly despised here) will agree to the picture improvment & give it a general, meh. The problem is not how much better any HD format is over SD, it's getting them excited & willing to pay money.

Ipod sound quality, IMHO, is horrible compared to what the average AVS member is stiving for, yet for the masses, it is not quality but convience & packaging, that is form over function, that has propelled that device to its mass ubiquity.


Again, IMHO, going forward we, as members of AVS need to be more accomadating to the vox populi & try to explain to them what are the benefits of any Higf Definition structure (beit video or audio) in our quest for more life-like experiences.

I ordered from amazon on the 4th of november and orginally had a delivery date of the 8th wehich quickly changed to the 13th with a shipping date of the 10th....

I emailed amazon again to confirm the 10th as the shipping date and this is the reply I got. btw...does amazon have an option for saturday delivery???

reetings from Amazon

I've checked your order, and I can confirm that we still expect to
ship it by the date listed in Your Account: November 10, 2006.

The estimated date of shipment was calculated at the time you placed
your order and is based on the proximity of inventory to the
delivery address you provided, as well as how quickly we can obtain
and assemble items for shipment.

We will send you an e-mail at the time of shipment. Please contact
us again by visiting ..... if you do not
receive a shipment confirmation by November 11, 2006.

Can we see some pics of a movie playing?

I'm starting to fall into the hype of this thing. You bastards!

Yes, I don't even own a 360 but I saw one in a local pawn shop for 200. So 400 bucks for some HD-DVD/XBOX goodness, is mighty damn hard to resist.

When I first bought the 360, I tested it as a DVD player and it looked washed out. The setting for all the components (HD cable, regular dvd player,etc…)when watching a movie didn't look right for the 360 (it looked fine for games). I am afraid that this will be the case with the HD DVD add on piece. Is there anyway to adjust the settings in the 360 itself (Color, contrast, brightness,etc…). I only have one component cable run from my receiver to my SXRD tv and don't want to change the settings on the tv everytime I would watch an HD DVD moview.

Why not change the settings? If your Sony is like my Sony each input has three settings and all can be configured and saved independently. Make one setting for games and another for movies? Don't run a movie on game settings!

Ok I connected the HD-DVD to my PC via USB. My PC recognized it right awat as XB360 HD-DVD player. I get a pop up window of the "WELCOME TO THE FOUND NEW HARDWARE WIZARD" I minimized that win & went to MY PC, then saw that my PC listed the XB360 HD-DVD add-on as CD DRIVE (G) , when i cliked on it, it asked me to insert a disc, I popped in KING KONG, then clicked on it again & I got the following error pop up message: "Win can not read from this disk, this disk might be corrupted, or could be using a format that is not compatible with Win."
THAT IS GREAT!
I am sure you canot read the movie because you have not (I suppose) the right software (Windvd 8 HD)
but the most important thing it is that PC see it like a drive!
Now we need somebody with XB360 HD drive AND a software to read HD-DVD.
(I think also PowerDVD 6.6 can do it, for sure for Blu-Ray it does)
but i am pretty confident we can use it!

So I take it you're all siding with HD-DVD over Blue-ray?

Amazon has really been bad lately. I ordered the drive from gamestop (yes I hate them too) and it arrived exactly when they stated - today.

As for the guy with 70 HD-DVD's - what do you own?

Personally, I will not get suckered like I did with DVD's and buy trash movies (like Twister) - just because they look pretty. I rent them from Netflix. How many times can someone watch Serenity?

I can't wait to compare the upscaled DVD's with the HD-DVD counterparts and HD cable broadcast. I will post my findings.

Again that's IMHO.

I could watch Serenity for the rest of my life!

I didnt even think the serenty transfer was that good. Probably the worst of all the hd -dvds ive seen.

riddick, aeon flux, last ninja

Amazon has really been bad lately. I ordered the drive from gamestop (yes I hate them too) and it arrived exactly when they stated - today.

As for the guy with 70 HD-DVD's - what do you own?

Personally, I will not get suckered like I did with DVD's and buy trash movies (like Twister) - just because they look pretty. I rent them from Netflix. How many times can someone watch Serenity?

I can't wait to compare the upscaled DVD's with the HD-DVD counterparts and HD cable broadcast. I will post my findings.

Again that's IMHO.

My collection is here.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8765261#post8765261

I do need to update with my latest purchases.

Does Amazon have a Saturday delivery service?
i'm willing to pay a bit extra to have it for this weekend!

So I take it you're all siding with HD-DVD over Blue-ray?

This is the HD-DVD players forum, that about answers your question.

Can anyone comfirmed that it will not upconvert DVD over component?

Amazon has really been bad lately. I ordered the drive from gamestop (yes I hate them too) and it arrived exactly when they stated - today.

As for the guy with 70 HD-DVD's - what do you own?

Personally, I will not get suckered like I did with DVD's and buy trash movies (like Twister) - just because they look pretty. I rent them from Netflix. How many times can someone watch Serenity?

I can't wait to compare the upscaled DVD's with the HD-DVD counterparts and HD cable broadcast. I will post my findings.

Again that's IMHO.


I hear ya! I buy 2-3 movies per year. The rest I rent. I own so many DVD's I haven't touched in years. The only movies I buy now are the ones I watch more then once or twice. I even sold a ton of my DVD's...

no actually im not and i would never have bought an hd dvd player. but for 200 ill take it.

And its simply because of star wars plain and simple.

Could someone please confirm whether it is dual voltage?

For those that have it, how loud is the 360/add-on when playing movies?

no actually im not and i would never have bought an hd dvd player. but for 200 ill take it.

And its simply because of star wars plain and simple.
Star Wars is Fox, which is on the Blu-ray side.

P.S. I'd be surprised if Star Wars came out on HD before 2008.

TMSKILZ,

It's great to know it reads it fast and the picture quality is fantastic.

But, I'm VERY interested in how the 360 handles the load of decoding HD-DVD. After prolonged usuage (King Kong is a nice long movie or how about after two movies), does the Xbox overheat? How do the fans sound?

Oddly, there are currently NO reviews anywhere on this thing, but every blog I've found talking about it say HD-DVD really makes the 360 work hard. Harder than the most intense rendered game. Of course, these blogs are all speculation.

Can anyone comfirmed that it will not upconvert DVD over component?

It *is* upconverting over component, though I don't know if this is a glitch and microsoft will force a software update to disable it.

TMSKILZ,

It's great to know it reads it fast and the picture quality is fantastic.

But, I'm VERY interested in how the 360 handles the load of decoding HD-DVD. After prolonged usuage (King Kong is a nice long movie or how about after two movies), does the Xbox overheat? How do the fans sound?

Oddly, there are currently NO reviews anywhere on this thing, but every blog I've found talking about it say HD-DVD really makes the 360 work hard. Harder than the most intense rendered game. Of course, these blogs are all speculation.
There is one original blog on this, and it came from a MS programmer who worked on it, so it's not speculation.

Ok, after reading that someone got the HD-DVD drive to be seen in a PC, I hooked mine up. It definetly needs a driver of some sort to get it to run a movie. I don't think it is able to play a movie because of not having the right software like Windvd 8. When you first plug it in the PC, it does recognize it as a Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive, but quickly the driver prompt pops up asking you to install the driver. If you search for one, it doesn't find it and if you hit cancel, it says the device you installed is may not be working correctly. It does show up as a CD drive but that's all, any movie I try to play won't. It is a Toshiba drive when you check under properties.

Thinking it might not play a movie because of copyright checks, I put in a home movie I burned as an HD-DVD format that plays on the Toshiba A1. The home movie also plays on the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive as long as it is played thru the Xbox 360, but won't play when hooked up to the PC. So I'm pretty sure it is missing the driver for PC playback.

Just got mine as well which is surprising since I did a 2day order.

First thing I did was try to connect it to my pc, and use WinDVD HD. That was a no go similar to the problems I have had with the HD-A1's internal drive. Just connected it up to the 360 and it played fine after it did some form of update. Looks good so far just like everyone else.

What is the packaging weight please?
Should be listed on the shipping sticker.

Just got mine as well which is surprising since I did a 2day order.

First thing I did was try to connect it to my pc, and use WinDVD HD. That was a no go similar to the problems I have had with the HD-A1's internal drive. Just connected it up to the 360 and it played fine after it did some form of update. Looks good so far just like everyone else.

PowerDVD 7 also decodes HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. But I'm assuming there needs to be a driver for Windows to run the drive.

Hi there,

@chap. What about installing Nero 7 with the UDF 2.5 Filesystem and then trying to watch King Kong with WinDVD HD.

Then you have both - driver + player.....would you like to try it???? :D

The HD-DVD drive itself is very quiet. I can't hear it, but that might be due to the fact that the Xbox 360 is pretty loud to me after about 20 mins of use. I can really hear the fans in the Xbox 360 spin. Even when I turn off the 360, the fan runs for another 10 mins are so.

UPS lists mine, order from Gamestop, as 6.5 pounds. My order placed yesterday afternoon is out for delivery right now. Amazing.

Hi there,

@chap. What about installing Nero 7 with the UDF 2.5 Filesystem and then trying to watch King Kong with WinDVD HD.

Then you have both - driver + player.....would you like to try it???? :D

maybe the new nvidia driver work?

NVIDIA PureVideo™ HD driver with support for the following features:

* Hardware acceleration of H.264, VC-1 and MPEG-2 HD movie formats.


ForceWare Release 90
Version: 93.71
Release Date: November 2, 2006

So I take it you're all siding with HD-DVD over Blue-ray?

my post was in reference to this question
to which i replied

no actually im not and i would never have bought an hd dvd player. but for 200 ill take it.

And its simply because of star wars plain and simple.

so, thank you but i am well aware of str wars being blu ray only :)

Also Expect star wars next year in 2007.
its the 30 yr anniversary it will be next yr mark serials words

I'd like noise comparisons Vs:

HDDVD player Vs dashboard browsing
HDDVD player vs playing a DVD in the 360
HDDVD player vs video streaming in MCE
HDDVD player vs playing a game.

I'm hoping its as quiet as the 360 playing a DVD, but I don't expect it to be

I'd also like to know about whether the DVD playback has changed.

Eg on my 360 when playing a DVD the video output changes to 576p. My AE900 doesn't like that and gives me horrible lines across the image (apparantly a known issue with that combo).

It'd be nice if the 360 kept the 720p output I have set in the dash. Perhaps it doesn't upscale 'well' - i.e they just do some dumb bilinear thing. I don't care as long as they don't fall back to 576p when playing a DVD

Hmm...would Live report that you are watching the title of an HD DVD movie to others online? Would it say HD DVD or DVD?

The person who got the player here first gets the honor of opening the owner's thread ...

PowerDVD 7 also decodes HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. But I'm assuming there needs to be a driver for Windows to run the drive.
PowerDVD 7 does not yet play HD-DVD or BD.

For BD playback on a PC with PowerDVD BD 6.6 you DO NOT need any UDF 2.5 filesystem drivers loaded for it to work. Even if windows explorer can't read the disc, PowerDVD could and plays back movies. I'm assuming that HD-DVD would be the same...

The only version of WinDVD 8 that plays Hd-DVD is the Japanese one which some on these forums have downloaded... At the moment that is probably the best hope.

Well, i'm convinced. I'm asking for one for Christmas. And to show my thanks, i've written about you guys!

