one and only 360 HD-DVD Drive thread & LINKS [Text View]

LAGOSIAN

11-09-06, 05:17 PM

Link to Xbox 360 as HD DVD Player: One and Only thread Here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8471371&&#post8471371)

Guys! I just recieved my pre-ordered 5 HD DVD drives for the Xbox today! :)

I opened the box and was simply amazed! :)

Quickly plugged it in, and put in MI-III after the upgrade disc had finished its job and voila! It is every bit as spectacular as my HD DVD standalone! :eek:

They definately have a winner here. I'm gonna have the best presents for Xmas. :D

I have taken the liberty of posting links that would better explain my first impressions...good reading!

http://xbox360.themanroom.com/news.php?id=1360

This link shows you the actual size as compared to the HD-A1 and the PS3, this baby is small!http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/09/xbox-hd-dvd-hands-on/

ryoohki

11-09-06, 05:23 PM

Person99

11-09-06, 05:32 PM

It is every bit as spectacular as my HD DVD standalone! :eek:

How are you getting TrueHD tracks? I didn't think that was possible which would make it quite inferior to the standalone.

Dave

1loudsuv

11-09-06, 05:33 PM

nice good to ear! I would have got that it that wasn't the sound issues, if the 360 had HDMI 1.1 it could have decoded and transmit the new formats in PCM HDMI that would have Rocked and i would have bought that player in a heartbeat...
well maybe they did it so people like me dont go return their players at best buy and get store credit and buy the 360 add on and toshiba losses money. who knows they might add it later doesnt sound impossible

Person99

11-09-06, 05:35 PM

I have taken the liberty of posting links that would better explain my first impressions...good reading!

Sorry, can't trust the opinions of someone crazy enough to use a bose system for HT. :rolleyes:

LAGOSIAN

11-09-06, 05:47 PM

How are you getting TrueHD tracks? I didn't think that was possible which would make it quite inferior to the standalone.

Dave
Who cares much about TrueHD? All I care about is that it has Dolby 5.1 Plus. :)

I already have that on my HD-A1. I bought it for my son for use on his 42" plaz.

Scarpad

11-09-06, 05:48 PM

Guys! I just recieved my pre-ordered 5 HD DVD drives for the Xbox today! :)

I opened the box and was simply amazed! :)

Quickly plugged it in, and put in MI-III after the upgrade disc had finished its job and voila! It is every bit as spectacular as my HD DVD standalone! :eek:

They definately have a winner here. I'm gonna have the best presents for Xmas. :D

I have taken the liberty of posting links that would better explain my first impressions...good reading!

http://xbox360.themanroom.com/news.php?id=1360

This link shows you the actual size as compared to the HD-A1 and the PS3, this baby is small!http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/09/xbox-hd-dvd-hands-on/

Geez 5 ! You're probably the reason why my Western Mass Gamestop's and EB's have none. Thanks.

LAGOSIAN

11-09-06, 05:58 PM

Geez 5 ! You're probably the reason why my Western Mass Gamestop's and EB's have none. Thanks.
Sorry, lots of kids in the family with Xboxes and HDTVs! :D

I hope their dads have better Xmas presents for them. :D

ryoohki

11-09-06, 06:05 PM

Sorry, lots of kids in the family with Xboxes and HDTVs! :D

I hope their dads have better Xmas presents for them. :D

that's a very nice gift , especially if they are movie freak! :)

hmurchison

11-09-06, 06:28 PM

Lagosian

I think I want to be in your family. LOL

LAGOSIAN

11-09-06, 06:37 PM

It's about the kids.

During Xmas dinner I will break out my son's present first, hook it up to his 360 and watch all the children gasp!

Then about an hour latter after the boys and gals are all pouty faced and in amazment in his room from, my wife and I will then break out their Add-ons as well! It's gonna kill them!

It takes hard work and planning to be the favorite uncle. :D

luipic

11-09-06, 06:37 PM

And so where is the King Kong disc?
Regards
Luigi

Sean_O

11-09-06, 06:52 PM

Sorry, can't trust the opinions of someone crazy enough to use a bose system for HT.

Are you being serious?

If so, Bose may suck, but that was an ass comment.

quickfire

11-09-06, 08:30 PM

What about the Kong disc???

GIVE US SOME DETAILS!!!!
P L e a s e:)

Wesley Hester

11-09-06, 10:25 PM

What about the Kong disc???

GIVE US SOME DETAILS!!!!
P L e a s e:)

Looks awesome at 1080p. Colors are really good too.

P.S. Regular DVDs don't look as good at 1080p as just playing them in the 360 itself at 1080p (at least to me). Only watched a few scenes from the M:i:III DVD which has moiré like a son of a gun to begin with.

RAVEN56706

11-10-06, 06:39 AM

Ok some people have already received the add-on and are testing it and i know alot more will be receiving it this weekend and today but so far

will you be keeping it ? why or why not?

g55555sim

11-10-06, 07:07 AM

hmm was going to add this as an option in the "head count" thread but then .. the whole package costs $199 including shipping. i doubt anyone would return it unless the unit is faulty :p

Hank527

11-10-06, 07:38 AM

Hello,

I have not been posting to frequently, but got this last night. I can say it is very easy to set up but maybe I am missing something because I think it is strange to have to plug into one of the front USB units on the Xbox 360 and the HD DVD then has 2 USB ports on the rear of its unit.

Anyway I hooked it up put it up via component to my sony SXRD. The power up is instant 1-2 seconds. I put in the disc and its probably under 10 - 20 seconds max unitl I see the universal logo all good.

Now the bad news maybe is it King Kong or the Xbox 360 or the SXRD. Watching King Kong looked very impressive HD unfortunately reveals many scenes that look fake or overly CGI ie the backgrounds on the dinosaur fight look CGI and almost have a different brightness to them (this might be the sxrd?) Anyway the only - on the HD DVD drive was that about once in every ten minutes or so a saw a brief hiccup where it seemed the disc might have stuttered so very slightly. Or is this the TV trying to keep up?

Need fellow users opinions. All in all for $200 and my 2nd HD-DVD I am very pleased . The downside seems to be all in that this will not do Dolby True HD. The upside is for the movie studious because this 2nd Hd-DVD drive is in the room where the kids watch TV so all Family Hd-DVDs will now be purchased for the kiddies. (cough cough Disney get on the ball)

Oh and the features/ menu functions are a tad different than the toshiba

danieledmunds

11-10-06, 07:41 AM

Any comment on picture quality in comparison to your 1st HD DVD drive?

cdub998

11-10-06, 07:42 AM

There is a USB on the back of the 360 right above the ethernat port.

RAVEN56706

11-10-06, 07:43 AM

i ask because of the pq....just wanted to see what everyone thought of the pq...

rover2002

11-10-06, 08:02 AM

cstmstyle

11-10-06, 08:11 AM

I have it, will be keeping it and may even be purchasing a second 360 and the addon for my bedroom set.

Technicolor

11-10-06, 08:25 AM

I have it, will be keeping it and may even be purchasing a second 360 and the addon for my bedroom set.

Unless you want the Xbox for playing, wouldn't it be better to just to buy the A2?

Htdude14

11-10-06, 08:41 AM

Unless you want the Xbox for playing, wouldn't it be better to just to buy the A2?

Yes!!!!

BuGsArEtAsTy

11-10-06, 08:49 AM

seanb61

11-10-06, 08:58 AM

What is an "oner"?

Paul Cordingley

11-10-06, 09:01 AM

I really don't get this North American attitude. You buy it - you keep it. Why the complication?

Htdude14

11-10-06, 09:09 AM

This link shows you the actual size as compared to the HD-A1 and the PS3, this baby is small!

Looks bigger then the PS3 to me, let's not forget the add-on is a paper weight without the 360 itself. If you're comparing then compare the entire unit.

Who cares much about TrueHD?

Most of us!!! Why pay more for 360 and add-on(clunky 2-piece setup) and no Dolby TrueHD when the PS3 has HDMI and is cheaper?? In your case, having the 360 consoles already, it makes sense.
BTW, way to buy your love ;)

zero the hero

11-10-06, 09:11 AM

What if you buy it and arent satisfied? You're just supposed to suffer and say, "eh well, next time" ?

Anyway, yes - I'm keeping mine. King Kong looks beautiful!!! And I don't even have the VGA cable yet, I'm still using component. It seriously looks better than I imagined. I cant wait to pick up the VGA cable and see if SD DVDs look decent upconverted, somehow I doubt it will beat my Oppo.

zero the hero

11-10-06, 09:14 AM

I thought it looked great, but in some areas it seemed the whites were exaggerated - like sunlight is so bright you almost have to avert your eyes :cool:

I havent tried VGA yet though.

nataraj

11-10-06, 09:15 AM

Unless you want the Xbox for playing, wouldn't it be better to just to buy the A2?

Depends. 1080p vs TruHD.

BuGsArEtAsTy

11-10-06, 09:19 AM

Most of us!!! Why pay more for 360 and add-on(clunky 2-piece setup) and no Dolby TrueHD when the PS3 has HDMI and is cheaper?? In your case, having the 360 consoles already, it makes sense.
BTW, way to buy your love ;)
Well, I bought my Xbox 360 a very long time ago. Getting the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive is complete no-brainer, esp. since it's only US$177 with remote and King Kong.

HDMI is a definite advantage, or at least it would be in 2 years when I get a new TV, but in the meantime it's no biggie for me since I can only use component anyway.

HorrorScope

11-10-06, 09:38 AM

HorrorScope

11-10-06, 09:44 AM

I really don't get this North American attitude. You buy it - you keep it. Why the complication?

Well first there is only a 3rd option you return it. If that seems like major complication then well I dunno what to say for that. It's called customer satisfaction, imo it's a good thing for the consumer. Saying that, I rarely return things and I bet that is the same for most of us. But imo it's a good option and protection for us. Nothing to hard to understand about that, if you don’t have it, you should ask for it and want it! It’s an awesome feature better then HD!!!

FreeBaGeL

11-10-06, 09:51 AM

Who cares much about TrueHD? All I care about is that it has Dolby 5.1 Plus. :)

I already have that on my HD-A1. I bought it for my son for use on his 42" plaz.

Surprised no one has mentioned this yet, but I'm pretty sure you can't get that DD+ that is "all you care about" out of optical/coax either..

cdub998

11-10-06, 09:53 AM

Looks bigger then the PS3 to me, let's not forget the add-on is a paper weight without the 360 itself. If you're comparing then compare the entire unit.

Not true. It recognizes on the PC. There just isn't a player yet for HD-DVD on the PC. It will work soon enough.