HD-DVD drive (http://buttonmash.blogspot.com/)

THAT IS GREAT!
I am sure you canot read the movie because you have not (I suppose) the right software (Windvd 8 HD)
but the most important thing it is that PC see it like a drive!
Now we need somebody with XB360 HD drive AND a software to read HD-DVD.
(I think also PowerDVD 6.6 can do it, for sure for Blu-Ray it does)
but i am pretty confident we can use it!

uhhmmm seems to be some drivers problems tp recognize this driver.
I think it can read SD dvd is itn't true?
So pls, could you check if it can read SD movie with PC?
thank you for your help
alessandro

Do VCDs play in this thing? I only own one, but it would still be good to know.

Im still playing with the settings...

Why not change the settings? If your Sony is like my Sony each input has three settings and all can be configured and saved independently. Make one setting for games and another for movies? Don't run a movie on game settings!


I wonder if I'll be able to program my Harmony 880 remote to change the video settings (between game and HD-DVD)? I have my 360 hooked up to my Sony XS-55 TV via the Microsoft high-def cables (component I think). Now, both Gaming and DVD watching will be via "Input 7" on my TV.

Got the call from EB.

Heading over to pick it up shortly.

I can't wait. I almost bit on the A1 a while back but I am glad I held off.

And the PS3 will be mine in in 8 days.

Life is good. :D

Look at that. Yesterday, I didn't want to buy one. Now i'm considering driving around the entire Hudson Valley to look for one in a B&M.

Man I'm starting to get jealous of the guys who have the player already. I called my Gamestop (again) and asked if the drive made it in. He said "We're not getting them in until next week because no one preordered..." What??!! I tell him that I infact preordered it. He says "That's weird. Let me check it out". So he checks it and says that 3 drives were shipped yesterday and they might be there tomorrow. Unless UPS is just late getting there today then I have to wait even longer. I wonder where the drives were shipped from. If they were shipped from their warehouse in Louisville then they should have been there today.

i ordered a second hd-dvd drive for my bro-in law from gamestop at 2:30pm..... the item was shipped at 3:30pm....

wow...

It *is* upconverting over component, though I don't know if this is a glitch and microsoft will force a software update to disable it.

As for me is just doing 480p for SD DVDS...1080I HD-DVD..if somebody is getting other than that maybe im doing something wrong...?

Hi there,

@chap. What about installing Nero 7 with the UDF 2.5 Filesystem and then trying to watch King Kong with WinDVD HD.

Then you have both - driver + player.....would you like to try it???? :D

Didn't know about this. I'll give it a shot in a few.

And the PS3 will be mine in in 8 days.

EBAY?

Does the power supply do 240V as well?

I mail ordered it from Gamestop. I hooked it up and it got an update from xbox live when I put a disk in it.

My impressions. - Nice unit. I have a HD-DVR from time warner. I was not blown away, more like a "cool nice". Again I have got used to seeing HD broadcast. Yes it's a fraction better then most broadcasts - HD cable using a ton of compression to fit within the alloted bandwidth. I have a 70" 1080P tv.

I also have an upscaling HDMI dvd player. I'm going to compare the DVD9 of King Kong to the HD version..

So far .. It's worth the money - just don't have too high expectations.

I have never seen a hd-dvd but i have seen hd movies on DishHd and I don't think it makes dvds look like vhs, now way in hell.

I did the same, can anyone verify that it comes with KK and the remote. I still have time to cancel it.

Just checked the database, many CC stores are receiving it today, tomorrow and saturday, and yes, they come with all the goodies.

I don't ever remember see over 400 people viewing the HD DVD area in the forums before! I wonder why ;)

Yes it came with KK and the remote. A small power adapter and a usb cable.

I don't ever remember see over 400 people viewing the HD DVD area in the forums before! I wonder why ;)

Must be good news for Blue Ray :p

Didn't know about this. I'll give it a shot in a few.
Please altro check if it works with SD DVD on PC.

I mail ordered it from Gamestop. I hooked it up and it got an update from xbox live when I put a disk in it.

My impressions. - Nice unit. I have a HD-DVR from time warner. I was not blown away, more like a "cool nice". Again I have got used to seeing HD broadcast. Yes it's a fraction better then most broadcasts - HD cable using a ton of compression to fit within the alloted bandwidth. I have a 70" 1080P tv.

I also have an upscaling HDMI dvd player. I'm going to compare the DVD9 of King Kong to the HD version..

So far .. It's worth the money - just don't have too high expectations.


You have to remember that most of us that have been members on this forum know full well the potential of HD DVD. Quite a few of us already have stand alone players. What is exciting is that, so far, the 360 add on seems to have identical PQ.

Most of us are highly critical of overly compressed cable HD signals and agree that some HD DVD transfers are of such high quality that it puts some cable transfers to shame.

Is it that much of a jump over DVD? I think so. I had never seen movies so transparent to the masters since I had sampled HD DVD earlier this year at a couple expos...I was hooked. Now, when I actually go to theaters to watch a movie, I can't believe how much better HD DVD looks compared to the softness of film. I actually try to watch movies at theaters with digital projectors now because I feel film is inferior in PQ.

I remember the very recent days of spending over $1200 on upscaling, universal DVD players. They do not even compare to the sharpness, qlarity, and color depth of HD DVD. So $200 for the absolute best in PQ offered today...I think you should have high expectaions.

I mail ordered it from Gamestop. I hooked it up and it got an update from xbox live when I put a disk in it.

My impressions. - Nice unit. I have a HD-DVR from time warner. I was not blown away, more like a "cool nice". Again I have got used to seeing HD broadcast. Yes it's a fraction better then most broadcasts - HD cable using a ton of compression to fit within the alloted bandwidth. I have a 70" 1080P tv.

I also have an upscaling HDMI dvd player. I'm going to compare the DVD9 of King Kong to the HD version..

So far .. It's worth the money - just don't have too high expectations.

Can you confirm it if upscales standard copy protected DVDs (practically all movie releases not Burned to DVD+-R) through component?

The whole "My 360 HD-DVD drive won't work in my PC" has an answer.

The answer is that the 360 does a butt-load of processing/graphics churning, and as you guys have found - drivers need to exist for the drive to be used the way in which you are trying to.

Potentially it could be done, but I don't have any details other than - no one's announced anything about it.

Hope that clarifies the issue

-Chris

i wonder if the disc that comes with the add-on has any usable "drivers" for xp?

SWEET just called my circuit city in portland, me and they have them in stock ..looks like they are the B&M store to go to.

Can anyone with the power adapter in front of them check to see if it allows 240V usage?

Thanks

Can anyone with the power adapter in front of them check to see if it allows 240V usage?

Thanks


"input 100-240v - 47-63Hz 0.7 A max

output 12 V 2.5A"

The whole "My 360 HD-DVD drive won't work in my PC" has an answer.

The answer is that the 360 does a butt-load of processing/graphics churning, and as you guys have found - drivers need to exist for the drive to be used the way in which you are trying to.

Potentially it could be done, but I don't have any details other than - no one's announced anything about it.

Hope that clarifies the issue

-Chris
That is nothing new though. So far as I know most if not all PC drive's do not contain the decoding chip in them, it is done by the system, and drivers on the system.

So this is no different now with the 360 HD-DVD player, or so it seems.

what im dying to see is if anyon e gets a side by side of the 360hd vs a standalone hddvd. and compare them

xbox compnent vs standalone hdmi. thats what im waiting for.

i couldnt obtain on ehere in delaware today, i susspect shipments just didnt make it here but should have no issue tomorrow.

Ok here is my review of the Xbox HD-DVD player and HD-DVD in general.

First I used the Xbox 360 HD player with the King Kong movie. I put the regular DVD (DVD9) of King Kong in my up scaling Sony DVP-CX995V with HDMI out to the TV.

I am running the 360 thru the VGA port of my Samsung HL-R6768W. The HDMI ports on the TV only accept 1080i – but the VGA port will accept 1080P. Actually it is the only way to get 1080p to this set. I know it sort of fakes 1080P with wobulation – but that is a topic for another day.

I put on both movies – and turned the sound off. DD 5.1 on both. This is all about picture quality.

I watched for a while – different scenes with different lighting and motion.

My conclusion – the differences are fractional at best. In clarity and color representation.

Yes if you are looking and micro-analyzing – HD-DVD is better – but very slightly.

Actually I am somewhat disappointed. I guess I had unrealistic expectations. I have seen stunning HD on the discovery channel – you get used to that.

Will I go out and buy HD-DVD movies – no. Will I rent them if available off Netflix – yes. Will I bother to rent older movies I have seen before to enjoy them in HD- maybe at the beginning – to justify this purchase. I hope more new HD-DVD releases come day and date with the DVD versions.

In closing – I think HD-DVD and Blu-ray are going to both stay relatively low sellers. Like DVD-audio and SACD. Most people do not have the TV’s to tell the difference. On my set – the differences were very slight. Also the added expense and low availability.

I think Sony’s silver bullet that PS3 is going to make Blu-ray movies sell is just wrong. Yes they will sell a few from PS3 – but their expectations of killing the market with PS3 BD players is a pipe dream.

My greatest home theater piece of hardware – the DVR by FAR. It has the ultimate convinces and least fuss. No searching for disks – no damaging the media. Click and play.

My dream setup is a multi-terabyte drive array in my garage – and all the receiver (or media centers) sharing the central storage.

Jeff
(Yes I posted this to a few other forums as well)

Has anyone in the Boston area (or anywhere else I guess) been able to find these in a Brick and Mortar? I called all the EB games and Gamestops in the area (about 4) and they all seem to be confused as to why they haven't shown up yet.

Bloody fantastic! We'll be the first in Fiji to go hi def movies!

That is nothing new though. So far as I know most if not all PC drive's do not contain the decoding chip in them, it is done by the system, and drivers on the system.

So this is no different now with the 360 HD-DVD player, or so it seems.

I'm curious if the 360 HD-DVD player drivers came with the player? Can you put the CD that came with it in a PC and see the contents?

Ok here is my review of the Xbox HD-DVD player and HD-DVD in general.

First I used the Xbox 360 HD player with the King Kong movie. I put the regular DVD (DVD9) of King Kong in my up scaling Sony DVP-CX995V with HDMI out to the TV.

I am running the 360 thru the VGA port of my Samsung HL-R6768W. The HDMI ports on the TV only accept 1080i – but the VGA port will accept 1080P. Actually it is the only way to get 1080p to this set. I know it sort of fakes 1080P with wobulation – but that is a topic for another day.

I put on both movies – and turned the sound off. DD 5.1 on both. This is all about picture quality.

I watched for a while – different scenes with different lighting and motion.

My conclusion – the differences are fractional at best. In clarity and color representation.

Yes if you are looking and micro-analyzing – HD-DVD is better – but very slightly.

Actually I am somewhat disappointed. I guess I had unrealistic expectations. I have seen stunning HD on the discovery channel – you get used to that.

Will I go out and buy HD-DVD movies – no. Will I rent them if available off Netflix – yes. Will I bother to rent older movies I have seen before to enjoy them in HD- maybe at the beginning – to justify this purchase. I hope more new HD-DVD releases come day and date with the DVD versions.

In closing – I think HD-DVD and Blu-ray are going to both stay relatively low sellers. Like DVD-audio and SACD. Most people do not have the TV’s to tell the difference. On my set – the differences were very slight. Also the added expense and low availability.

I think Sony’s silver bullet that PS3 is going to make Blu-ray movies sell is just wrong. Yes they will sell a few from PS3 – but their expectations of killing the market with PS3 BD players is a pipe dream.

My greatest home theater piece of hardware – the DVR by FAR. It has the ultimate convinces and least fuss. No searching for disks – no damaging the media. Click and play.

My dream setup is a multi-terabyte drive array in my garage – and all the receiver (or media centers) sharing the central storage.

Jeff
(Yes I posted this to a few other forums as well)

you should try hooking the HHDVD drive up through component then look again.