BuGsArEtAsTy

11-10-06, 09:56 AM

Surprised no one has mentioned this yet, but I'm pretty sure you can't get that DD+ that is "all you care about" out of optical/coax either..
Correct. The Xbox 360 can decode both TrueHD and DD+, but it can output neither over optical/coax. Both are re-encoded to 640 Kbps DD5.1 for output over optical/coax.

ryoohki

11-10-06, 10:01 AM

My guess on the stutter is the 24 to 60 hz jitter, only a guess and I can believe it with Kong looking that way.

No, there's an issue with Ucontrol and the Xbox360 it seems, other all movies would have done that...

HorrorScope

11-10-06, 10:12 AM

Ok. Good to know, thanks.

mimason

11-10-06, 10:48 AM

Does the 360 stil run loud and hot while using the HD-drive?

JWLou

11-10-06, 10:54 AM

As far as easily detecting the CGI - I would say there is nothing wrong with your TV, the 360 add-on, or the connection type you are using. People tend to forget that CGI isn't used because it "looks better" - it is used because it is a relatively cheap alternative to creating hard shots or in this case impossible shots (since there are no more T(or V i suppose)Rexs OR giant gorillias. HD-DVD will certainly bring out the detail which may cause things to be a little more fake but that is the nature of adding detail - you notice more things.

Glad to hear the drive worked pretty well. Tis a good day for HD-DVD!

Hank527

11-10-06, 11:03 AM

The 360 runs the same as before.

I've been reading lots of posts, but thats it. No comments I'm pro HD-DVD because of development costs and costs to us as end consumers. Really $40 for fox titles is soso Laserdisc pricing and prohibits many from buying blind. Which reduces sales on ebay :)

Yes I did have the wireless controller so that is why I didn't see it. Plus I hokked it up in a tight spot. Thats another plus then. I didn't put 2 and 2 together pull the TV out and disconect the wireless adaptor.

I used the myscenes special feature which worked flawless today. I booked marked some scenes for the kids and they used myscenes without a hitch.

Another - is when using myscenes it takes a good 5-10 seconds to start the movie from your bookmarked scenes.

Comparison with the Toshiba is difficult because I'm using 2 different setups. I love Dolby True HD and firmware 2.0 is great. Plus I only evaluated King Kong and not a standard DVD which I love the Toshiba's upconversion. I give the HD-DVD add on drive an A. Considering you get a $20 - 25 movie with it is a + plus the remote control(but most of us have that anyway). Its my second HD-DVD drive and yes I do want a 3rd. I'm really impressed for now.

I think the drive is a great secondary unit and a good primary unit. If you want something great you need Dolby True HD and probably want faster load times as well. So it looks like the new Toshiba maybe the best drive

Chris Rein

11-10-06, 12:00 PM

Chris Rein

11-10-06, 12:04 PM

Does the 360 stil run loud and hot while using the HD-drive?

No. Actually the opposite. The add-on drive is quiet. The 360 is really doing nothing but processing, and it doesn't crank up the fans, drive, etc which makes the 360 noisy as it does when playing a game.

Funny, the remote that came with it is fully backlit. Something that the other big boys don't even do, like the A1. I know, I know, it's a remote and we all have our fancy universal remotes, but I just wanted to point it out as most reviews get dinged on a shoddy remote.

BuGsArEtAsTy

11-10-06, 01:25 PM

No. Actually the opposite. The add-on drive is quiet. The 360 is really doing nothing but processing, and it doesn't crank up the fans, drive, etc which makes the 360 noisy as it does when playing a game.

Funny, the remote that came with it is fully backlit. Something that the other big boys don't even do, like the A1. I know, I know, it's a remote and we all have our fancy universal remotes, but I just wanted to point it out as most reviews get dinged on a shoddy remote.
I don't own an A1, but I tried the remote in-store, it seemed almost that Toshiba was trying to compete with the cheap Chinese DVD players for the worst remote award.

Glad to hear the Xbox 360 remote is half decent. I use a Logitech Harmony Xbox 360 remote though.

Htdude14

11-10-06, 01:48 PM

Not true. It recognizes on the PC. There just isn't a player yet for HD-DVD on the PC. It will work soon enough.

And a pc being smaller??? Point is the add-on and the 360 or a pc is large and 2 piece compared to the PS3.

BuGsArEtAsTy

11-10-06, 02:12 PM

And a pc being smaller??? Point is the add-on and the 360 or a pc is large and 2 piece compared to the PS3.
Actually, you can get a PC with a dual-core CPU and DVI that's even smaller than the add-on drive itself. In fact, when the Santa Rosa chipset small form factor machines come out in 2007 with fast Core 2 Duo CPUs and HDCP support, that's gonna be perfect for this drive.

However, size is not the issue here anyways. If someone wants to share his/her HD DVD drive between an Xbox 360 and (eventually) a PC, it makes sense to do it, all for the low price of $200 (plus $40? for the playback software).

c.kingsley

11-10-06, 02:25 PM

Now the bad news maybe is it King Kong or the Xbox 360 or the SXRD. Watching King Kong looked very impressive HD unfortunately reveals many scenes that look fake or overly CGI ie the backgrounds on the dinosaur fight look CGI and almost have a different brightness to them (this might be the sxrd?)
I saw Kong at a digital projection cinema, and I noticed this same issue. So it is not your TV. IMO the whole dinosaur scene should have been removed. It looked terribly fake.

eXgo

11-10-06, 02:27 PM

-the cgi -

they look fake, umm cuz maybe they are fake.

:)

Hank527

11-10-06, 02:31 PM

Sorry about that the noise its the same as playing an xbox live game. No disc spinning in the Xbox

emmonsh

11-10-06, 02:34 PM

Does the 360 stil run loud and hot while using the HD-drive?
my 360 from oct 2005 doesnt run hot or loud. a heck of a lot quiter than my computer, by far.

cstmstyle

11-10-06, 03:19 PM

Unless you want the Xbox for playing, wouldn't it be better to just to buy the A2?

Will be using it for games too but more for the media extender capability. I'll buy a standalone player during the 3rd or 4th gen.

blackmax2k1

11-10-06, 03:19 PM

Faster load times? The 360 trounces the A1 that I had in load times.

He meant the A2 not the A1. Everybody knows the 360 and A2 have faster load times than the 1st Gen A1.

Jinx

11-10-06, 03:22 PM

Hahaha i find it amusing.. Now there's complaints about movies looking to fake becuase the detail is soo good you can actually tell now.. its almost like you wana go back to DVD..

next people will complain porn is TOO gross in HD becusae you never saw all the details before!

Would you actually go back to DVD to make those computer gen'd scenes look more realistic (blurry)?

WirelessGuru

11-10-06, 03:23 PM

Who cares much about TrueHD? All I care about is that it has Dolby 5.1 Plus. :)

I already have that on my HD-A1. I bought it for my son for use on his 42" plaz.
How are you getting DD+ from your 360 HD-DVD add on. Without HDMI or Multichannel analog, the DD+ soundtrack is being downsampled to 640 kbps DD bitstream. Hardly the same as DD+.

Edit: Duh, I guess I should read ALL the posts before posting. It looks like this information was already covered.

No offense, the 360 HD-DVD add on is a great value. But saying it is equal to the standalone players is misleading.

DarthJedi

11-10-06, 03:43 PM

Hank527

11-10-06, 03:46 PM

I soo want to see a porn in HD

In the older titles you'll probably see herpes and sores you didn't see before ;)

No I think its just King Kong the film look in the theatre masked its imperfections. Now you've eliminated the haze with most film and it looks different. Some shots look incredible other well look fake. Its a great title to include, but I would have like to have seen Harry Potter 4 or something like that to show off HD. Kong doesn't do HD justice except the first boring 45 minutes

rexdigital

11-10-06, 03:47 PM

next people will complain porn is TOO gross in HD becusae you never saw all the details before!

Thats true right now!

DarthJedi

11-10-06, 03:55 PM

Looks bigger then the PS3 to me, let's not forget the add-on is a paper weight without the 360 itself. If you're comparing then compare the entire unit.

Most of us!!! Why pay more for 360 and add-on(clunky 2-piece setup) and no Dolby TrueHD when the PS3 has HDMI and is cheaper?? In your case, having the 360 consoles already, it makes sense.
BTW, way to buy your love ;) Well Well......it looks like we have a spoil sport here. The add-on is more versatile than the Blu-Ray in the PS3 which is not even out yet. I can use it on a pc currently(read cd/dvd only right now) and when Windvd 8 HD-DVD addition comes out; I will be able to watch HD-DVD cheaper than buying an external Blu-Ray drive. Just get over it. HD-DVD is here to stay.

david803sc

11-10-06, 04:18 PM

It is awesome, it comes with the XBOX 360 Media Center Remote Control and King Kong HD-DVD movie. it was real easy to hookup a special USB cable from the drive to the 360 and than a CD you put in the console which gives you a special dash board update.

load time is very fast, PQ and Sound is top notch, it blows my HDTV programing from Dish Network out of the water. I had the regular HD-DVD player but brought it back as I had to many problems trying to get it to work.

This was quick and easy to setup and looks good in my audio rack.

David

quickfire

11-10-06, 05:00 PM

One question I need answered please.........what does the insect/bug scene look like!!!!!It freaked me out on the sd version .....especially when the bug larvae swallowed the guy!!!!!!GROSS:)

Andrew P

11-10-06, 05:07 PM

How bad is the stutter problem?

LAGOSIAN

11-10-06, 05:19 PM

[QUOTE=Htdude14]Looks bigger then the PS3 to me, let's not forget the add-on is a paper weight without the 360 itself. If you're comparing then compare the entire unit.
1, This is a HD DVD forum and I was talking to buyers of the HD DVD Add-on drive. Not to PS3 fans.
2, When describing the size I was referring to the size of the drive itself, owing to the fact that everyone I know and most HD DVD Add-on buyers already OWN the 360! :p

BTW, way to buy your love
To each his own. :p

What are you getting your nephews and nieces for Xmas? :p

LAGOSIAN

11-10-06, 05:36 PM

What about the Kong disc???

GIVE US SOME DETAILS!!!!
P L e a s e:)
All the details that you will ever need is posted by another member in this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=748512

Jinx

11-10-06, 06:16 PM

Thats true right now!

haha you know what i mean tho! :) i dont know if nipples could ever be too high res for me!

back on topic, yea is there stutter? i've seen a couple posts on this... I would hope with a 192 megs of memory or whatever it has, it could buffer and keep from seeing layer changes and such

Evan S

11-10-06, 06:38 PM

I got a little stutter the first time I popped Kong in too, but then I shut down the system, cleaned the disc, put it back into the player and noticed no issues whatsoever after that. I didn't notice any issues on a real brief spin (5-10 minutes) through "Ray" earlier today either.