Re:I'm curious if the 360 HD-DVD player drivers came with the player?

I just tried and no. It does read the disk - but no usable files on it.

The root of the disk has one file called default.xex 6,884 KB and one folder $SystemUpdate with one file in it (su20076000_00000000) 6,344KB.

you should try hooking the HHDVD drive up through component then look again.

Ok I'll try that. But why should that look better then the VGA port?

Ok here is my review of the Xbox HD-DVD player and HD-DVD in general.

First I used the Xbox 360 HD player with the King Kong movie. I put the regular DVD (DVD9) of King Kong in my up scaling Sony DVP-CX995V with HDMI out to the TV.

I am running the 360 thru the VGA port of my Samsung HL-R6768W. The HDMI ports on the TV only accept 1080i – but the VGA port will accept 1080P. Actually it is the only way to get 1080p to this set. I know it sort of fakes 1080P with wobulation – but that is a topic for another day.

I put on both movies – and turned the sound off. DD 5.1 on both. This is all about picture quality.

I watched for a while – different scenes with different lighting and motion.

My conclusion – the differences are fractional at best. In clarity and color representation.

Yes if you are looking and micro-analyzing – HD-DVD is better – but very slightly.

Actually I am somewhat disappointed. I guess I had unrealistic expectations. I have seen stunning HD on the discovery channel – you get used to that.

Will I go out and buy HD-DVD movies – no. Will I rent them if available off Netflix – yes. Will I bother to rent older movies I have seen before to enjoy them in HD- maybe at the beginning – to justify this purchase. I hope more new HD-DVD releases come day and date with the DVD versions.

In closing – I think HD-DVD and Blu-ray are going to both stay relatively low sellers. Like DVD-audio and SACD. Most people do not have the TV’s to tell the difference. On my set – the differences were very slight. Also the added expense and low availability.

I think Sony’s silver bullet that PS3 is going to make Blu-ray movies sell is just wrong. Yes they will sell a few from PS3 – but their expectations of killing the market with PS3 BD players is a pipe dream.

My greatest home theater piece of hardware – the DVR by FAR. It has the ultimate convinces and least fuss. No searching for disks – no damaging the media. Click and play.

My dream setup is a multi-terabyte drive array in my garage – and all the receiver (or media centers) sharing the central storage.

Jeff
(Yes I posted this to a few other forums as well)

I find this extremely hard to believe....slight hmmm i doubt that.

The whole "My 360 HD-DVD drive won't work in my PC" has an answer.

The answer is that the 360 does a butt-load of processing/graphics churning, and as you guys have found - drivers need to exist for the drive to be used the way in which you are trying to.

Potentially it could be done, but I don't have any details other than - no one's announced anything about it.

Hope that clarifies the issue

-Chris
Driver? Do you just mean a UDF 2.5 driver? Cuz otherwise I'd be surprised if it needed a specific hardware driver.

Ok here is my review of the Xbox HD-DVD player and HD-DVD in general.

First I used the Xbox 360 HD player with the King Kong movie. I put the regular DVD (DVD9) of King Kong in my up scaling Sony DVP-CX995V with HDMI out to the TV.

I am running the 360 thru the VGA port of my Samsung HL-R6768W. The HDMI ports on the TV only accept 1080i – but the VGA port will accept 1080P. Actually it is the only way to get 1080p to this set. I know it sort of fakes 1080P with wobulation – but that is a topic for another day.

I put on both movies – and turned the sound off. DD 5.1 on both. This is all about picture quality.

I watched for a while – different scenes with different lighting and motion.

My conclusion – the differences are fractional at best. In clarity and color representation.

Yes if you are looking and micro-analyzing – HD-DVD is better – but very slightly.

Actually I am somewhat disappointed. I guess I had unrealistic expectations. I have seen stunning HD on the discovery channel – you get used to that.

Will I go out and buy HD-DVD movies – no. Will I rent them if available off Netflix – yes. Will I bother to rent older movies I have seen before to enjoy them in HD- maybe at the beginning – to justify this purchase. I hope more new HD-DVD releases come day and date with the DVD versions.

In closing – I think HD-DVD and Blu-ray are going to both stay relatively low sellers. Like DVD-audio and SACD. Most people do not have the TV’s to tell the difference. On my set – the differences were very slight. Also the added expense and low availability.

I think Sony’s silver bullet that PS3 is going to make Blu-ray movies sell is just wrong. Yes they will sell a few from PS3 – but their expectations of killing the market with PS3 BD players is a pipe dream.

My greatest home theater piece of hardware – the DVR by FAR. It has the ultimate convinces and least fuss. No searching for disks – no damaging the media. Click and play.

My dream setup is a multi-terabyte drive array in my garage – and all the receiver (or media centers) sharing the central storage.

Jeff
(Yes I posted this to a few other forums as well)

Well VGA can be very soft depanding on the display, they are screenshot here that prove that (using games) were the games in 1080p (upscaled) in VGA are way worst than the same game in 1080i via component. Try in Component you'll see

If you see minor difference it might be it. I mean DVD look like VHS on my Z4 once you checked HD DVD.

And NO HD DVD won't look better than Discovery Channel. Discovery Channel use VIDEO HD , witch is really different than FILM HD. I mean if you can't see all the compression from the Discovery Channel (i see it a lot) that mean it's display related..

also as someone that knows somethign about drives.

there is more to a device working than just the driver and the software with the codec.

There is also firmware and it is entirely possible and most likely that it is locked out from playing a hddvd in an xp or linux or apple enviroment. I would expect nothing less than this to be the case.

If you're looking for HD DVD to always blow away an upscaled DVD on consumer equipment, then you may be disappointed. The jump from the best VHS to best DVD is way bigger than from the best DVD upscaled --> the best HD DVD.


There is also firmware and it is entirely possible and most likely that it is locked out from playing a hddvd in an xp or linux or apple enviroment. I would expect nothing less than this to be the case.
IIRC, according to amirm, that is not the case.

The nero + WinDVD HD did nothing.

The nero + WinDVD HD did nothing.
IIRC, the current retail WinDVD does not support HD DVD, but I could be mistaken. Plus you may need other specific hardware in your system.

I'd say the best way you could say for sure is to get one of those Toshiba laptops which are already set up for HD DVD playback, and then plug in the Xbox 360 drive and try to play from that external drive.

got my drive today and the first thing I put in was Batman begins. I saw a huge difference in picture quality compared to the standard dvd. I could not get normal dvds to upconvert to 1080i through component. they all played in 480p. How are you guys playing regular dvds upconverted?
overall I'm very happy with my purchase. I can now watch hd movies in OAR.

In closing – I think HD-DVD and Blu-ray are going to both stay relatively low sellers. Like DVD-audio and SACD. Most people do not have the TV’s to tell the difference. On my set – the differences were very slight. Also the added expense and low availability.

I think you are wrong on this. DVD Audio an SACD are not really fair comparisons.
You are right about most people dont have the TVs to tell the difference. But that is changing. Every year, larger and larger sets are getting cheaper and cheaper. The FCC Analog plug is coming. Hi Def has entered mainstream language.

People didnt thing DVD would take off either. VHS was here, and it was good enough.

If you're looking for HD DVD to always blow away an upscaled DVD on consumer equipment, then you may be disappointed. The jump from the best VHS to best DVD is way bigger than from the best DVD upscaled --> the best HD DVD.


This is the farthest thing from thruthful info i have seen in a long time.

dvd upconverted is 640x480 resolution. a dvd is lower res than this.

so going to 1920x 720 is not a HUGE difference in quality is SOOO incorrect.

now if your display is an ED or 720p display that shows only 1280x720 or less resolution then maybe yes. but should your tv have enough pixes to show 1920x1080 then well your in for a treat becasue dvd is almost unwatchable lol. and thats the truth.

and i dont mean palsmas with 1366x780 res...thats to low to show you what 1920x1080 looks like

Can you confirm it if upscales standard copy protected DVDs (practically all movie releases not Burned to DVD+-R) through component?
Plz.

This is the farthest thing from thruthful info i have seen in a long time.

dvd upconverted is 640x480 resolution. a dvd is lower res than this.

so going to 1920x 720 is not a HUGE difference in quality is SOOO incorrect.

now if your display is an ED or 720p display that shows only 1280x720 or less resolution then maybe yes. but should your tv have enough pixes to show 1920x1080 then well your in for a treat becasue dvd is almost unwatchable lol. and thats the truth.

and i dont mean palsmas with 1366x780 res...thats to low to show you what 1920x1080 looks like
Huh? It seems you may not understand the word "upconverted". It also seems you don't know what resolutions DVD uses.

P.S. If you reread my original post I said "on consumer equipment". Most consumers don't have 1920x1080p 60" plasma screens.


I think you are wrong on this. DVD Audio an SACD are not really fair comparisons.
You are right about most people dont have the TVs to tell the difference. But that is changing. Every year, larger and larger sets are getting cheaper and cheaper. The FCC Analog plug is coming. Hi Def has entered mainstream language.

People didnt thing DVD would take off either. VHS was here, and it was good enough.
My recollection was that just about everyone thought DVD would take off. There were a few vocal detractors, but the difference between DVD and VHS on even modest TVs was so marked, along with the fact that DVDs didn't need to be rewound, it made DVD adoption a complete no-brainer (once DIVX died).

I just got mine at gamestop with no preorder. hd-dvd looks great, much better than a dvd. Just by coincidence my regular dvd player died on me yesterday so I will be using the xbox now. I don't know about these reports of upscaling through component cables. I am using component cables with a dvd movies and getting 480p. I did use the upgrade disc that came with the hd-dvd. Those of you getting upscaling with component, what movies are you playing?

Thanks for the CC tip, I'm off to pick mine up.

exactly what i said hddvd on a true 1920x1080 pxel display is a HUGE leap over dvd.

there isnt a current model panny of pioneer 50 inch plasma or lower that can show you what a 1920x1080 picture looks like. they are not capable of displayign the pixels they have lower screen resolutions than true 1080i and p

The nero + WinDVD HD did nothing.

you also need the right video card with hdcp, don't you?

This is the farthest thing from thruthful info i have seen in a long time.

dvd upconverted is 640x480 resolution. a dvd is lower res than this.

so going to 1920x 720 is not a HUGE difference in quality is SOOO incorrect.

now if your display is an ED or 720p display that shows only 1280x720 or less resolution then maybe yes. but should your tv have enough pixes to show 1920x1080 then well your in for a treat becasue dvd is almost unwatchable lol. and thats the truth.

and i dont mean palsmas with 1366x780 res...thats to low to show you what 1920x1080 looks like


What's up with your crazy resolutions? Never seen 1920x720 or 780. Is there a flux capaciter in there some where?

What's up with your crazy resolutions? Never seen 1920x720 or 780. Is there a flux capaciter in there some where?


that was a typ 1920x 1080 is what i meant

SWEET just called my circuit city in portland, me and they have them in stock ..looks like they are the B&M store to go to.

Seems to be one of the only CC's in the country that actually has stock right now, I've checked all over and none of the other ones seem to have stock.

I find this extremely hard to believe....slight hmmm i doubt that.

really - here are the pics of the setup

http://www.shagnow.com/pics/Photos/x360/rack.jpg

http://www.shagnow.com/pics/Photos/x360/cabinet1.jpg

I'm glad people can be downright hostle when i was trying to be helpful.

really - here are the pics of the setup

http://www.shagnow.com/pics/Photos/x360/rack.jpg

http://www.shagnow.com/pics/Photos/x360/cabinet1.jpg

I'm glad people can be downright hostle when i was trying to be helpful.
Nice!


that was a typ 1920x 1080 is what i meant
So this was a typo too then?dvd upconverted is 640x480 resolution. a dvd is lower res than this.

i think you are misunderstanding the tone. but when reviews on proper setups have said its stunnign and you claim it to be slightly better under a microscope you either

a, dont have it setup right
b, dont have it on a monitor capable of showing the full pixel resolution of the original material.
c i dont knwo what c is but i certainly wasnt attacking you.