I will post back in both threads once I have watched a full movie on this puppy which should happen this weekend.

nataraj

11-10-06, 06:50 PM

I really don't get this North American attitude. You buy it - you keep it. Why the complication?

Its actually not a complication. It is designed to increase sales - if I know that I can return something if it doesn't work for me - then there are better chances of me buying things I'm marginal sure of. Of such things I'm going to definitely keep some - so on the whole I'd buy more.

pernar

11-10-06, 06:57 PM

You're supposed to power off the system and turn it back on after using the "install CD".

WirelessGuru

11-10-06, 07:08 PM

I really don't get this North American attitude. You buy it - you keep it. Why the complication?You got issues bud. Don't hate on an entire continent.

dfmcki

11-10-06, 07:24 PM

Not an audiophile, so the sound thru the TV works fine for me. The picture of the one movie I've watched (Batman Begins) looked really nice. I have a westy 37w1 and the 360 hooked up via the VGA. The fact that it is an LCD limits the picture a little bit in you trade off a little detail to get better blacks. Also the viewing distance on my 37" is about 10' and I notice that I can really see a lot more detail at about 5'-6'. At 10' the improvement is still there over SD DVD, it just didn't seem as apparent to me. For $200 though it seemed to work well and will hopefully tide me over until the standalone players get a lot cheaper. So I'll be keeping it.

Andrew P

11-10-06, 07:33 PM

Do you need to use the install CD if you are connected to Live?

ileff

11-10-06, 08:04 PM

>> many scenes that look fake or overly CGI

I think its just working so well that it exposes the truth.

To me the sound was awesome!

Very happy with the Add-on.

Now I just need to upgrade from 720P to 1080P and get better black levels/detail than my current LCD rp can do....

OconRecon

11-10-06, 08:22 PM

...Anyway I hooked it up put it up via component...

Am I missing something? I thought we had to use VGA?

vick vega

11-10-06, 08:32 PM

JWLou

11-10-06, 08:34 PM

Am I missing something? I thought we had to use VGA?

Component and VGA are both options.

VGA can output 1080p.

LAGOSIAN

11-10-06, 08:55 PM

Ok some people have already received the add-on and are testing it and i know alot more will be receiving it this weekend and today but so far

will you be keeping it ? why or why not?
Absolutely! I am so impressed with it that I am ordering another one with the 360 just to connect it to my PC. :)

BioSehnsucht

11-10-06, 09:02 PM

Don't really need the CD, I don't think. Some have just hooked it up and live updated and it worked.

I had one stutter myself on Kong, none on Tokyo Drift. I have no other HD-DVDs yet though. I am thinking its the old case of making sure discs are clean? I didn't eject the disc clean it and try again, I don't even remember when it was, and while that was an awsome movie it was an awsome 3 HOUR movie so I'm not testing again anytime soon. Next time I watch I'll def make sure its clean.

ShinHed

11-10-06, 09:51 PM

I own one just, for PC use.

I'd do anything for some HD-DVD playback software.

ANYTHING
:eek:

scherer326

11-10-06, 09:52 PM

RAVEN56706

11-10-06, 11:13 PM

Since i received it on tuesday(dont ask) i havent had the time to test and hear the sounds and stuff.... but here is my review

Tv:Samsung 4095d 1080p
XBOX 360 via VGA cable.

Movies: King Kong and MI 3

Setup: So easy, popped in the cd and it said to plug in the hd-dvd drive. Took maybe 2 minutes tops..

First Movie: King Kong. OK i have seen the movie like 5 times and i just wanted to do testing to see the pq. So i jumped from scene to scene to see the results

Scene: Arriving at Skull Island: I have to say the colors and the detail was awesome. Since via vga it comes out 1080p, i was loving it all. The details of the water and the rocks was excellent. I couldnt believe it. So i asked my father to look as well. He couldnt believe how it felt like real time. So weird. But all and all i great. No static or artifacts... just smooth.

Scene: T Rex battle: the flys and the mosquitos on the t rex was so noticable... on the dvd they were just specs.... It was weird to see how good the picture looked. As she ran and the scene went from place to place, there was no loss in picture, just smooth moving. It did show how cgi the movie really is but it didnt matter... the picture was great..

Scene: King Kong vs the planes: The lighting and texture of the buildings was surreal... i couldnt believe how great a picture can come out of the xbox. It was just awesome to see how detailed the planes looked.

Next Movie: MI3. Same thing here... going from scene to scene

Scene: Beginning scene: Now here is what i will want to ask everyone. in the beginning of the movie with tom talking to davin, was the camera shaky.... i mean i didnt think the camera was this shaky but in the hd-dvd version it was... is it just me or was it supposed to be like that. Oh well, it looked great. From the blood and the tear coming from his eye, nothing was bad from it.

Scene: Helicopter chase: Reference material, to see the explosions and the vivid pictures, it was incredible.... i was amazed at how detailed in hd the movie really is...

Scene: Attack on the bridge: Reference material: Now i know why everyone is praising this movie for reference material.... wow was this scene great... from the water to the explosions... nothing looked greater then this... the tv also gives it an extra push but it was beautiful...

Scene in Japan: Wow... so Japan is full of bright lights and different colors, but man was it incredible to see all of that in great detail... i cant believe how great this hd dvd player is doing the job.

BTW, for any new hd owners, get MI3.... its freaking money.

Ok all and all i made a great investment and i also couldnt believe my eyes... i was ready to throw all the sd verisions of my movies away because i was about to double dip....

Anyways... tomorrow i will test The fast and Furious , Troy and Batman Begins... i hope i can actually take pictures tomorrow but i will try...

My verdict: Anyone who wants to experience HD at its finest, has an XBox 360 and cheap... Get the HD Add on...worth every penny.

Arpeggio

11-10-06, 11:21 PM

my panasonic th-42px60u plasma has a native resoluton of x768. What should I set the xbox 360 to so I will get the best possible picture from the hd-dvd player and games from the xbox 360 itself.

720p?
1080i?

Hmmm,

I would say through Component use 1080i (hopefully your TV has a good scaler)

Trough VGA use 1024 x 768

Hastley

11-10-06, 11:49 PM

Hey raven . Nice review. I watched Mi:3 on my samsung 4095D tonight on the 360 addon. I was very impressed as well.

I am on component and did notice a little color saturation, but im going to pick up the vga cord tommorow.

What settings are you using for the HD-DVD (brightness, contrast etc)

Thanks

Stupac

11-10-06, 11:51 PM

Just watched the 2nd half of King Kong on my new 360 HD-DVD. Amazing picture. Better than my DVD version for sure.

Initially it stuttered after I installed the disk and did the update. So I restarted my 360 and all was gravy from there.

Very happy with my decision.

Watched it on a Sammy 4095d using component cables at 1080i. Yup no 1080p with HD-DVD over component.

Did I use VGA for the 1080p? No, I think it looks washed out in games so I didn't even bother trying it.

Did I use the Psize on the remote to get rid of the black bars? No, I wanted the real image without stretching.

TV on sale at Fry's. CC did a price match plus 10% difference.
http://shop2.outpost.com/product/4889750

amirm

11-11-06, 12:19 AM

Thanks for the review. BTW, I have the 4095. Alas, it does not do 1:1 pixel mapping and stretches the video by close to 10%. This means that it does not resolve full 1080p. So the picture you are seeing, is actually softer than what the 360 feeding it!

Mind you, I love the display otherwise. It is beautiful and puts out a great image. But the overscan is a shame.

Scarpad

11-11-06, 12:30 AM

So far on my Sammy LN32W thru component I find it looks better at 1080i than 720p. I have to give the VGA cable a try tommorrow.

testikoff

11-11-06, 12:41 AM

rdjam

11-11-06, 01:31 AM

Over RGB input this panel does 1920x1080p with no overscan (1:1 mapping). You're referring to component and HDMI inputs most likely.
Correct, the 4095, 4096, 4695, 4696 and 5296 all seem to do 1:1 on the VGA ports but 2% overscan on the HDMI ports.

I'm at a loss as to why, but I'm hoping they'll fix itsoon. I have the 4695...

Maybe I'm just too used to how responsive Toshiba has been :)

EDIT: I am a VERY happy man :) The Samsung "JustScan" firmware update has fixed my overscanning issues!! This is just what I was hoping for. THANK YOU to those of you who posted these firmware updates (1026 for the xx95 and 1024 for the xx96).

And THANK YOU to Samsung for this very important release!

Enjoy this great TV!

maverick0716

11-11-06, 02:42 AM

720p should look better since there's pretty much no scaling of the image involved (1280x720p vs. 1366x768p)

LAGOSIAN

11-11-06, 03:30 AM

I realize that everyone is really excited :) and I hope I'm not out of line for mentioning this, but if someone buys a lot of these players for one household it's going to prevent other households, and therefore hurt the disc attach rate :eek:
Mine are for 5 households. :)

Arpeggio

11-11-06, 04:46 AM

With component video your TV is going to have to scale no matter what as your plasma's native resolution is 1024x768 (720P = 1280x720) (1080i = 1920x1080)
Your TV will be doing the scaling in this scenario.

If you use the VGA connection you will be able to select 1024x768 and specify Widescreen format and everything should be output to your displays native resolution BUT the XBOX 360 will do the scaling when playing HD-DVD video. (It will have to scale 1920x1080 to 1024x768).

So if your TV will do a better job of scaling than the XBOX then stick with 1080i or 720P over component.

If the Xbox scaling looks better go VGA at 1024x768

jim_r

11-11-06, 05:18 AM

Studios are also looking at the total number of HD-DVD players out there as a potential market, and not just the attach rate. So people purchasing multiple players is still a good thing. Obviously, if MS can sell millions of these, that will get the studios' attention just like the promise of millions of BD players via the PS3 got them to sign on to BD in the first place.

rover2002

11-11-06, 05:46 AM

So a good question would be 'just how well does the xbox scale 1024x768 over VGA'? better than the pannys/sonys?

akadennis

11-11-06, 07:02 AM

Anyone figure out how to get this remote to work with a Sony TV and how to eject the HD Drive when you stop a movie?

Andrew P

11-11-06, 08:20 AM

Amir,
Any word on the stuttering issue? Is it as simple as people not restarting their units after loading the disc? I have heard many mentions of this throughout most of the 360 add on threads.

pernar

11-11-06, 08:38 AM

Amir,
Any word on the stuttering issue? Is it as simple as people not restarting their units after loading the disc? I have heard many mentions of this throughout most of the 360 add on threads.

I watched a bit of Kong, a bit of Batman, and the entirety of "The Thing". No stuttering at all, just smooth HD goodness.