Im stating facts and i find it hard to believ e thats all

really - here are the pics of the setup

http://www.shagnow.com/pics/Photos/x360/rack.jpg

http://www.shagnow.com/pics/Photos/x360/cabinet1.jpg

I'm glad people can be downright hostle when i was trying to be helpful.
Hmm, I think it's the VGA connection. Try component. VGA can make some funny changes in IQ.

Ok here is my review of the Xbox HD-DVD player and HD-DVD in general.

First I used the Xbox 360 HD player with the King Kong movie. I put the regular DVD (DVD9) of King Kong in my up scaling Sony DVP-CX995V with HDMI out to the TV.

I am running the 360 thru the VGA port of my Samsung HL-R6768W. The HDMI ports on the TV only accept 1080i – but the VGA port will accept 1080P. Actually it is the only way to get 1080p to this set. I know it sort of fakes 1080P with wobulation – but that is a topic for another day.


why not trycomponent at 1080i and let your TV deinterlace and upscale that to 1080P and report back.
Thanks

why not trycomponent at 1080i and let your TV deinterlace and upscale that to 1080P and report back.
Thanks

Ok going to try now. I have both connections - just have to pull the rack out and switch it on the 360's input.

chap:
have you tried if it reads SD (normal) DVD on PC?

and actually im sorry yes 480i is 720/480. i was actually helping a frined on the phone with a pc and res game issues so....sorry bout the typos.

in short there is no way that upconverting to 720x480 is on slightly less quality than 1920x1080 period

Seems to be one of the only CC's in the country that actually has stock right now, I've checked all over and none of the other ones seem to have stock.

Actually based on this message, I went to cc online and found that my local store (and a few near it) in Fremont, CA has it and I ordered it w/ pick up at store. I'm pickin' it up tonight!

got my drive today and the first thing I put in was Batman begins. I saw a huge difference in picture quality compared to the standard dvd. I could not get normal dvds to upconvert to 1080i through component. they all played in 480p. How are you guys playing regular dvds upconverted?
overall I'm very happy with my purchase. I can now watch hd movies in OAR.

the 360 only upscales regular DVDs while using the VGA cable, regardless of whether you have the HD-DVD drive or not. with component cables the best you'll get is 1080i for HD-DVDs and 480p for regular DVDs.

Please bear us in mind over the pond in the UK, we've gotta wait till the 24th to get our hands on this and this is torture!!!!! Seriously though, it's interesting reading and any pics/impressions are much appreciated. I'm still undecided as to whether to pick this up or not but I'm getting more inclined to buy one after reading what I've read today!

bah, we don't even have a hint of a release date or a price in Australia.

Thank goodness for dvdboxoffice :)

Will hopefully get mine by the end of next week.

Thanks for the CC tip, I'm off to pick mine up.

I ran out and also got one at CC. A couple of folks were in the store looking for them. For once, I asked :) and got one. Can't wait to get home to plug it in!

Canceled my Amazon order. They seemed confused and unreliable in their delivery estimate.... SJ

the 360 only upscales regular DVDs while using the VGA cable, regardless of whether you have the HD-DVD drive or not. with component cables the best you'll get is 1080i for HD-DVDs and 480p for regular DVDs.
That's what I figure, but some people are claiming their HD DVD player is upscaling over component.

Ok going to try now. I have both connections - just have to pull the rack out and switch it on the 360's input.

This will make a difference. Microsoft has said it is a known issue with their engineers that VGA connections have poor picture quality on the 360. They are working on it.

In the meantime, use Component.

SJHT, I ordered mine from circuitcity.com this morning. Will get it tomorrow. Does it come with the King Kong movie and remote.

This will make a difference. Microsoft has said it is a known issue with their engineers that VGA connections have poor picture quality on the 360. They are working on it.

In the meantime, use Component.

I just check it out for 5 min - Component does seem sharper. Also I have to calibrate the 360's Component port on my samsung - I just played games previously and never did that.

One thing that I did notice is the dark scenes - DVD would artifact like crazy on my TV. maybe it was the DNie that Samsung uses - I'm not sure. But dark scenes seem much better with the HD version

Huh? It seems you may not understand the word "upconverted". It also seems you don't know what resolutions DVD uses.

P.S. If you reread my original post I said "on consumer equipment". Most consumers don't have 1920x1080p 60" plasma screens.



My recollection was that just about everyone thought DVD would take off. There were a few vocal detractors, but the difference between DVD and VHS on even modest TVs was so marked, along with the fact that DVDs didn't need to be rewound, it made DVD adoption a complete no-brainer (once DIVX died).

I recall that too. Also look at the conveience factor of DVD over VHS - size , speed (no rewinding) and durability.

And YES BuGsArEtAsTy I know what resolution DVD uses - 720x480. I have ripped enough moves (like 400 or so) .

SJHT, I ordered mine from circuitcity.com this morning. Will get it tomorrow. Does it come with the King Kong movie and remote.

Yes (at least the one I got). The remote seems to be more a permanent part of the package as it is listed on the box. They have added a sticker for the movie. SJ

Can anyone who has a XBox360 HD-DVD add on, please try hooking it up to the PC to see if it can a) recognise HD-DVD discs and b) play HD-DVD movies ?

Over here, in the UK it's not expected to be on sale for another 2-3 weeks at least :(

Just picked up the last one at CC. Put King Kong in and all it does is say 'Reading' on the dashboard. Any one with a clue? Only waited a min or two then the boy's friends came over and it's all Gears of War now.

Can anyone who has a XBox360 HD-DVD add on, please try hooking it up to the PC to see if it can a) recognise HD-DVD discs and b) play HD-DVD movies ?

Over here, in the UK it's not expected to be on sale for another 2-3 weeks at least :(

was answered a couple of pages back...no and no

The difference between 1280p (or 1366p or 1365p) and 1900p isn't going to be all that noticeable at typical viewing distances on 40-55" tvs...cnet just did an A-B on that. Of course, that A-B just verifies what some of us have been saying ever since "1080p!!!!!" became such a religion (err...hot button topic). The difference between those resolutions is far less important than other viewing considerations.

Oh man...I'm really close to making a couple of calls to get one today...

Just picked up the last one at CC. Put King Kong in and all it does is say 'Reading' on the dashboard

Did you update your system with the included disk or over Live?

Well I just got my drive hooked up and I am pretty happy with the picture quality... however, I have having some playback issues. When playing King Kong I am have a lot of stutter with the video (especially after chapter skips - it will take 5 seconds or so before it starts playing smooth again). Normal play also has frequent stutters and the audio losing sync. Anyone else having these problems?

I just checked online and my local circuit city had some but when I called they said it was wrong and they did not have any. Whatever, they are probably just hoarding them all. Oh well, hopefully my pre-order at Gamestop shows up today.

I still haven't got a clear answer to this:

If you have the HD-DVD add on hooked up to your 360:

1.) Which drive do you put SD DVD's in to watch?

2.) Which drive do you put games in to play?

Thanks.

Well I just got my drive hooked up and I am pretty happy with the picture quality... however, I have having some playback issues. When playing King Kong I am have a lot of stutter with the video (especially after chapter skips - it will take 5 seconds or so before it starts playing smooth again). Normal play also has frequent stutters and the audio losing sync. Anyone else having these problems?

do you work for sony? :eek:

Netflix rents HD-DVDs?

My oh my....welcome to the world of HD DVD, folks! :)

Can anyone who has a XBox360 HD-DVD add on, please try hooking it up to the PC to see if it can a) recognise HD-DVD discs and b) play HD-DVD movies ?

Over here, in the UK it's not expected to be on sale for another 2-3 weeks at least :(

Much of the work that they did for the add-on is actually the code on the XBOX 360 (vs. just the drive). Can't really see how this would work with a PC yet. Maybe with VISTA... SJ

really - here are the pics of the setup

http://www.shagnow.com/pics/Photos/x360/rack.jpg

http://www.shagnow.com/pics/Photos/x360/cabinet1.jpg

I'm glad people can be downright hostle when i was trying to be helpful.

Thanks for the comparison. My player is waiting to be picked up and I look forward to running a similar test on Kong upscaled vs. Kong Hd-dvd on own sets.

Part of the variabilities here IMO include:

1) One mans "slight" improvement will be another man's "huge improvement. At this level of detail some people just don't 'see' as much in high def as others.

2) If the original DVD is a high quality encode then it is upconverted well then it may compare better to it's high def version than other movies with lesser original dvd encodes to begin with. Kong sd dvd is already a nice looking dvd on my system for instance.

3) Of course hd-dvd's themselves have varying quality on encodes.

Combine those variances with the obvious things like different displays on different connection types and different calibrations and at the very least I think a decent range of different movies probably needs to be compared before reaching a solid conclusion on the overall relative PQ advantage of high def formats.

do you work for sony? :eek:

I put Corpse Bride (Netflix HD-DVD) in the machine and it works fine. It appears that KK is having problems due to all the HD U-Control stuff (that would be my only guess). I wish that I did work for Sony and was making this up, but I really am not very happy with this so far...

do you work for sony? :eek:

It's his first post... maybe? :rolleyes:

Welcome to the forum! SJ

I still haven't got a clear answer to this:

If you have the HD-DVD add on hooked up to your 360:

1.) Which drive do you put SD DVD's in to watch?

2.) Which drive do you put games in to play?

Thanks.
1.) Doesn't matter

2.)In your 360 DVD Drive.

The whole "My 360 HD-DVD drive won't work in my PC" has an answer.

The answer is that the 360 does a butt-load of processing/graphics churning, and as you guys have found - drivers need to exist for the drive to be used the way in which you are trying to.

Potentially it could be done, but I don't have any details other than - no one's announced anything about it.

Hope that clarifies the issue

-Chris

Thanks for joining us!

It's his first post... maybe? :rolleyes:

Welcome to the forum! SJ

It may be my first time to post, but I have been reading these boards for a while because they are really useful. It is frustrating that the first time I post I can no helpful feedback because I am not a long-time poster like some of you.

I doubt he's making it up, but I also doubt Microsoft bundled in an HD-DVD that had known problems, so it's probably a hardware issue with the 360 or the HD-DVD unit itself. I popped in King Kong after doing the dashboard update and I am pretty pleased. I was at home for lunch though and didn't have time to view much. I'm planning on watching it tonight with the wife (neither of us saw it before) if it doesn't display any strange abberations. :)

It is frustrating that the first time I post I can no helpful feedback because I am not a long-time poster like some of you.
I think the real issue is that nobody knows how to help you yet since you are the first to report this problem. The 360 IS made by MS...have you tried rebooting? :p

Welcome to the forum (of course, I haven't posted much in the past year either).

I didnt even think the serenty transfer was that good. Probably the worst of all the hd -dvds ive seen.

riddick, aeon flux, last ninja

Nyet to that review. Serenity has great PQ and is in the top tier. However, it is by no means the best. Check out the older Serenity posts in the software forum.

Well I just got my drive hooked up and I am pretty happy with the picture quality... however, I have having some playback issues. When playing King Kong I am have a lot of stutter with the video (especially after chapter skips - it will take 5 seconds or so before it starts playing smooth again). Normal play also has frequent stutters and the audio losing sync. Anyone else having these problems?

I'm seeing the same thing with stuttering in King Kong. Not a great out-of-box experience...