I DID restart my 360 after installing the update, however.

zappa2001

11-11-06, 09:05 AM

I didn't get any sort of manual with the HD-DVD drive to program the remote with other devices either. Maybe there is something at the microsoft website, or both of us are idiots and we threw out some small advertisement looking paper that was actually the codes for other devices.

I just checked the only manual I thought I recieved and I'm indeed right that it gives no codes to work with any other devices. Maybe MS did something so it suppose to automatically detect and work with some devices in limited fashion. However it doesn't work with any of my devices at all so I need something to code them into the remote.

akadennis

11-11-06, 09:45 AM

you know i called tech support and of course they were no help. spoke to someone in india who had no clue and had me press all the letter buttons which did nothing but activate u control on the movie. she then tried to get someone else and of course my call was routed back like i was just calling for the first time. i ended up hanging up

akadennis

11-11-06, 09:47 AM

ok i just found some info on their web site. i got my tv to work with the remote, now if i could only figure out the eject problem

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemsetup/xbox360/accessories/universalmediaremote-controlcodes.htm

Jonathan Hickey

11-11-06, 10:06 AM

I "taught" my Onkyo receiver remote the XBOX controls, but the XBOX will not take the signal from the Onkyo remote. Any ideas?

Andrew P

11-11-06, 10:18 AM

Mine is arriving today so I will check out my movies on the adapter as well. I have only had problems on rentals on my HD-A1 so I hope the drive on the 360 add on is less sensitive.

RAVEN56706

11-11-06, 10:57 AM

ok so i will give mission impossible 3 another try since i restarted it last night and didnt know....

vinodk

11-11-06, 11:00 AM

Does VGA/PC input on Sammy HLS DLP do 1:1 mapping without overscan? I am wondering if I can connect the Xbox HD-DVD to Sammy via PC input & get 1080p.

rover2002

11-11-06, 11:02 AM

Andrew P

11-11-06, 11:07 AM

I do not have time to post the links, but I have seen mention of it in quite a few 360 threads over the past few days. Mine is arriving today and I hope it plays flawlessly.

rover2002

11-11-06, 11:15 AM

I do not have time to post the links, but I have seen mention of it in quite a few 360 threads over the past few days. Mine is arriving today and I hope it plays flawlessly.
yes i saw 1 comment yesterday on the subject but thought it was a one of thing, then again i bet they thought the same with the Tosh video/audio drops back in april and look where that went ;)

Andrew P

11-11-06, 11:54 AM

I thought it was a one time thing too, but then I saw more posts so I figured I would ask the question. Could be nothing (most likely), but just wanted to make certain.

I will let everyone know if I have any issues as I plan to watch King Kong once the Fedex guy arrives.

shawnbird91

11-11-06, 12:06 PM

What Is The Best Setting To Put My Tv On For The Vga Cable. Also Does The Drive Come With The 1080p Update On A Disc.i Live In A Rural Area With No Broadband. My Drive Will Not Be In Until Next Week Ordered It From Value Electronics. Just Trying To Find The Best Set Up For The Drive So I Can Have Everything In Place When It Gets Here. Thanks For Any Help

medrberg

11-11-06, 01:45 PM

I went to the dolby website and found this information:

"If your A/V receiver or processor has neither multichannel analog or digital inputs, but is equipped with 5.1-channel Dolby® Digital decoding and playback, you will still be able to enjoy 5.1-channel performance from next-generation optical players. Included within 7.1-channel multichannel Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD streams is a core 5.1 mix prepared by the content maker that is used when the player is set for 5.1-channel mode. After playback audio signals have been mixed in the player, the PCM signal can be encoded to a Dolby Digital signal and output from the player via S/PDIF (optical or coaxial) to your connected Dolby Digital A/V receiver or processor.

In many instances, the audio quality you will experience from this connection may be better than what you would experience during playback of standard-definition DVD-Video discs, especially if the native signal on the disc is Dolby TrueHD or high-bit-rate Dolby Digital Plus. This is a direct result of a higher-quality source signal feeding a Dolby Digital encoder running at 640 kbps—higher than the maximum bit rate on DVD-Video."

So to sum it up: The sound output is coming from the xbox 360 itself, which only has a spdif out. This limits to a 640kbps 5.1 channel ouput. It is still better than the 5.1 output of a regular dvd (i have the 360 add-on and can attest it does sound better), but I am highly dissappointed that without either multichannel analog outs or hdmi, we will NEVER hear dolby digital plus (3 Mbps-6Mbps of encoded audio) or dolby TrueHD (up to 18Mbps audio) as compared to only 640kbps.

I have a sony 40 " xbr lcd (native resolution ~1380x768) which the vga output of the xbox nails perfectly and so the picture of the hd-dvd is light years ahead of my progressive output 480p sony dvd player. However, I think that glossed over on the xbox website with all of the benefit of increased picture quality (they are really hyping 1080p) is the fact that we will never get the true sound benefit we should be getting with these discs. Overall, I am happy about my purchase as it allows me to watch hd-dvd relatively inexpensively in the short term.

I highly recommend the dolby web site as an eye opener for these new codecs.

HPforMe

11-11-06, 02:33 PM

Well, I knew about this from the get-go. Never was spec'd to be anything but standard (higher bit-rate) DD. For $200 though....Now, I have my A1 for dd+, TrueHD, etc.

Preditor74

11-11-06, 02:36 PM

Just went to Circuit City and bought the add on for $159.99

How you ask? Some awesome person at DVDTalk just posted this coupon:

http://www.badongo.com/file/1668694

It is $40 off any purchase of $199 or more! Printed it out, took it in to Circuit City, purchased the add on for $159.99

Great deal for anyone still on the fence!

medrberg

11-11-06, 03:00 PM

i think you are right. for $200 i have my short term hdtv fix, but it is overall disappointing that this won't be available, and i wish this was slightly clearer in the marketing (although who would ever market a negative point about a piece of equipment). I am not sure that this is a true limit of the player as it has a usb out. is it doing any processing or is it just passing through to the 360 which is passing undecoded to the av reciever? theoretically i guess in the future the 360 could be software updated to decode the stream and have a new type of digital out. it seems like the output on the 360 is propietary which then ends in various normal outputs (component/vga etc.) maybe they could get their propietary out to end in an hdmi and solve this problem altogether - although i don't know if their propietary plug has the same bandwidth as hdmi.

Mike_Savage_360

11-11-06, 03:13 PM

Stupid question follows:

Which are better in order?

TrueHD, DD+, DD5.1, and ahhm, 2channel?

From the above, it looks like TrueHD is 18mbps, and DD+ is 3 to 6, so True is best I guess?

thanks for the info in advance!

hmurchison

11-11-06, 03:16 PM

They didn't object to it being a printout?

HPforMe

11-11-06, 03:23 PM

I think they could software "fix" for one of the new formats dd+/ TrueHD. The PS3, I believe, will do TrueHD through HDMI. But if you're like the vast majority of people who don't have an HDMI capable receiver then that's a lost cause. PS3 will use the optical/coaxial for high bit rate DTS (1.5 Mbps).

Preditor74

11-11-06, 03:25 PM

No, I printed both sides as well.

One thing though...it wouldn't scan and they had to type it in...the DVDTalk member had the same problem...but when they type it in it works fine.

jjkozlow

11-11-06, 03:30 PM

Hi,
First and foremost, I must state that the HD add-on is killer times 10. I have King Kong, as well as a few others and have nothing but raves to say. I have been running everything via 1080i and the component cables. That said, I ran out today and got the 360 HD VGA adaptor to see what the differences might be as compared to my component outs. From what I've read, standard DVD's get the upconversion treatment only via VGA outs, and I wanted to see what that would look like. Also via the VGA cable, 1080p is possible, and ALLEGEDLY my projector will do that, but I'm not sure there either if somebody knows.

Having never used either a VGA out on the 360, or my RGB in on my Sony Cienza HS51a (8 months old), I'm not sure I'm doing something wrong here. :confused:

When booting up the 360 after installing the VGA cable, it gave me about 12 resolutions to pick from. Long gone were the display settings I was used to:480p, 1080i, etc. Many of these resolutions to me looked like 4:3 physically on the screen, even though widescreen mode was selected as the display type. I broke out my projector manual and it stated the maximum resolution for the VGA connection was 1280 by 720, so I chose that one. It at least went to a widescreen mode, but there was still about 3 inches to the right and left of the screen that were not filled in, which has never happened to me before with the standard components out and 1080i selected.

Then to make matters worse, I lost about 1/2 of the picture setting options on my Sony front projector because I was using the PC RGB in. This was explained in the manual that this would happen, but, I thought it was a real downer as I have the projector really tweaked out with Gammas, RCP, Black level adj., etc.

I could live with all of that so far, had the picture absolutely blown me away when I put King Kong on again. But, it was not to be. Yes, it still looked good, but nowhere near as good as via my regular component cable outputs did!!!!!! It looked rather washed out and the colors just did not "pop" like they did via component. I would say on absolute terms the pic was only about 75% as good via the VGA output.

The only thing I have not mentioned is that I did have to use a 10 foot Belkin SVGA extension to get up to my projector as it's ceiling mounted. It was of the $30 variety. I have no reason to believe that would be the root cause, but I did not try it without it as I think back to my experiment.

Does anyone have any advice or can tell if I'm doing something wrong here? If not, this HD VGA cable is going back!

jjkozlow

11-11-06, 03:34 PM

Seeing that I was running the VGA at 1280 by 720 anyway; would that be theoretically "better" or "worse" then 1080i? I'm not so hip to the PC resolutions and am curious as to if I should even be bothering if that's the max resolution I can get via RGB inputs on my projector.

Packman1999

11-11-06, 03:43 PM

1080i = 1920 x 1080

What display are you using?

Star56

11-11-06, 04:02 PM

This seems to be a display by display issue. I have read others who also believe the component produces better PQ.

amirm

11-11-06, 04:05 PM

One should not feel bad or surprised if component looks better than VGA. Which one looks better is dependent on your display. So you should try both and see which one works better.

And yes, if VGA is running at 720p, and component was running at higher resolution, the latter will look better if your display supports higher resolution than 720p.

Andrew P

11-11-06, 04:21 PM

Figured id post there here as well...

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

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

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

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

Jon Spackman

11-11-06, 04:26 PM

Ok I just merged many threads about the 360 drive to this one impressions thread. This is the place to discuss how impressed you are with it, how much better it is tha nyou thought, etc, etc....

Thanks

Netmaster

11-11-06, 05:11 PM

Got mine Friday and I am completely blown away with it and i haven't even seen one of my films all the way through yet. I have just been sampling different titles. I was most impressed with my recent purchase (I have yet to pop in MI-III) I put in Out of Sight that I just bought today. It is one of my favorite films and I have watched it dozens and dozens of times on SD so I definitely know what the SD version looks like and it was honestly your average looking film on DVD (with both bright and dark scenes).

Well when I put in th HD DVD version, I was completely floored at how amazing it looks! Things almost literally pop off the screen! With the first prison scene (when George looks over at the older cons) things looked so vibrant and sharp (almost 3D is the best way I can describe it) that if you didn't know any better you'd swear you were just looking through a window at them. Jennifer Lopez and George Clooney never looked so amazing together. With HD you usually can see every single little flaw that a person has.

Well, with this new 360 setup you don't see any flaws. That's because with this HD film, the only thing you see is how incredibly gorgeous and perfect these two people are. Jennifer Lopez never looked any sexier than she does here. Yes and after finally seeing him in HD I simply have to say that George Clooney is one very attractive looking man (and this is coming from a strait heterosexual male). Throughout the entire film, colors are just so vibrant and the transfer is so crisp and sharp that I highly recommend it to anyone that wants to show off their DVD add on for the first time to someone. This would definitely be a disk to pop in because there are such a wide variety of places and colors to choose from. Plus, the movie story and plot itself are simply excellent and very entertaining.

That doesn't even begin to describe how thrilled I am with the 360 HD. This is one very satisfied customer. Superman The Movie, Superman II - Donner Cut, and especially Superman Returns can't get here fast enough. How can I possibly wait?

jjkozlow

11-11-06, 05:42 PM

1080i = 1920 x 1080

What display are you using?

Hi Pakkman,
I'm using a Sony Cienza Front projector HS-51a details here:
http://www.audioholics.com/productr...aVPLHS51Ap1.php

By looking at the specs, is it even possible the RGB input could do better then the 1080i I'm getting via component? Also, it says the projector accepts 1080p signals, but that's obviously not its native resolution. Would sending a 1080p signal to this projector look better or worse then 1080i anyway?

Thanks, jjkozlow

HPforMe

11-11-06, 05:55 PM

Having never used either a VGA out on the 360, or my RGB in on my Sony Cienza HS51a (8 months old), I'm not sure I'm doing something wrong here.

The max resolution of this projector is 1280x720 is it not? How would the VGA benefit you?The signal would be downconverted to 720 would it not?

vanilla rice

11-11-06, 06:21 PM

alot of people seem to be really impressed with the PQ on the HD-DVD from the add-on. can any of you compare the PQ to, say, the hi-def downloaded movie trailers from Xbox Live as a reference point?

Chronicle-Rod

11-11-06, 07:06 PM

I've heard differing reports on this, and would appreciate some clarification. I'm going to pick up a Sony DKS50A2000, which does 1080p. Will that accept the HD-DVD output as 1080p via VGA or not?

jjkozlow

11-11-06, 07:26 PM

The max resolution of this projector is 1280x720 is it not? How would the VGA benefit you?The signal would be downconverted to 720 would it not?

Thanks for the help here guys in getting me set up the best way possible.

Here are my Sony projectors stats:
Compatibility: HDTV:
720p, 1080i, 1080p
575i
EDTV/480p: Yes
SDTV/480i: Yes
Component Video: Yes
Video: Yes
Digital Input: HDMI (HDCP)
Personal Computers: Yes
Display: Type:
0.7" PolySi LCD (3)
Native: 1280x720 Pixels
Maximum: 1280x768 Pixels WXGA
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 (HD)

That said, would the 1080i component setting on the 360 be the best way to go "in theory" anyway versus the RGB input? Or should I maybe even try 720p via component as a better fir for this projector? I guess I'm a bit confused by the "Compatibility" stats listed above and the fact it lists 1080p as being on there.

On another note, Would this projector benifit in any way being fed a 1080p signal or am I crippled by my max resolution listed above at 1280x768 and be better off playing it 1080i or 720p?

THANKS!

plazman

11-11-06, 07:30 PM

Scarpad

11-11-06, 08:15 PM

TheCHAMPisHere

11-11-06, 08:17 PM

I agree 100%, was the same on my dell 24 inch monitor and sony xbr2 46 inch.

amirm

11-11-06, 08:18 PM

JarodL

11-11-06, 08:33 PM

Nothing wrong with that :). I don't know why people feel guilty for using component. That connect is what we use in broadcast world and is an excellent way to transfer video to your monitor. VGA unfortunately, has two specs for video (PC levels and video), which causes the type of problem you see. So if component is working for you, stay with it.

Let me get this straight.

1. VGA is the only way to output 1080p on the 360
2. Component looks better then VGA
3. Component only does 1080i

Sounds to me like the 360 is essentially a 1080i machine. Why can't you guys release a HDMI cable and solve all of this?

Is the 360 capable of having a digitial out (HDMI) or is there a hardware restriction?

amirm

11-11-06, 08:41 PM

Let me get this straight.

1. VGA is the only way to output 1080p on the 360
Correct.

2. Component looks better then VGA
On some TVs yes. On others, VGA may be better. TVs vary in how good their component versus VGA input quality is.

3. Component only does 1080i
Correct.

Sounds to me like the 360 is essentially a 1080i machine.
This is incorrect :). HD DVD disc are 1080p. When we output 1080i, we are still outputting a progressive signal, albeit using 1080i field order. Digital TVs will convert this back to 1080p, assuming that is the resolution of your set.

VGA is useful if your TV does a poor job of interlace to progressive conversion. If so, then VGA can bypass this circuit in 1080p mode.

Is the 360 capable of having a digitial out (HDMI) or is there a hardware restriction?
The console itself is digital and the signals before output can go to any format. However, the machine as shipped, sends out the signals in either component or VGA. Both of these signals are high fidelity and the former is used in broadcast world. VGA signals can go well above HD scan rates for example, and has a more robust shielded transmission line than DVI/HDMI do with their twiste pair. VGA/Component also do not have any form of copy protection which means that you avoid the headache of HDCP handshake.

Don't get me wrong, it is nice to have HDMI. But people hear words like HDMI and "1080p" and assume anything else is not good. Such is not the case.

cgott42

11-11-06, 09:44 PM

I have the hd-dvd add on running on a Sony 1292 9" CRT. Looks great except a little too dark - When I run from other sources it looks fine. Just seems to be the X360 HD-DVD. I have the VGA Cable. Any ideas? Is there a way to change brightness, etc from the Xbox 360?

doormat

11-11-06, 09:48 PM

JarodL

11-11-06, 10:48 PM

Correct.

On some TVs yes. On others, VGA may be better. TVs vary in how good their component versus VGA input quality is.

Correct.

This is incorrect :). HD DVD disc are 1080p. When we output 1080i, we are still outputting a progressive signal, albeit using 1080i field order. Digital TVs will convert this back to 1080p, assuming that is the resolution of your set.

VGA is useful if your TV does a poor job of interlace to progressive conversion. If so, then VGA can bypass this circuit in 1080p mode.

The console itself is digital and the signals before output can go to any format. However, the machine as shipped, sends out the signals in either component or VGA. Both of these signals are high fidelity and the former is used in broadcast world. VGA signals can go well above HD scan rates for example, and has a more robust shielded transmission line than DVI/HDMI do with their twiste pair. VGA/Component also do not have any form of copy protection which means that you avoid the headache of HDCP handshake.

Don't get me wrong, it is nice to have HDMI. But people hear words like HDMI and "1080p" and assume anything else is not good. Such is not the case.

Amir,

Thanks for the great post as usual. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of the system and am dying to pick one up. However, I don't have an extra component connection on my TV (panny commercial plasma). I do have an extra HDMI board, so here is at least one more potential customer that would buy a system tomorrow if you released an HDMI cable. :)

bitemymac

11-11-06, 11:01 PM

Tried VGA Today, the color was very washed out, the blacks became a bit more muddy and the detail was a tad softer, tried the cable at both the 720p setting and th 1360x768 setting which is native for my panel. Component at 720p or 1080i blows it away for color, deep blacks, and sharp image. For my set I prefer 1080i.

Toshiba, the HD-DVD player manufacturer, recommends using the native resolution of the mastered HD DVD, not the resolution of the TV you're using. Hence, most HD-DVD would look best when outputing 1080i/p over lesser resolution from the player itself.

Dibby

11-11-06, 11:17 PM

I have pics of it running on my 42" DLP, for the money invested I could not be happier. The images look amazing I just need more movies now!

swanlee

11-11-06, 11:23 PM

"VGA unfortunately, has two specs for video (PC levels and video)"

amirm is there any the 360 can be patched so it can output either specs to better match what the TV expects the signal to be?

I personally use VGA and like it better, it is sharper and after re calibration the colors are vivd and more natural.

"1. VGA is the only way to output 1080p on the 360"

Odd you got this wrong amirm since you helped build it, the 360 will output 1080P on the dashboard and for upscale games to 1080P using component it will also do native 1080P games for any devs that enable this under component.

As a person with a 1080P TV that will do 1080P over component and VGA I'd like to say smart move getting around AACS by doing 1080P for DVD and HD-DVD's through VGA.

amirm

11-11-06, 11:32 PM

Dibby

11-11-06, 11:36 PM

Got it today and LOVE it, heres a pic taken from Kong with a DSLR

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v193/Jadedgamer/HD%20DVD/DSC_0545.jpg

42" Sammy DLP

Spiderman2006

11-11-06, 11:36 PM

I love living in hick towns. I live in Magnolia, Arkansas and there is not one HD drive for sell in this town. Wal-Mart doesn't even sell Hd DVDS yet here and If I want Hd Dvds or that 360 Addon. I must drive at least 55 miles to Best Buy to get one. That's even if they have it too. Just love hick towns. I'm all pumped to get one and check out all these great HD Dvds but can't. Not till I drive or order one.

Dibby

11-11-06, 11:40 PM

Its not that much better in big cities, I live in NYC and the gamestop near me had all of 2 HD DVD players. If I didn't preorder it I would not have it right now, also a lot of the stores in my area are very bias towards Blur-ay so my selections are limited with out taking a train into manhatten to buy it from Best Buy.

zappa2001

11-11-06, 11:40 PM

OK so I went over to CC and got my HD DVD player, and am watching King Kong. Dont get me wrong, the detail looks good, I'm just not that impressed by it. I wasnt all that happy with my 360 outputting good quality over VGA when I watched SD-DVD movies so I wonder if I'm one of the folks who will have better luck over component vs VGA. I dont have component cables so I'd have to go and buy them. :( My TV is a Samsung HL-R6168W.