I think the real issue is that nobody knows how to help you yet since you are the first to report this problem. The 360 IS made by MS...have you tried rebooting? :p

Welcome to the forum (of course, I haven't posted much in the past year either).

it is always possible that it is a hardware problem with my 360 (I am on my 5th one since launch). I just got this refurb on Monday so who knows if it has problems.

Tested again after a reboot and it does seem to be much better... Hopefully that is all it was.

You have to remember that most of us that have been members on this forum know full well the potential of HD DVD. Quite a few of us already have stand alone players. What is exciting is that, so far, the 360 add on seems to have identical PQ.

Most of us are highly critical of overly compressed cable HD signals and agree that some HD DVD transfers are of such high quality that it puts some cable transfers to shame.

Is it that much of a jump over DVD? I think so. I had never seen movies so transparent to the masters since I had sampled HD DVD earlier this year at a couple expos...I was hooked. Now, when I actually go to theaters to watch a movie, I can't believe how much better HD DVD looks compared to the softness of film. I actually try to watch movies at theaters with digital projectors now because I feel film is inferior in PQ.

I remember the very recent days of spending over $1200 on upscaling, universal DVD players. They do not even compare to the sharpness, qlarity, and color depth of HD DVD. So $200 for the absolute best in PQ offered today...I think you should have high expectaions.

Hear hear! Well said!

I'm seeing the same thing with stuttering in King Kong. Not a great out-of-box experience...

Try to rent Tokyo Drift, it have U Control feature too, if it does the same things, then it's a Software Issue.. Report back to Microsoft..

Ok here is my review of the Xbox HD-DVD player and HD-DVD in general.

First I used the Xbox 360 HD player with the King Kong movie. I put the regular DVD (DVD9) of King Kong in my up scaling Sony DVP-CX995V with HDMI out to the TV.

I am running the 360 thru the VGA port of my Samsung HL-R6768W. The HDMI ports on the TV only accept 1080i – but the VGA port will accept 1080P. Actually it is the only way to get 1080p to this set. I know it sort of fakes 1080P with wobulation – but that is a topic for another day.

I put on both movies – and turned the sound off. DD 5.1 on both. This is all about picture quality.

I watched for a while – different scenes with different lighting and motion.

My conclusion – the differences are fractional at best. In clarity and color representation.

Yes if you are looking and micro-analyzing – HD-DVD is better – but very slightly.

Actually I am somewhat disappointed. I guess I had unrealistic expectations. I have seen stunning HD on the discovery channel – you get used to that.

Will I go out and buy HD-DVD movies – no. Will I rent them if available off Netflix – yes. Will I bother to rent older movies I have seen before to enjoy them in HD- maybe at the beginning – to justify this purchase. I hope more new HD-DVD releases come day and date with the DVD versions.

In closing – I think HD-DVD and Blu-ray are going to both stay relatively low sellers. Like DVD-audio and SACD. Most people do not have the TV’s to tell the difference. On my set – the differences were very slight. Also the added expense and low availability.

I think Sony’s silver bullet that PS3 is going to make Blu-ray movies sell is just wrong. Yes they will sell a few from PS3 – but their expectations of killing the market with PS3 BD players is a pipe dream.

My greatest home theater piece of hardware – the DVR by FAR. It has the ultimate convinces and least fuss. No searching for disks – no damaging the media. Click and play.

My dream setup is a multi-terabyte drive array in my garage – and all the receiver (or media centers) sharing the central storage.

Jeff
(Yes I posted this to a few other forums as well)

Thanks for the comparison, but take a deep breath and compare a few more HD DVD and SD DVDs. The difference between my upconverting Oppo and Toshiba HD -A1 is striking on the top quality discs.

It may be my first time to post, but I have been reading these boards for a while because they are really useful. It is frustrating that the first time I post I can no helpful feedback because I am not a long-time poster like some of you.


I'd wait for some more reports. That'll let you know if it's a wide spread issue or mainly an issue with your system.

If you're on #5, either you have very bad luck or there is an issue with your setup. One thing to note, do not plug the power brick into a ups/surge protector. Plug it directly into a wall outlet. The brick has a built in surge protector which can cause issues when coupled with a surge protector. I used to have lock up issues that were fixed after making that change as per MS request when I called for my 2nd unit. Ofcourse ventilation being other key factor.

Just finished watching Tokyo Drift on HD-DVD, I watched it on the DVD side a week or so ago when I picked it up. The video was already great coming from a DVD (partially a great transfer, partially the 360 being a pretty decent upconverting player).

Obviously, the HD-DVD looks better even at "only" 720P (letterboxed in 1280x1024), and thats on a mere 19" Viewsonic monitor (money/time constraints on getting the CRT projector up and going and my 37" monitor keeps having the red cut out.. so a Viewsonic on some boxes in front of the bigscreen is how I watch stuff currently).

The audio is NOTICIBLY better than the DVD side! And thats with the downconversion to 640kbps DD from the DD+ track. Sure, maybe some HDMI enabled LPCM hookup would be "better" but this is so much better than DVD I hardly care.

I'm not sure I could hear the difference in my listening environment (apartment living room thats open on one side, with a 45deg wall in the back left) or with my sound setup (Infinity Interlude's for 5.1 and a pair of older Infinity's in the back center).

I didn't really played with the U-Control stuff yet but haven't had any stuttering when chapter skipping or such on Tokyo Drift. I haven't watched Kong yet, waiting for my friend to come over tonight since he's not seen it yet either.

I'd wait for some more reports. That'll let you know if it's a wide spread issue or mainly an issue with your system.

If you're on #5, either you have very bad luck or there is an issue with your setup. One thing to note, do not plug the power brick into a ups/surge protector. Plug it directly into a wall outlet. The brick has a built in surge protector which can cause issues when coupled with a surge protector. I used to have lock up issues that were fixed after making that change as per MS request when I called for my 2nd unit. Ofcourse ventilation being other key factor.

I'm on #3. :eek:

I got mine this afternoon from Amazon and have been watching King Kong and Mission Impossible 3. They look great. (Watching in 720p on my Sanyo Z4 projector). Setup was very easy and the system boots up very quickly. Love the remote control too. I already programmed all its codes into my Universal Remote MX-850.

I guess my only complaint is that the cord they sent with it is only about 3 feet long. I wanted to put the HD-DVD player on the top of my rack for easy access and leave my (noisy) XBOX console at the very bottom. But I can’t until I buy a longer USB cord. But they’re cheap, so I’ll be getting one tomorrow.

Overall, this thing is the best deal of the year in my opinion. I just hope I can learn to live with all that noise from my XBOX during movies. I elevated my console a bit by putting little pieces of foam underneath in each corner and that helped cut a bit of the noise factor, but not enough.

Having a bad out of box experience. Hooked up fine, dashboard said all was aok. But with Kong all it says is 'reading'. Put two diferent SD dvds in and is makes a rythmic stuttering noise.

I'm on #3. :eek:

As tech gets more and more complicated, this is more and more likely. I wouldn't expect "next gen" and going forward consoles to be very reliable until perhaps the 2nd year of production.

what tv do you have romper, did you do the update

Thanks to whomever suggested Circuit City. I called my local gamestop and they still hadn't received their order, so I canceled my preorder with them and went to Circuit City. Walked in and saw a line at the register. I grabbed the last one off the shelf and got in line only to find 10 more people who had ordered the drives online or over the phone. I think I got the last one. I can't wait to fire it up later tonight.

I just check it out for 5 min - Component does seem sharper. Also I have to calibrate the 360's Component port on my samsung - I just played games previously and never did that.

One thing that I did notice is the dark scenes - DVD would artifact like crazy on my TV. maybe it was the DNie that Samsung uses - I'm not sure. But dark scenes seem much better with the HD version


I have a 1080p Sammy and if you are watching that set with DNIe, I'm shocked :eek:

scherer326. Have a 3 year old Tosh CRT (1080i) and did the update last week plus put in the disk that came with it too. Won't play a third SD DVD I tried, just stuttering noises. Makes no noise with King Kong, just says reading.

As tech gets more and more complicated, this is more and more likely. I wouldn't expect "next gen" and going forward consoles to be very reliable until perhaps the 2nd year of production.

Sad but true. I bought my second one at Costco and it was DOA when I hooked it up. The third is still chugging along and I bought that XSATA backup device.

do xbox 360 games work on the HD DVD player?

Seems to be one of the only CC's in the country that actually has stock right now, I've checked all over and none of the other ones seem to have stock.

Distribution trucks are en route as we speak. Some have already received, some will tomorrow or Saturday. Most stores (98%) will have it by noon Saturday.

scherer326. Have a 3 year old Tosh CRT (1080i) and did the update last week plus put in the disk that came with it too. Won't play a third SD DVD I tried, just stuttering noises. Makes no noise with King Kong, just says reading.

Might wana open the thing up and see if theres any cables loose or something obvious.. That is if you can open it up without making it noticable.

Did anyone preorder the drive from GameCrazy? If so, have you head anything from your location regarding this? Mine has no clue although the corporate buyer who called me the other day said they had them and that they would be in stores yesterday or today but they have not arrived.

romper, did you call up xbox help, what did they suggest

I just got a call from the automated EBgames line stating that XBOX 360 HD-DVD add-on should be arriving Friday afternoon. :rolleyes: It better be.

eclypse. Don't know if I want to do that, looks like I will be returning it to CC. With the noise it makes with SD dvds sounds like optic drive is having a time of it trying to read it

do xbox 360 games work on the HD DVD player?

Yes.

Yes.

WHat? are you saying that you can put a game in the HD-DVD drive and play it via that drive? if true this is counter to what MSFT has told everyone.

Thanks to whomever suggested Circuit City. I called my local gamestop and they still hadn't received their order, so I canceled my preorder with them and went to Circuit City. Walked in and saw a line at the register. I grabbed the last one off the shelf and got in line only to find 10 more people who had ordered the drives online or over the phone. I think I got the last one. I can't wait to fire it up later tonight.

Great news for Blu Ray!

I'm seeing the same thing with stuttering in King Kong. Not a great out-of-box experience...

But you don't have enough posts so your must be a SONY employee as well :eek:


I kid ;) .. Kind of a sad mentality that some people have in regards to new posters.

Yes.

No, in fact. Games only work from the internal drive.

Well, I just got home with my HD drive got it hooked up and thought I would let everyone know what I thought. I was using the KK movie that came with the drive, and I should say at first I was really unhappy with the PQ. However, my wife and two of my kids thought it was really stunning. To me, the picture was no better than a regular DVD. I was really expecting a huge difference, but instead I had huge bars at the top and bottom and the picture seemed really soft. After my wife left, I decided to check my settings, because I knew the quality had to be much better. Sure enough all my settings were jacked up. I am not sure how, but my xbox reverted to the default settings and the cable on the back had somehow gotten switched to TV, rather than HDTV. After fixing the settings, I was simply amazed. This is what I thought I was going to get with my first HD player!! My wife and kids aren't back yet, but when they come home they are going to be shocked by how good this picture is. The only other HD movies I have right now are the bourne supremacy and spy game. Tomorrow, I should have Polar Express and Van Helsing. I will let everyone know good the PQ is on the other movies. Thanks to everyone who posts on here, with such helpful advice!! I am not sure I would have checked the settings if I had not been reading this thread all day.

scherer 326. I'm on hold right now.