To me the first thing I notice is black levels dont seem to be as good over VGA as I expect them. I did an A/B comparison with a SD-DVD with the 360 and an upconverting DVD player and the results were really bad. Even with HD it seemed like there was some fuzzyness, especially in darker scenes.

I wish MS would produce an HDMI 1.3 cable already. I wouldnt have to wonder.
Oh wow. Weird.

I have the HL-R5668W and it looks perfect. Regular dvd is fuzzy and washed out and the HD-DVD is very detailed with nice warm colors and 3-D depth. I mean there isn't even a slight similiarity between the two. The difference is so great that I can barely watch HBO-HD because their signal isn't as clean as my HD-DVD movies. I am also using the VGA cables as well. Blacks on the HD-DVD aren't overpowering and so dark that it hides stuff the director intended us to see. In fact the DVD loses all detail in dark scenes all the time, but the HD-DVD shows the subtleties of all the dark shades so you can make out people within the shadows.

It's always so odd to me when somebody can have the same tv, same equipment and the complete opposite experience. It makes me wonder if maybe you have something defective because I haven't heard anybody say DVD and HD-DVD's look even sort of comparable.

Category 5

11-11-06, 11:45 PM

swanlee, I didn't make a mistake :). I was talking in the context of HD DVD playback. But yes, it is possible to add the flexibility to support both levels but it is much more complicated to implement than it sounds. Fortunately, "it is all software" as we say so there is hope :).

Unfortunately, while component is great for HD-DVD and games, we lose the ability to upscale retail SD-DVDs. I myself have grown accustomed to upscaled DVDs with the Panny S77 and Toshiba, and planned to replace them in my office with the 360 HD-DVD add on. THat means that for me, VGA is the only option...despite the lower contrast and trouble getting the image calibrated.

As I mentioned in another thread, I can forge the Sharp Aquos into DVI analog AV mode and the colors are correct, but only at 1280x720p resolution. The 1360x768p FAR outperforms the 1280x720 resolution at upsacling SD discs. For some reason, the 360 ups the disc to 1280x720, and when the set upscales that to 1366x768 it incurrs some artifacting that isn't present when using 1360x768 over VGA via the VGA PC mode on the Sharp.

Amir, isn't VGA AV specification limited to 1280x720p and 1080i/p same as component? If that's true the inclusing of other resolutions (like 1360x768) means the 360 isn't "really" outputting AV mode only over VGA. Those are PC modes.

Chronicle-Rod

11-12-06, 12:01 AM

The console itself is digital and the signals before output can go to any format. However, the machine as shipped, sends out the signals in either component or VGA. Both of these signals are high fidelity and the former is used in broadcast world. VGA signals can go well above HD scan rates for example, and has a more robust shielded transmission line than DVI/HDMI do with their twiste pair. VGA/Component also do not have any form of copy protection which means that you avoid the headache of HDCP handshake.

Don't get me wrong, it is nice to have HDMI. But people hear words like HDMI and "1080p" and assume anything else is not good. Such is not the case.

Unfortunately, to get 1080p playback on my TV is going to require HDMI. That's why it would be nice to have the question answered instead of deflected with more buzzwording.

Is it possible for me to pick up an HDMI connection for my 360 down the road, or is that not possible due to hardware restrictions and I'd have to buy the new 'HDMI-version' model?

doormat

11-12-06, 12:03 AM

I should say the A/B test I mentioned above I was comparing 2 DVDs (Serenity) of the 360 SD upconversion vs a upconverting dvd player. The HD DVD does look better, but I am comparing it to the HD I'm used to watching over cable. My sis thought it was better looking but she didnt notice it that much.

Maybe I need my set calibrated professionally.

And now I see lip sync problems.... maybe i need to reboot.

Stupac

11-12-06, 12:05 AM

Microsoft says at the release it was demanding by consumers at the time. I think people are demanding it now and we will see some type of solution.

1080i over component works fine on my 1080p TV when using my HD-DVD player. I still get 1080p with game though over component.

JodyL

11-12-06, 01:40 AM

However, I don't have an extra component connection on my TV (panny commercial plasma). I do have an extra HDMI board, so here is at least one more potential customer that would buy a system tomorrow if you released an HDMI cable. :)

I use a $30 buck Radio Shack 4 way switch for the component HD inputs from my game consoles (GC, X & X360) and see no deleterious effects. A cheap satisfactory solution.

darthjoe

11-12-06, 01:59 AM

Ok...sorry if this has been answered before. I have been running my xbox 360 via component at 1080i since I got it. I picked up the HD-DVD addon and am intrigued at upscaling my regular dvd's via the vgb input. My TV's native resolution is 1280x720. If I switch over to vga from component to upscale the regular dvd's, will I lose clarity on the HD-DVD movies and 360 games? Is it possible to force the television to display a higher resolution (1980x1050, 1080i), as the tv supports 1080i, but has a 720 native resolution? Thanks.

emmonsh

11-12-06, 04:42 AM

zero the hero

11-12-06, 07:30 AM

Unfortunately, to get 1080p playback on my TV is going to require HDMI. That's why it would be nice to have the question answered instead of deflected with more buzzwording.

Is it possible for me to pick up an HDMI connection for my 360 down the road, or is that not possible due to hardware restrictions and I'd have to buy the new 'HDMI-version' model?

I'm assuming you mean 1080p "input", not "playback". If your TV's native resolution is 1920 x 1080, then it is always playing back 1080p. Then again, 1080i input at 24 fps will look exactly the same as 1080p input, so HDMI will give you nothing.

jjkozlow

11-12-06, 07:37 AM

I guess I'm in the same boat as darthjoe above. I wanted to use the VGA as well to get the upscaling of my SD-DVD's and to also get the 1080p output signal so that's why I ran out and got the 360 VGA cable. I never even got as far as ever putting in a SD-DVD, because via the VGA cable on the 360, my HD-DVD's now looked plenty worse (softer, washed out) then what I was getting via component; so I gave up on it and went back to component and 1080i.

I guess one could use a switcher-box of some sort to get the benefits of both (i.e. use component for HD-DVD and VGA for regular def) but that would be a pain with all the different configurations you would have to make on the 360 and your display everytime you switch back and forth.

Anyhow, wondering if anyone can answer my neophyte question from the last page here please, at this point I'm so confused about resolutions I don't even know what I have!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the help here guys in getting me set up the best way possible.

Here are my Sony HS51a projectors stats:
Compatibility: HDTV:
720p, 1080i, 1080p
575i
EDTV/480p: Yes
SDTV/480i: Yes
Component Video: Yes
Video: Yes
Digital Input: HDMI (HDCP)
Personal Computers: Yes
Display: Type:
0.7" PolySi LCD (3)
Native: 1280x720 Pixels
Maximum: 1280x768 Pixels WXGA
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 (HD)

That said, would the 1080i component setting on the 360 be the best way to go "in theory" anyway versus the RGB input? Or should I maybe even try 720p via component as a better fit for this projector? I guess I'm a bit confused by the "Compatibility" stats listed above and the fact it lists 1080p as being on there. I somehow had it in my head that, "hey, I've got a 1080p display!" I don't think that's the case now.....

On another note, Would this projector benefit in any way being fed a 1080p signal down the road with, say, a true 1080p output from an HD-DVD player, or am I crippled by my max resolution listed above at 1280x768 and be better off playing it 1080i or 720p for all-times sake?

THANKS!

Chubzilla06

11-12-06, 07:41 AM

That doesn't even begin to describe how thrilled I am with the 360 HD. This is one very satisfied customer. Superman The Movie, Superman II - Donner Cut, and especially Superman Returns can't get here fast enough. How can I possibly wait?

well agreed i have my superman box set on pre order and anxtiously awaiting the 80-90% new Superman II, which from early reviews say its a ton better than the Lester version of superman II

Lawguy

11-12-06, 08:59 AM

Has anyone determined whether you can remove the drive from the case and just install it in a PC?

I would love to just use on in a HTPC.

FrancescoP

11-12-06, 09:32 AM

Where can I find a screenshot comparison between the Toshiba A1 and the HD DVD? I mean, high resolution pictures (1920x1080 shots or above)?

pipoplus

11-12-06, 09:37 AM

Has anyone determined whether you can remove the drive from the case and just install it in a PC?

I would love to just use on in a HTPC.

yes and no:

http://www.xbox-scene.com/xbox1data/sep/EEyFkZVEEyNPhTZIHr.php

help101

11-12-06, 09:39 AM

Hi just asking if some one as played van helsing on the 360 drive and how its looking from the dvd copy to the hd-dvd thanks p.s if some one as pic of it wood be good to see

Lawguy

11-12-06, 09:40 AM

yes and no:

http://www.xbox-scene.com/xbox1data/sep/EEyFkZVEEyNPhTZIHr.php

Thanks, but I guess I wan't too clear. What I meant to ask is whether the drive itself can be physically removed from the case and installed in a PC - meaning not by a USB cable but mounted in a drive bay and connected by an ide or SATA cable.

darthjoe

11-12-06, 10:46 AM

first of all why are you running the 360 in 1080I? if your tv is 720p, thats what you run it in. anyway the 360 is far better in 720 anyway.

The TV supports 1080i, and I've tried both 1080i and 720p on the xbox 360 games. To me the 1080i resolution looks better. When I researched the TV's natural resolution, I found out that it was 1280x720. So, I guess my question was that if the TV supports 1080i, can it display a resolution larger than 1280x720?

Pradeep

11-12-06, 11:21 AM

That said, would the 1080i component setting on the 360 be the best way to go "in theory" anyway versus the RGB input? Or should I maybe even try 720p via component as a better fit for this projector? I guess I'm a bit confused by the "Compatibility" stats listed above and the fact it lists 1080p as being on there. I somehow had it in my head that, "hey, I've got a 1080p display!" I don't think that's the case now.....

On another note, Would this projector benefit in any way being fed a 1080p signal down the road with, say, a true 1080p output from an HD-DVD player, or am I crippled by my max resolution listed above at 1280x768 and be better off playing it 1080i or 720p for all-times sake?

THANKS!

Your displays native rez is 720p. It's going to have to downsample any 1080i/p you feed it. Feed it 720p via component and you should get the best image your display is capable of.

bruno2000

11-12-06, 11:38 AM

>VGA signals can go well above HD scan rates for example, and has a more robust >shielded transmission line than DVI/HDMI do with their twiste pair. VGA/Component >also do not have any form of copy protection which means that you avoid the >headache of HDCP handshake.
>Don't get me wrong, it is nice to have HDMI. But people hear words like HDMI and >"1080p" and assume anything else is not good. Such is not the case.[/QUOTE]

VGA and component are analog signals, thus shielding plays a large role to avoid ghosting, noise and other artifacts. HDMI/DVI are digital, so shielding is very binary - it either works and you have a perfect picture transmission, or it doesn´t work and you will get massive artifacts or a breakdown of signal.