Well, I just got home with my HD drive got it hooked up and thought I would let everyone know what I thought. I was using the KK movie that came with the drive, and I should say at first I was really unhappy with the PQ. However, my wife and two of my kids thought it was really stunning. To me, the picture was no better than a regular DVD. I was really expecting a huge difference, but instead I had huge bars at the top and bottom and the picture seemed really soft. After my wife left, I decided to check my settings, because I knew the quality had to be much better. Sure enough all my settings were jacked up. I am not sure how, but my xbox reverted to the default settings and the cable on the back had somehow gotten switched to TV, rather than HDTV. After fixing the settings, I was simply amazed. This is what I thought I was going to get with my first HD player!! My wife and kids aren't back yet, but when they come home they are going to be shocked by how good this picture is. The only other HD movies I have right now are the bourne supremacy and spy game. Tomorrow, I should have Polar Express and Van Helsing. I will let everyone know good the PQ is. Thanks to everyone who posts on here, with such helpful advice!! I am not sure I would have checked the settings if I had not been reading this thread all day.

DON'T tell them what you did. See if they notice. :p
;)

Well, I just got home with my HD drive got it hooked up and thought I would let everyone know what I thought. I was using the KK movie that came with the drive, and I should say at first I was really unhappy with the PQ. However, my wife and two of my kids thought it was really stunning. To me, the picture was no better than a regular DVD. I was really expecting a huge difference, but instead I had huge bars at the top and bottom and the picture seemed really soft. After my wife left, I decided to check my settings, because I knew the quality had to be much better. Sure enough all my settings were jacked up. I am not sure how, but my xbox reverted to the default settings and the cable on the back had somehow gotten switched to TV, rather than HDTV. After fixing the settings, I was simply amazed. This is what I thought I was going to get with my first HD player!! My wife and kids aren't back yet, but when they come home they are going to be shocked by how good this picture is. The only other HD movies I have right now are the bourne supremacy and spy game. Tomorrow, I should have Polar Express and Van Helsing. I will let everyone know good the PQ is on the other movies. Thanks to everyone who posts on here, with such helpful advice!! I am not sure I would have checked the settings if I had not been reading this thread all day.

I had a similar thing happen to me today. I just got an HD PVR and recorded my first HD material. When I played it, it looked like crap. Colors way oversaturated, extreme contrast and over the top sharpness. I was totally disappointed. But then I noticaed that an IEEE 1394 input was added to my video inputs and hadn't been calibrated. For some reason Toshiba likes to default to "torch" settings.

Can someone please give a definate answer as to whether games work on the HD-DVD player?

Also has anyone got their 360 and HD-DVD add-on connected to a 32'' screen? How does the PQ look there?

Can someone please give a definate answer as to whether games work on the HD-DVD player?

Also has anyone got their 360 and HD-DVD add-on connected to a 32'' screen? How does the PQ look there?

No, games only work on the internal drive. (I already said this).
Yes, it looks great on my 30" LCD (see my blog).

Thanks for clearing that up. I don't see why the other poster said it worked?

I am just worried that as i have been used to upconverted 720p on my 32'' LCD for a year now that i won't see a difference on HD-DVD. Plus i'm sitting 5 feet away from the screen

Received my player tonight. I have a Samsung 46" 1080p 4695D set. Bought a monster vga cable and hooked it up via vga. Same washed out look other reporting. Was not impressed when I started playing Kong. Is it normal for the VGA display to be only about half the screen. I had 1/4 of the screen black bars on top and bottom. I decided to go back over to component. I believe my set does 1080p over component (it works when I select 1080p in the Xbox settings so I am assuming it does 1080p over component) The component looks good. I think I was expecting a little more, don't get me wrong the picture is superb. But I wasn't "wowed" like others have been posting but am appreciating the quality more and more as I watch. I do have a couple questions.

1) Do all HD-DVD's have the black bars on top and bottom?
2) Via VGA cable do the black bars take up more of the screen, and if so is this normal?
3) Do you think MS will fix the vga issues shortly?
4) Is there anyway to get optical audio and VGA together?

Thanks

Just got off the phone with microxbox and besides taking lots of personal info from me they said that its possible that due to manufacturing process some HD-DVDs may not play. Sounds like standard stuff, so they told me to return it to CC, which I will. Bummer getting one that is a clunker.

Problem is explained in 1646

Can someone advise me on this. I run my 360 through VGA 1366 x 768 on my 40 i jvc hdtv it looks stunning. Will my HDTV play through this setting or will i have to use componant cuz i dont have a componant cable :S any advice would be muchly apprechiated. thank you x

Received my player tonight. I have a Samsung 46" 1080p 4695D set. Bought a monster vga cable and hooked it up via vga. Same washed out look other reporting. Was not impressed when I started playing Kong. Is it normal for the VGA display to be only about half the screen. I had 1/4 of the screen black bars on top and bottom. I decided to go back over to component. I believe my set does 1080p over component (it works when I select 1080p in the Xbox settings so I am assuming it does 1080p over component) The component looks good. I think I was expecting a little more, don't get me wrong the picture is superb. But I wasn't "wowed" like others have been posting but am appreciating the quality more and more as I watch. I do have a couple questions.

1) Do all HD-DVD's have the black bars on top and bottom?
2) Via VGA cable do the black bars take up more of the screen, and if so is this normal?
3) Do you think MS will fix the vga issues shortly?
4) Is there anyway to get optical audio and VGA together?

Thanks

Edit: I read his post incorrectly. Deleted this post.

1) Do all HD-DVD's have the black bars on top and bottom?

Yes and no. Apsect Ratios determine this. If you have a 16x9 display, movies at 1.85 or 1.76 to 1 will have extremely little or no black bars.

However movies that are 2.35 and 2.40 to 1 will have larger bars as the picture is wider in scope.

Visit http://www.widescreenadvocate.org/ for more info on this.

Picked up mine at Circuit City after work. I have a Samsung HL-S5687, running the 360 into that via VGA at 1080p. I am very very pleased with the quality. Doing an A/B comparison of Batman Begins comparing it to my HTPC, running the PureVideo decoder out to the TV via HDMI at 1080p. Even my wife, who is not one to be too excited about stuff like this, says it is noticeably better. Very worth the purchase I think.

Received my player tonight. I have a Samsung 46" 1080p 4695D set. Bought a monster vga cable and hooked it up via vga. Same washed out look other reporting. Was not impressed when I started playing Kong. Is it normal for the VGA display to be only about half the screen. I had 1/4 of the screen black bars on top and bottom. I decided to go back over to component. I believe my set does 1080p over component (it works when I select 1080p in the Xbox settings so I am assuming it does 1080p over component) The component looks good. I think I was expecting a little more, don't get me wrong the picture is superb. But I wasn't "wowed" like others have been posting but am appreciating the quality more and more as I watch. I do have a couple questions.

1) Do all HD-DVD's have the black bars on top and bottom?
2) Via VGA cable do the black bars take up more of the screen, and if so is this normal?
3) Do you think MS will fix the vga issues shortly?
4) Is there anyway to get optical audio and VGA together?

Thanks

I use a Samsung 5087 1080p DLP tv and I think I can answer some of your Q's

1.) Over VGA, go to your dashboard. Do you still see black bars? If you do, it is because when you select 1920 x 1080 output via vga, you need to use the remote on the Samsung to resize the picture. Don't know why, but this is thoroughly discussed in the thread re: 87/88 TV's in Rear Projection forum

2 and 3 go back to 1

4.) I have had no problems with optical audio and VGA together, so I guess I can't relate to your problem.

1) Do all HD-DVD's have the black bars on top and bottom?
Thanks
KK is 2.35:1 ratio as many HD DVDs are. If your screen is 4:3 then you will get substantial amounts of black bars top and bottom. If your screen is 16:9 and you have configured your Xbox correctly, you will get small black bars. If your screen is 2.35:1 then, well, I am jealous, and you won't get any black bars.

Anyone tried to connect the drive to Vista RC2 yet and using WinDVD 8 to play at least the regular DVD? I know we need the add-on package to play HD-DVD dlsc with WinDVD 8.

Wow. Just hooked this up to my Philips at 1080i. I never thought anything could make my upconverting Oppo look bad (it runs at 720p), but this certainly does in a direct A-B comparison.

I don't think the difference is as dramatic as VHS to DVD, but this is the first time I have *ever* questioned the adequacy of SD DVD.

By the way, I ordered mine from Amazon Saturday - shipped yesterday Prime 2 day and actually arrived today. It appears the prime members did indeed get theirs faster.

This is a fantastic deal for $200.

Received my player tonight. I have a Samsung 46" 1080p 4695D set. Bought a monster vga cable and hooked it up via vga. Same washed out look other reporting. Was not impressed when I started playing Kong. Is it normal for the VGA display to be only about half the screen. I had 1/4 of the screen black bars on top and bottom. I decided to go back over to component. I believe my set does 1080p over component (it works when I select 1080p in the Xbox settings so I am assuming it does 1080p over component) The component looks good. I think I was expecting a little more, don't get me wrong the picture is superb. But I wasn't "wowed" like others have been posting but am appreciating the quality more and more as I watch. I do have a couple questions.

1) Do all HD-DVD's have the black bars on top and bottom?
2) Via VGA cable do the black bars take up more of the screen, and if so is this normal?
3) Do you think MS will fix the vga issues shortly?
4) Is there anyway to get optical audio and VGA together?

Thanks

1 Most action movies are 2.35:1 , 2.40:1 scope, so it's normal HDTV is 1.77:1
2 Most display with VGA have 0 overscan, and Component show 5% all around, so it's may be normal
3 don't know
4 you can't? i don't understand.

40 Inch are considered Minimal screen size and if the 360 video quality is subpar, witch we won't know until someone actually do a full comparaison between standalone and the HD A1/A2

Does your set avec DNIe? DNIe is recongised to destroy most detail in the picture by making faces look like pasture. DNIe is a Samsung feature that can or can't be disable depanding on you're model.

Wow. Just hooked this up to my Philips at 1080i. I never thought anything could make my upconverting Oppo look bad (it runs at 720p), but this certainly does in a direct A-B comparison.

I don't think the difference is as dramatic as VHS to DVD, but this is the first time I have *ever* questioned the adequacy of SD DVD.

By the way, I ordered mine from Amazon Saturday - shipped yesterday Prime 2 day and actually arrived today. It appears the prime members did indeed get theirs faster.

This is a fantastic deal for $200.

Once you see the noise, the compression issue, block etc etc from DVD's, and you will if you watch A LOT of HD DVD/BluRay it will be near VHS to DVD comparison.

I did a comp between a 720p display and XDRS 1080p from Sony and the difference between but was amazing. Quite a few detail were lost in 720p that just popped in 1080p

So what's the word on upconverting SD DVD over component??

I've been hearing yes and no.

And to anyone that can try, can you try a home video (or some other DVD-R) to see if it happens to upconvert over component?

Picked up mine at Circuit City after work. Even my wife, who is not one to be too excited about stuff like this, says it is noticeably better. Very worth the purchase I think.


I just bought mine at Circuit City as well. I am going to go home and cancel my Amazon pre-order. I am hoping for the same response from the wife.

This is the vga cable I bought. How do I get optical audio if the is not a spot to plug my optical cable into? I know the Xbox HD component connector has an input for optical but not this one? Did I get the wrong cable, if so can someone recommend one.

http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Monster-Cable-VGA/dp/B000BTICMS/sr=8-5/qid=1163121306/ref=pd_bbs_sr_5/002-6391870-2644018?ie=UTF8&s=videogames

Now that I have the HD DVD drive I'm disappointed in my Samsung HLR6168 DLP. I was using VGA because it had less LAG for games than component. When I first watched Batman Begins I thought it only looked slightly better than the regular DVD. My wife could not tell the difference at all. I switched back to component and noticed improved detail.

This is the vga cable I bought. How do I get optical audio if the is not a spot to plug my optical cable into? I know the Xbox HD component connector has an input for optical but not this one? Did I get the wrong cable, if so can someone recommend one.

http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Monster-Cable-VGA/dp/B000BTICMS/sr=8-5/qid=1163121306/ref=pd_bbs_sr_5/002-6391870-2644018?ie=UTF8&s=videogames
The optical output should be at the Xbox connector side.

Well it looks like I need some sort dongle adapter. Geez after spending 60 bucks on this cable I would figure it would've just plugged right into it. Now I have to spend another 30 bucks for optical.

http://www.gearlive.com/index.php/news/article/monster-gamelink-360-component-video-fiber-optic-audio-a-v-kit-12221112/

Received my player tonight. I have a Samsung 46" 1080p 4695D set. Bought a monster vga cable and hooked it up via vga. Same washed out look other reporting. Was not impressed when I started playing Kong. Is it normal for the VGA display to be only about half the screen. I had 1/4 of the screen black bars on top and bottom. I decided to go back over to component. I believe my set does 1080p over component (it works when I select 1080p in the Xbox settings so I am assuming it does 1080p over component) The component looks good. I think I was expecting a little more, don't get me wrong the picture is superb. But I wasn't "wowed" like others have been posting but am appreciating the quality more and more as I watch. I do have a couple questions.

1) Do all HD-DVD's have the black bars on top and bottom?
2) Via VGA cable do the black bars take up more of the screen, and if so is this normal?
3) Do you think MS will fix the vga issues shortly?
4) Is there anyway to get optical audio and VGA together?

Thanks

Samsung scales the picture to 92% of the screen via VGA. There is an option on your Samsung remote to stretch the pictures manually to fill the other 8%.

eclypse. Don't know if I want to do that, looks like I will be returning it to CC. With the noise it makes with SD dvds sounds like optic drive is having a time of it trying to read it

It sounds like the drive is busted -- I would suspect a replacement will work just fine for you.

doing a XBox 360 HD DVD drive owner/purchaser head count here : http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=748353

sage, Yeah thanks, that just what I will do. I had one pre ordered at Game Crazy and they were a little unsure of ETA so I called CC and they had one so I went and grabbed it. Just talked to Game Crazy and they think they will have them in in the morning. Cool. pick up my pre-order and take back the CC one.

with every batch of anything there is always a few clunkers. I got mine.

The optical output should be at the Xbox connector side.

I returned those after purchasing the mini plug optical cable from monoprice. It didn't fit hence the return. I just got the microsoft one that comes with a gender changer and adapter to get sound from a computer to red/white analog cables.

anyone have the player and a 1080i only CRT, how's it look?
Not sure how much of an improvement the xbox's 720p signal would be compared to my upconverting DVD player. Seems most users have 720p or 1080p sets.

I just received my HD-DVD 360 add on from Amazon . I placed the order on Novermber 4th, it was shipped on November 8th ( 2 day Prime shipping ) and arrived today November 9th, WITH King Kong DVD included !!!!!!! I guess its not true that only people who preordered back in October will receive the DVD for free ..l..

I was having a hell of time trying to find the XBOX 360 HDDVD drive. I tried all the Gamestop's in the tri city area and finally found them in stock in at the Circuit City in York, PA. Looks like Gamestop can't get them. Best Buy won't have them til the 16th. I tried WAL-MART,Target and everywhere else I could think of. This so reminds me of trying to get a hold of 360 on release week.

Anyway the picture is amazing my DVD collection has been rendered stupid by this. Thanks Bill (Microsoft) keep spoiling me! Yesterday I thought DVD was good enough not anymore!

Man Amazon is messed up. I ordered mine on the 25th of October with overnight shipping and they aren't even prepping the order yet.

Well it looks like I need some sort dongle adapter. Geez after spending 60 bucks on this cable I would figure it would've just plugged right into it. Now I have to spend another 30 bucks for optical.

The following would have been sufficient for your needs at $40 (optical output is part of the 360 side connection):

http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-VGA-HD-Cable/dp/B000B6MLTG/sr=1-1/qid=1163122277/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-4200279-2143350?ie=UTF8&s=videogames

Or, at less than half that price, the following at $15 (no idea about the quality of this one):

http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-8%252019-VGA-Cable/dp/B000BCEJV8/sr=1-4/qid=1163122277/ref=sr_1_4/102-4200279-2143350?ie=UTF8&s=videogames

anyone have the player and a 1080i only CRT, how's it look?
Not sure how much of an improvement the xbox's 720p signal would be compared to my upconverting DVD player. Seems most users have 720p or 1080p sets.

When I get done with this paper, I will set it up and let you know. I have a 26" Samsung CRT HDTV, so I am eager to see how it looks too.

I got home and installed my hd drive. It is hooked up via component through an iscan vp50, then by hdmi to a new Sharp Aquos 52" LCD. Audio is routed through a NAD Masters Series processor and amp. The vp50 is set to upconvert to 1080p and I have the xbox360 set to 1080i. Video and audio are terrific. I am quite happy. The setup was a breeze and it works great. The only negative I can tell at the moment is that the main menu of the hddvd is somewhat sluggish when going through the various options such as choosing a scene to watch. Not to bad, but noticeable nonetheless.

Ah, one more thing: I have yet to figure out how to open/close the hddvd drive via the universal media remote. I am not sure it can be done this way, rather than having to navigate all the way back to the xbox360 dashboard and opening the tray from there. I have not been able to figure out how to navigate back to the dashboard either yet.

Oh man, I fell asleep. What did I miss? Anyone post any pics HD-DVDs playing yet?

I'm getting my HD-DVD add-on delivered to me tomorrow.... I'm wondering if a HD-DVD Calibration disc exists (Video Essentials, AVIA, etc.).

How are folks on this thread planning to optimize their picture for HD-DVD?

Using their sharp and mighty eyes.

Hello everyone, I am new to the forum. I just wanted to ask a quick question, sorry if it may seem like a dumb one...

But, I got this HD-DVD drive and I am very happy with the PQ. However, the only DVD I have is KK that came with the drive. Was anybody else underwhelmed by the sound? I am hoping there is nothing wrong with my drive or my hd-dvd software because to be quite honest, the sound is fuller on the DVD9 version. IS anyone else getting the same thing?

I mean, I have a pretty decent set up. I am running a 5.1 Infinity primus set up with an HK reciever and a mirage omni S12 sub. Not the best stuff in the world, but not the worst. However, I can't get over how the KK standard dvd sounds so much louder. Is anyone else noticing this?

I'm getting my HD-DVD add-on delivered to me tomorrow.... I'm wondering if a HD-DVD Calibration disc exists (Video Essentials, AVIA, etc.).

How are folks on this thread planning to optimize their picture for HD-DVD?

I've used DVE (DVD version) right now and am waiting unit next week when HD-DVD DVE comes out. I think the expected date for it is Nov. 14th.

Hello everyone, I am new to the forum. I just wanted to ask a quick question, sorry if it may seem like a dumb one...

But, I got this HD-DVD drive and I am very happy with the PQ. However, the only DVD I have is KK that came with the drive. Was anybody else underwhelmed by the sound? I am hoping there is nothing wrong with my drive or my hd-dvd software because to be quite honest, the sound is fuller on the DVD9 version. IS anyone else getting the same thing?

I mean, I have a pretty decent set up. I am running a 5.1 Infinity primus set up with an HK reciever and a mirage omni S12 sub. Not the best stuff in the world, but not the worst. However, I can't get over how the KK standard dvd sounds so much louder. Is anyone else noticing this?
Isn't it the same DD5.1 track on both? Or am I mistaken?

Or if it's different, could the levels just be set differently?

I guess that is possible. I don't know, at the same level on my reciever, there is a noticable difference in the volume.

I just want to make sure that it is the discs and not my hardware.

Now that I have the HD DVD drive I'm disappointed in my Samsung HLR6168 DLP. I was using VGA because it had less LAG for games than component. When I first watched Batman Begins I thought it only looked slightly better than the regular DVD. My wife could not tell the difference at all. I switched back to component and noticed improved detail.


It looks excellent on my HLR6168 over vga at 1080P. When my other unit gets here, hopefully tomorrow since Amazon screwed up, I can compare KK between the 360 and the A1. But the A1 should look better since I also run it through my VP50.

Hello everyone, I am new to the forum. I just wanted to ask a quick question, sorry if it may seem like a dumb one...

But, I got this HD-DVD drive and I am very happy with the PQ. However, the only DVD I have is KK that came with the drive. Was anybody else underwhelmed by the sound? I am hoping there is nothing wrong with my drive or my hd-dvd software because to be quite honest, the sound is fuller on the DVD9 version. IS anyone else getting the same thing?

I mean, I have a pretty decent set up. I am running a 5.1 Infinity primus set up with an HK reciever and a mirage omni S12 sub. Not the best stuff in the world, but not the worst. However, I can't get over how the KK standard dvd sounds so much louder. Is anyone else noticing this?

I also thought the sound was kind of low compared to my regular dvd player.

Ok, good. Atleast someone else was hearing the same. Hopefully its just the KK discs and not something that is going to occur all the time with the add-on.

I called back to my CC again after being told it was not available online previously. The guy told me they did not have them but then he checked again and one of the warehouse guys said they had them in the back. So I ordered online and am on my way now. Finally after years of waiting for an HD-DVD player!!!

Ok I picked up the 360 HD-DVD drive earlier today from Circuit City. I quickly hooked it up to my laptop via USB. I have Nero 7 installed on my computer along with the InCD Software. It recognizes the drive as an HD-DVD Toshiba Drive. The drive shows that King Kong is in the drive and I can see the file structure of the HD-DVD disc. I just need the proper playback software to play the disc. WinDVD 8 Platinum does not yet have the plug-in available for HD-DVD playback, and I don't know where to find the Japanese version that does.

Pics

I have pics but I don't have enough posts to put up the link

Is this a normal looking vga image for an HD-DVD?

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/pferry/DSC00142.jpg

Do you think there will be a shortage of these things around Christmas?

Is this a normal looking vga image for an HD-DVD?

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/pferry/DSC00142.jpg

Are those black bars really that huge :eek: can't be!!!

I called back to my CC again after being told it was not available online previously. The guy told me they did not have them but then he checked again and one of the warehouse guys said they had them in the back. So I ordered online and am on my way now. Finally after years of waiting for an HD-DVD player!!!


Cool Starkenator, Circuit City was giving me wishy washy answers as to having them or not when I called. I found its best to check the website and order one for pickup at the closest store and you will get one. Don't call! One guy told me they shipped Wed. and they don't open there shipments for stocking until Saturday. I also called another CC nearby and I heard them ask in the background for HD on DVD. They then proceded to further ask me what movie was HD and when it was released to DVD. Oh My!

Is this a normal looking vga image for an HD-DVD?

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/pferry/DSC00142.jpg

It seems like it's vertically squished...

Man, I can't find these anywhere in west LA. I ordered from Amazon overnight on the 24th, and my order got shoved back until November 14th. So I've been looking around and no gamestop's have them yet, and the Circuit Cities in my area don't have them either.

Sad. Sad. Sad.

Oh well. I suppose I can wait one more week. In the meantime, keep telling us how awesome it is!

Now off to play some Tony Hawk Project 8...

Is this a normal looking vga image for an HD-DVD?

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/pferry/DSC00142.jpg
Looks like the aspect ratio is set wrong on your Samsung. Go in the menu (Mode?) and change it.

Hello everyone, I have somewhat of a stupid question. I am definitely wanting to grab the HD DVD addon, the only thing is my TV screen is a tad small. I own a Sony KD30XS955 (30" CRT) and I love it. In my case, the addon would still be dramatically better looking than standard dvds wouldn't ya say? I hear a lot of people claiming that it isn't worth it on smaller displays. I mean I can see how larger sets or projectors would benefit more from it, but that isn't to say that it would be useless for me right?