You are correct in saying that VGA can look pretty nice (although far from DVI/HDMI), but the VGA from the 360 certainly doesn´t. There has not been a single report ever of the VGA from the 360 looking godd, there have been countless complaints about how bad it looks. It is washed out, color and black levels are inaccurate (regardless of PC/Video levels), and there is quite a bit of noise on the signal as it leaves the 360. Both on computer and TV displays. The truth here probably is closer to the fact that the 360 is using YUV internally and the YUV to RGB conversion in the output stage for VGA is simply bad.

I would kill for a 360 with HDMI and one that doesn´t make as much noise as the current hardware - especially with HD-DVD playback. If MSFT ever has a premium 360 like that, I will dump my Toshiba in a second.

Tomcats

11-12-06, 12:47 PM

tonywood

11-12-06, 12:57 PM

http://www.dvdtown.com/news/reviewofxbox360hddvdadon/4186

jjkozlow

11-12-06, 01:14 PM

Your displays native rez is 720p. It's going to have to downsample any 1080i/p you feed it. Feed it 720p via component and you should get the best image your display is capable of.

Thanks Pradeep, I'll give 720p a shot. I guess I thought my projector was capable of more then that mistakenly and naively thought to feed it the most I could, which was 1080i option on the 360.

Next question please--would the 360 HD add-on drive running component out TECHNICALLY have any advantage running SD-DVD's versus a plain-jane progressive scan (non-upsampling) DVD player also running component out?

Or would it be one in the same TECHNICALLY and just player dependant at that point?

FrancescoP

11-12-06, 01:20 PM

http://www.dvdtown.com/news/reviewofxbox360hddvdadon/4186

The Xbox 360 does not appear to handle upconverting, but does provide a decent standard definition picture.

What kind of review is that? :confused:

And he doesn't do an apple to apple comparison with A1 because he doesn't connect the A1 with a Component Cable.

ryoohki

11-12-06, 03:12 PM

He complain that the 360 HD DVD drive don't have Face Control???? WTF use those? I 20 years of AV System i NEVER EVER used Face Buttons only to POWER and EJECT...

And the 'Play to Resume' ... i mean didn't this guy come over here or something

YOU CAN'T PLAY TO RESUME ON HD DVD BECAUSE IF THE ENCRYPYION PROHIBIT IT, how more F**** clear that can be. The Toshiba can't , the 360 can't the A2,AX2 won't that why WB and some Universal title but Bookmark.. Hello!

talbain

11-12-06, 03:24 PM

who actually makes the 360 drive add on? is it toshiba?

drhill

11-12-06, 03:25 PM

swanlee, I didn't make a mistake :). I was talking in the context of HD DVD playback. But yes, it is possible to add the flexibility to support both levels but it is much more complicated to implement than it sounds. Fortunately, "it is all software" as we say so there is hope :).

I'm loving my addon so far, but it is annoying to have to switch output resolution depending on what I'm doing. I want my movies at 1080i, and my games at 720p. There isn't any setting for this player, and there should be a few for video/audio settings especially this omission. It needs to be addressed.

You say HDMI is "nice", but how about people who want to upconvert standard dvds. My tv, XBR1, doesn't do a great job with 480i/p compared to just getting a 1080i and converting it to 1080p. Also it would be nice to get rid of all my component inputs and just have 2 digital inputs. Easier to switch with the remote.

I love my 360, I think MS has done a damn good job, but they have, so far, screwed the pooch on HDMI. It isn't a big deal to most, and it won't be. But to not havethe option a year after launch kind of sucks.

Dex4788

11-12-06, 03:31 PM

Unfortunately, while component is great for HD-DVD and games, we lose the ability to upscale retail SD-DVDs.
Not even to 720p? Damn, I thought that only applied to 1080p or something. :(

Question though, my tv has it's own video processing with 3:3 pulldown and can upconvert to the native 720p resolution. So even if 360 can't upconvert, will I still be able to benefit watching DVDs on the 360 if my HDTV does it?

dargo

11-12-06, 03:48 PM

Unless you want the Xbox for playing, wouldn't it be better to just to buy the A2?

if you don't need 1080p and really a lot of people can't watch in 1080p
then I say Xbox360 you can game during the day and movies all night in HD plus the A2 can't stream wmv from your PC or do hi-def downloads. My HD only displays upto 1080i anyway so I'm a happy camper, screw Sony and Blu-ray I got burned on Betamax not gonna get me twice.

swanlee

11-12-06, 03:57 PM

metalsaber

11-12-06, 03:59 PM

Well I was tired of waiting for my A2 to come in. I picked up the Add On today at my local GameStop.

I came home and plugged it all in. Installed the software. Shut it down and restarted the system.

I put in KK just to see what it looked like. Movie startup was extremely fast. Pretty much on par with most regular DVD players. I set my resolution to 1080i since my plasma is 1024x1080i native resolution. I was absolutely stunned at how beautiful the picture was. This is my first time seeing an HD movie. I just couldn't believe how awesome it was. I just watched the first 20mins then shut it off.

I came back and put in Aeon Flux. I watched the entire movie and the picture was just as beautiful. No more pixelations!!!!! I selected the DTS over the DD+, but it all seems to be converted into DD in the end.

I have tons of movies waiting to be watched. I'm saving the Dolby TrueHD movies for my A2 so that I can listen to them in all their glory. :D

I had ZERO audio drop outs or stuttering video as some have claimed. The unit is very quiet as well. With the HT system turned up, you never notice it. Now if only they could get an HDMI cable and be able to decode the newer codecs, this would be a steal.

emmonsh

11-12-06, 07:05 PM

Quote Bruno

You are correct in saying that VGA can look pretty nice (although far from DVI/HDMI), but the VGA from the 360 certainly doesn´t. There has not been a single report ever of the VGA from the 360 looking godd, there have been countless complaints about how bad it looks. It is washed out, color and black levels are inaccurate (regardless of PC/Video levels), and there is quite a bit of noise on the signal as it leaves the 360.

Very wrong. There have been several reports of the VGA cable looking better than component. Mine for one.
yea tomcats doesnt have the slightest idea. my vga is as good and in reality blows away the dvi thru my cable. my sd dvds look far superior to any hd programing i have going thru the dvi.[samsung dlp] the upscaling on the 360 thru the vga is as good as the oppo is. i sold my oppo within days of getting the 360. and i thought the oppo was the best upscaler i had seen i cant wait to get my hddvd[wensd, from amazon.]ms did it right when they fixed the vga at the very first update. Most of the time on the xbox forums wnen people say the colors looked washed out, you ask them if they calibrated the vga imput- they say whats that.

Dex4788

11-12-06, 07:22 PM

VGA was fixed at the first update? I was under the impression it hasn't been fixed yet at all?

JackLT

11-12-06, 07:26 PM

Arim -
Be great to see a LEVELS adjustment for the 360 / 360 HD-DVD. With most VGA inputs being designed for PC use 0-255, it would be a simple 16-235 levels adjustment for a great picture, add a gamma adjustment to the tool and it would be perfect, able to match to any display.

i5hawn

11-12-06, 07:35 PM

are there any 720p owners out there who can offer some solid impressions? i have the sony kdfe-42a10 which has a max resolution of 720p (which accepts 1080i signals but obviously downconverts them).

Dibby

11-12-06, 08:07 PM

are there any 720p owners out there who can offer some solid impressions? i have the sony kdfe-42a10 which has a max resolution of 720p (which accepts 1080i signals but obviously downconverts them).

Got a samsung HLR-4267w and the drive. I love it, here are some pics from KK to give you an idea of what you can look foward to.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v193/Jadedgamer/HD%20DVD/DSC_0536.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v193/Jadedgamer/HD%20DVD/DSC_0540.jpg

efjay

11-12-06, 08:22 PM

Andrew P

11-12-06, 08:31 PM

I had my first minor issue with the HD DVD drive. I put Spy Game in the drive and it was not recognized. I ejected the disc and put it in again and it worked fine. Not sure why that happened, but...

The movie has played perfectly for the first 50 minutes.

TMSKILZ

11-12-06, 09:55 PM

I watched King Kong earlier this evening and the picture was outstanding on my 37" Dell LCD, detail and clarity was excellent, I really felt right there in the jungle. Sound was great as well, clear dialog and steering in the surrounds. This is my third HD-DVD viewing so far since Friday (in between playing Gears), watched Corpse Bride and Aeon Flux and both were also excellent. I havent watched Batman yet which was to be my first, probably next weekend.

No issues with any discs so far, overall an excellent weekend with Gears and HD-DVD!

Just wait until you watch Batman Begins HD-DVD. I had seen maybe the 1st 20 mins of that movie on HBO-HD & the PQ was impressive, but last night I popped in my HD-DVD copy & the PQ is awesome, so clear, great transfer of this movie to HD-DVD!

cnickersonjr

11-12-06, 11:03 PM

I went to CC with a friend to get the HD-DVD player for the 360. He had one of the coupons for $40 off a purchase of $199+. Watched pieces of Training Day, Van Hel, & KONG. DAMN. It was all that and then some. PQ is way above upconvert! 360 player is the way into the HD video disc world if you have/plan to get a 360. For $175, that's with taxes, you would be crazy to pass this up.
P.S. King Kong has the best PQ of the listed movies! I watched the T-Rex fight, man that was some visual stimulation :D

link to coupon, in case you didn't know http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8878242&&#post8878242

infinitespecter

11-12-06, 11:24 PM

link to coupon, in case you didn't know http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8878242&&#post8878242

Thanks! I am going to try for a price adjustment tomorrow!

JRad

11-12-06, 11:29 PM

are there any 720p owners out there who can offer some solid impressions? i have the sony kdfe-42a10 which has a max resolution of 720p (which accepts 1080i signals but obviously downconverts them).

I have a Hitachi 50VA720 RP LCD and I must say the picture is absolutely stunning. I am sure it will be on your Sony too. I also have a IOData LinkPlayer 2 and have been streaming various HD trailers and clips to my tv and the PQ of the 360 addon is considerably better. The addon drive is well worth the money. The only problem is I have run out of movies to watch. :)

JRad

Stupac

11-13-06, 04:51 AM

Here's a review at DVDtown.com

Reveiw (http://www.dvdtown.com/news/reviewofxbox360hddvdaddon/4186)

Not as good as a Toshiba player, but a good option for 360 owners.

dildatonr

11-13-06, 05:29 AM

not a very well informed review - but a review still the same.

http://www.dvdtown.com/news/reviewofxbox360hddvdaddon/4186

mboojigga

11-13-06, 07:24 AM

I'm loving my addon so far, but it is annoying to have to switch output resolution depending on what I'm doing. I want my movies at 1080i, and my games at 720p. There isn't any setting for this player, and there should be a few for video/audio settings especially this omission. It needs to be addressed.