Also has someone confirmed that the unit does not upscale standard dvds via component? I was hearing rumors that it did, but I doubt it.

Are those black bars really that huge :eek: can't be!!!


My black bars are not that big. I have a pioneer elite 1130 HD and its about 2 inch bars on top and bottom. It looks nothing like that photo. I also have Mission Impossible 3 and it has the same black bars (about 2 inch on top and bottom).

Also I think I'm dumping BLU-RAY it looks like crap. I'm not investing anymore into it.

Are those black bars really that huge :eek: can't be!!!

lol, thats what I am talking about. I would need a 100" screen to enjoy watching the movie like this.

My tv is a Samsung 46" LCD 4695D when I go into PC mode in the setup

The resolution says 640 X 480 @ 60Hz, no options to change it? normal????

Auto adjustment feature make its unwatchable

Heres another pic
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/pferry/DSC00131.jpg

lol, thats what I am talking about. I would need a 100" screen to enjoy watching the movie like this.

My tv is a Samsung 46" LCD 4695D when I go into PC mode in the setup

The resolution says 640 X 480 @ 60Hz, no options to change it? normal????

Auto adjustment feature make its unwatchable

Heres another pic
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/pferry/DSC00131.jpg

There has to be something wrong with your settings. Check you 360 setup? Make sure it's set to widescreen?

I just ordered one of these bad boys from my local CC, going to pick it up tomorrow afternoon...

I was curious if anyone has tested SD DVD upconversion quality?

Also, how loud is the drive?

And for those that picked it up from CC (or elsewhere) today, did you also get KK bundled with the drive? Or was this only a benefit of preordering?

Can't wait to check this thing out...so far, looks like a really good deal at $200...

pferry needs to change his output res. on the 360. to 1280x720. I think, unless you have 1080p

lol, thats what I am talking about. I would need a 100" screen to enjoy watching the movie like this.

My tv is a Samsung 46" LCD 4695D when I go into PC mode in the setup

The resolution says 640 X 480 @ 60Hz, no options to change it? normal????

Auto adjustment feature make its unwatchable

Heres another pic
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/pferry/DSC00131.jpg

pferry,


That looks like crap. How are you connected to the TV? VGA/component/S-Video?

lol, thats what I am talking about. I would need a 100" screen to enjoy watching the movie like this.

My tv is a Samsung 46" LCD 4695D when I go into PC mode in the setup

The resolution says 640 X 480 @ 60Hz, no options to change it? normal????

Auto adjustment feature make its unwatchable



what does it look like when you play games in hd? check your 360 settings on the farthest blade in dashboard

I just ordered one of these bad boys from my local CC, going to pick it up tomorrow afternoon...

I was curious if anyone has tested SD DVD upconversion quality?

Also, how loud is the drive?

And for those that picked it up from CC (or elsewhere) today, did you also get KK bundled with the drive? Or was this only a benefit of preordering?

Can't wait to check this thing out...so far, looks like a really good deal at $200...

I can't hear the drive at all. The 360 is much louder! I got KK without preordering just went nuts calling places until I hit the CC website and noticed they were in stock in my area.

lol, thats what I am talking about. I would need a 100" screen to enjoy watching the movie like this.

My tv is a Samsung 46" LCD 4695D when I go into PC mode in the setup

The resolution says 640 X 480 @ 60Hz, no options to change it? normal????

Auto adjustment feature make its unwatchable

Heres another pic
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/pferry/DSC00131.jpg

If you're seeing 640 x 480 @ 60Hz being reported by the display, your display settings in the Xbox 360 Dashboard are not set up to give you the optimal viewing experience with the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player.

Exit to the Xbox Dashboard by pressing the Xbox Guide button (the silver X button), then the Y button. Once in the Xbox Dashboard, scroll to the System blade, choose Console Settings, choose Display and then choose Screen Resolution. According to the information I found on Google, your HDTV supports 1080p. Choose 1920x1080 from the list. Assuming everything went as expected, you'll be prompted to accept that you can see the new resolution. Since 1920x1080 is by default a "widescreen" aspect ratio, you should be all set.

Launch the HD DVD Player again with the new display settings by navigating to any blade other than System in the Xbox Dashboard, scrolling to the bottom of the screen and choosing "Play HD DVD."

It should look much better after you get things set up properly. Let us know how it goes!

I'm getting my HD-DVD add-on delivered to me tomorrow.... I'm wondering if a HD-DVD Calibration disc exists (Video Essentials, AVIA, etc.).

How are folks on this thread planning to optimize their picture for HD-DVD?I ordered the Digital Video Essentials (DVE) HD-DVD:
http://www.bestprices.com/cgi-bin/vlink/647715300126.html

It's supposed to ship with my X360 drive tomorrow, but I told Robert not to delay the drive if DVE wasn't in stock.

In the mean time, I burned my own HD-DVD calibration disc onto DVD+R:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8151662&&#post8151662

Works great in my Toshiba HD-A1.

Thanks guys, I am a moron. I didnt know you had to change the settings when the vga cable was plugged in. I thought it just carried over from the component settings. Now THIS is more like it.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/pferry/DSC00147.jpg

Appreciate the help!

FINALLY somebody posted a picture of a movie playing!

Damn you Amazon! Damn you to hell! Man I want my player so bad now. You all are only making the itch worse.

FINALLY somebody posted a picture of a movie playing!

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y3...ry/DSC00147.jpg


That photo doesn't do it justice. Anyone figure out how to use U-Control or whatever its called with the HDDVD playing with picture in picture of the directors comments? It says to press the A button to continue with the tutorial. I can't figure out what is equivalent to the A button on the Xbox 360 remote?

Is it confirmed that it is dual power and works on 110/230v ?

I am in australia and have ordered a japanese player as I cant find any usa stores that deliver to australia.

just wondering if I will have any major power issues?

thanks.

Damn you Amazon! Damn you to hell! Man I want my player so bad now. You all are only making the itch worse.

at this point just cancel and go to CC

I also thought the sound was kind of low compared to my regular dvd player.


Well, this could actually be really good news! It might hint to higher dynamics on hd-dvd than on sd-dvd. So this would mean, the sound would be closer to the original theater mix. :)


Gee... I can't wait to get the drive... but I have to - in Germany it will take more 2 weeks until it hits the stores... :(

Damn you Amazon! Damn you to hell! Man I want my player so bad now. You all are only making the itch worse.

I canceled Amazon and purchased a unit at CC. Complained (since I purchased on 10/20 and it wasn't shipping), got a $15 credit which just about covered the taxes at CC....

Picture is fantastic on my setup. Kong HD is amazingly better than the SD version (which I also have). On my setup (a 720p projector) it is great. I'm also running my 360 into my DVDO VP50 which is scaling the 1080i to 720p. That is likely also helping a bit. ;) The 360 add on works great. I could get better audio with a stand alone unit, but I'm going to wait a bit on that. Nice job MS! SJ

at this point just cancel and go to CC

I have a friend at EB/Gamestop he said the company works off of pre-orders mostly and won't get drives in unless they are pre-ordered weeks ahead of time. This is mostly to cut down on shipping costs. Seems if you don't pre-order think of places in your city that don't accept pre-orders and look there. I've concluded from this mess once again that pre-orders suck!

Is it confirmed that it is dual power and works on 110/230v ?

I am in australia and have ordered a japanese player as I cant find any usa stores that deliver to australia.

just wondering if I will have any major power issues?

thanks.

Yes, someone else confirmed the voltage is dual power. Looks like you're doing the same as me. Play-Asia is my friend :)

(edit: see post 1565 for voltage details. Would link but not entitled to it yet)

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y3...ry/DSC00147.jpg


That photo doesn't do it justice. Anyone figure out how to use U-Control or whatever its called with the HDDVD playing with picture in picture of the directors comments? It says to press the A button to continue with the tutorial. I can't figure out what is equivalent to the A button on the Xbox 360 remote?

You can either use the A button on the included Universal Media Remote or you can press Left Trigger + A to use the HDi A button.

There is a help screen available in the UI. Press "display" on the remote or press START button on the controller to bring up the on-screen display. Choose the "?" button on the far right of the UI to bring up the help screen. It clearly lists how the controller's functions are used while playing HD DVD.

To whomever asked about the quality on a 1080i CRT, it looks fantastic. I took a couple pictures, but they are blurry as heck, but it gives you an idea.

http://www.terminal34.net/hddvd/hddvd-Images/4.jpg
http://www.terminal34.net/hddvd/hddvd-Images/6.jpg

at this point just cancel and go to CC
I already checked. There's not a circuit city in the city that has the HD-DVD player.

SHJT can you compare the 360's 720p output vs your scaler's? I might just buy it for my 720p projector.. Thanks

THANK YOU GAMESTOP! I cancelled my order from amazon. as they was not shipping mine appearently and ordered it from gamestop with next day they shipped it today and ill have it tomorrow. 115" HD DVD here i come!

Evilfud

Yes, someone else confirmed the voltage is dual power. Looks like you're doing the same as me. Play-Asia is my friend :)

Yes I am :)

I wouldnt mind reading the post about the power instead of just other people telling me its confirmed.

had a scan and couldnt find the post... anyone link me?

Yes I am :)

I wouldnt mind reading the post about the power instead of just other people telling me its confirmed.

had a scan and couldnt find the post... anyone link me?

Post 1565.

Has anyone else that has seen this player besides me now think they totally blew there hard earned money on BLU-RAY which what I now think is total crap? I could have bought 5 of these players for the price I paid for BLU-RAY.

Can someone tell me, does the king kong movie come in the HD-dvd BOX or is it a seperate thing they hand you with the box? I'm hoping to get mine at gamestop tomorrow (got the automated call tonight) but the guys at the store was CLUELESS as to any move coming with it? (i.e. dont know about king kong offer)....

to clarify i'm not asking if the movies comes with a plastic case, i'm just asking if its something they packed inside the packaging of the drive.

can anyone help me here?

I just got mine and i swear to god they didnt include the setup disc in my box and the manual is very implicit that i need that disc to run the HD-DVD drive.

however i have xbox live and last night my xbox downloaded the new update and i have seen some info indicating that is the same info as what is on the included (well, for most people) disc.

so long story short - can anyone confirm that if my live downloaded the lastest update then i should be all set? thanks in advance!

Can someone tell me, does the king kong movie come in the HD-dvd BOX or is it a seperate thing they hand you with the box? I'm hoping to get mine at gamestop tomorrow (got the automated call tonight) but the guys at the store was CLUELESS as to any move coming with it? (i.e. dont know about king kong offer)....

to clarify i'm not asking if the movies comes with a plastic case, i'm just asking if its something they packed inside the packaging of the drive.

It comes as if you bought it in the store plastic box and everything.

From packaging pics it appears to be an in-box item Jinx - Meaning it is not taped to the outside of the box but is inside the HD-DVD drive packaging itself.

can anyone help me here?

I just got mine and i swear to god they didnt include the setup disc in my box and the manual is very implicit that i need that disc to run the HD-DVD drive.

however i have xbox live and last night my xbox downloaded the new update and i have seen some info indicating that is the same info as what is on the included (well, for most people) disc.

so long story short - can anyone confirm that if my live downloaded the lastest update then i should be all set? thanks in advance!Only one way to find out.....pop in Kong.

From packaging pics it appears to be an in-box item Jinx - Meaning it is not taped to the outside of the box but is inside the HD-DVD drive packaging itself.


Okay i hope this is the case :) As i'd feel dumb walking out of gamestop without the movie cuz they are clueless around these parts...