You say HDMI is "nice", but how about people who want to upconvert standard dvds. My tv, XBR1, doesn't do a great job with 480i/p compared to just getting a 1080i and converting it to 1080p. Also it would be nice to get rid of all my component inputs and just have 2 digital inputs. Easier to switch with the remote.

I love my 360, I think MS has done a damn good job, but they have, so far, screwed the pooch on HDMI. It isn't a big deal to most, and it won't be. But to not havethe option a year after launch kind of sucks.

Sorry I have to contest this one. I have the 60" XBR1 and my movies look great on them. Maybe it is the type of movies you are playing. I am currently deployed in Iraq but check my post history as I posted up pictures from Prison Break Season 1 on DVD. I am satisfied with component and I am not losing sleep about HDMI. If it comes it comes but the quality of picture delivers with component on my SXRD.

Again if anyone wants to again see picture quality of standard DVD with a 1080P display then check the post history and see it yourself. We have slow connection over here so it takes time to get from page to page.

efjay

11-13-06, 08:27 AM

Just wait until you watch Batman Begins HD-DVD. I had seen maybe the 1st 20 mins of that movie on HBO-HD & the PQ was impressive, but last night I popped in my HD-DVD copy & the PQ is awesome, so clear, great transfer of this movie to HD-DVD!

Yes, im looking forward to it. My big problem (if you can call it that) is when I tried a brief test of the chase scene with the Tumbler the sound was absolutely incredible! Which means that now it has to be a weekend viewing if I dont want the neighbours banging on my ceiling as there is no way I wont be cranking this one up! What a problem to have, right? :) And yes I was also impressed with the PQ from my brief look, comparing to the upconverted SD really shows the leap in PQ.

Noose

11-13-06, 11:06 AM

Here's a review at DVDtown.com

Reveiw (http://www.dvdtown.com/news/reviewofxbox360hddvdaddon/4186)

Not as good as a Toshiba player, but a good option for 360 owners.

This review doesn't A-B the Component/VGA cable. The VGA unpconverts SD-DVD I think.

HPforMe

11-13-06, 11:52 AM

Here are my Sony HS51a projectors stats:
Compatibility: HDTV:
720p, 1080i, 1

Compatibility doesn't mean it can display at that resolution. It just means it will be able to convert the image to the max resolution of your projector which is 720. Sorry if this has been answered already.

RangerDoc

11-13-06, 12:17 PM

Yesterday morning I picked up the add-on from the local CC. The clerk told me they had received ten of them and I was buying the last one. And that one had already been returned.

I got home, installed the upgrade disc, connected the drive, the drive was recognized and all seemed fine.

Then I inserted KK. It just sat there with "Reading" on the screen. It wouldn't do anything. I then tried an SD disc and the screen went black in 10-15 seconds. But it wouldn't do anything after that.

I tried rebooting the system. I then tried reformatting the drive on the 360 to really reset everything. I then re-updated the software and hooked everything back up. Still nothing.

I can't beleive 2 out of 10 of these drives are bad. 20% failures is way to high for a consumer good. I finally returned the thing to CC and I'll now look for other options.

This sucks.

Darkmatter

11-13-06, 12:51 PM

This "review" needs to be buried in a very deep hole and the author never, ever allowed to write a review again. It gets off track immediately with a boring (and not always factually correct) dissertation on console history, specifically add-ons. Talking to Circuit City and EB Games store managers and using the basis of those conversations as pseudo-market research is laughable - "they have reported strong interest and sales in the unit". This writer is also deluded by the notion that in order to achieve the best possible picture, it's necessary for a completely digital pathway to exist between the player and the display - " the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive does not allow for the best possible picture". He later reports - "I noticed a slight difference in colors and the amount of difference in detail was minimal." My guess is he didn't bother to tweak the display at all for the component-in. Lastly (and there are many more points to attack in this article), this is a completely ridiculous statement related to the appearance - "The first noticeable shortcoming is that the unit has only one button on its droll gray face."

Overall review grade: D-

(FWIW, I've got the Xbox360 HDDVD drive and a Toshiba HD-A1; they both look incredible, I discern no notable difference in PQ between the two.)

lastxbr960

11-13-06, 01:08 PM

I agree the statement that "HDMI is needed to have the best picture quality" is a false statement, however Cnet, websites, magazines have all basically said the same thing, as have sales people at virtually all the electronic stores and many people in these forums, so he is not alone on the misimformation, just wrong.
It all depends on implementation, cables and devices used, VGA, HDMI, Component can all give equally good PQ.
The lack of buttons for playback and navigation on the front of unit is a valid complaint, but very minor inconvenience for the addon and playstaion3, as if one would loose or misplace the remote a game controller you would be out of luck controlling the unit.

jjkozlow

11-13-06, 01:30 PM

Compatibility doesn't mean it can display at that resolution. It just means it will be able to convert the image to the max resolution of your projector which is 720. Sorry if this has been answered already.

It has kinda, but thanks for chiming in with a finalized answer. At this point, I don't care what the damn projector is doing in terms of scaling/resolution, all I can say is that set to 1080i and via component it looks SPECTACULAR! :D

Still not sure if it's better/worse then HD cable though which I've had for a few years, it seems somewhat program dependent. Some of the stuff on INHD is hard to beat!!

JodyL

11-13-06, 01:43 PM

I got home, installed the upgrade disc, connected the drive, the drive was recognized and all seemed fine.

Then I inserted KK. It just sat there with "Reading" on the screen. It wouldn't do anything. I then tried an SD disc and the screen went black in 10-15 seconds. But it wouldn't do anything after that.

I tried rebooting the system. I then tried reformatting the drive on the 360 to really reset everything. I then re-updated the software and hooked everything back up. Still nothing.

I can't beleive 2 out of 10 of these drives are bad. 20% failures is way to high for a consumer good. I finally returned the thing to CC and I'll now look for other options.

There is an alternative explanation:

From your description it sounds like you may have made the same mistake in setting up the system twice. Many with this problem solved it by rebooting the system before using the drive. This is a required part of the installation. You do not mention doing that in either of your two installations. It sounds like you tried to use the player immediately after updating the system. ???

Do you really mean that you reformated your HDD or do you mean that you performed HDD cache clear maintenance on it?

I suspect that a lot of the returns will be for this reason.

BTW, 2/10 from one store does not a 20% overall failure rate make.

zero the hero

11-13-06, 02:36 PM

karlw2000

11-13-06, 02:45 PM

I didn't even bother using the included disk. I'm connected to the internet and when I put in KK, I got a message to do an update and the system rebooted automatically. Then KK started up a few seconds later. Too easy.

JodyL

11-13-06, 02:57 PM

Karlw2000:

A bunch of guys are using the included disk to update their systems and then not rebooting before using the player.

Grandmaster

11-13-06, 03:04 PM

I have the facility to take YUV 4:4:4 1080p screenshots directly from the Xbox VGA output (I posted a thread with some gaming 1080p shots elsewhere in this forum). Unfortunately the HD DVD unit is not released until December 1 in the UK, so I'm afraid I can't take any shots until then. Oh well, only two weeks... provided I even get a unit of course :(

RangerDoc

11-13-06, 03:33 PM

There is an alternative explanation:

From your description it sounds like you may have made the same mistake in setting up the system twice. Many with this problem solved it by rebooting the system before using the drive. This is a required part of the installation. You do not mention doing that in either of your two installations. It sounds like you tried to use the player immediately after updating the system. ???

Do you really mean that you reformated your HDD or do you mean that you performed HDD cache clear maintenance on it?

I suspect that a lot of the returns will be for this reason.

BTW, 2/10 from one store does not a 20% overall failure rate make.

There is no need to reboot after the update. It is not required....

Anyway all is well in the Blount household this morning. However….

I found another drive this morning and sent my wife off to retrieve it. No problem, she picked up the last one at the local Game Crazy. Over the phone we got it hooked up and it is running great. She’s impressed with the picture.

Here’s the gotcha and warning…

When she was opening the package this morning and describing the contents, it became very clear to me that Circuit City had indeed sold me a used/returned unit.

The one I got from Circuit City yesterday had the batteries already in the remote, the KK movie was not shrink-wrapped, and there was a green plastic sleeve just laying across the top/inside of the package.

The one my wife picked up this morning had all the opposites from above.

When I was at CC and the clerk told me that they already had one returned, I specifically asked if this one was the returned one. He told me “No, it’s illegal for us to sell used goods as new.” Well, I guess they just don’t care about that.

I called an spoke to the manager and he was a little sympathetic and did offer us a gift card for our troubles. But he wasn’t too interested in setting his employees straight. I hope he does anyway.

So after this long read, just be careful of what you buy at CC.

Kage

11-13-06, 04:38 PM

joffer

11-13-06, 04:53 PM

watched KK twice so far and V for Vendetta once and no problems. i love this thing.

theroys88

11-13-06, 05:07 PM

Just bought one today and watched King Kong. Compared to the SD version it is much sharper but also smoother with richer colors. It's not the jump that I experienced from VHS to DVD but I am pleased with what I saw. For 159 dollars at CC after using the coupon that I found on this forum I think it is a excellent deal.

efjay

11-13-06, 06:51 PM

Here you go, mates. A proper review of the HD-DVD addon

http://www.hidef.com/hardware-accessories/349-xbox-360-hd-dvd-player-review-comparison-toshiba-hd-a1.html

FrancescoP

11-13-06, 06:54 PM

R1NLP

11-13-06, 08:09 PM

I picked mine up last night. No problems installing. KK looks outstanding! The only downfall I can see is having to watch movies twice. Once to gawk at the picture, and again to take in the story!

HPforMe

11-13-06, 08:19 PM

Here you go, mates. A proper review of the HD-DVD addon

http://www.hidef.com/hardware-accessories/349-xbox-360-hd-dvd-player-review-comparison-toshiba-hd-a1.html

Yep, that's a good review.

HPforMe

11-13-06, 08:21 PM

I agree the statement that "HDMI is needed to have the best picture quality" is a false statement,

Yep, ridiculous nonsense. I have my A1 hooked up by both HDMI and Component to my HP 65" DLP. I OFTEN do a switch to check out quality difference. None.

pernar

11-13-06, 08:33 PM

I bought the 360 HD-DVD Player a few days ago at Circuit City and I returned it today, because it made King Kong HD-DVD and some of my sd-dvds freeze every 5 minutes. The customer service person said that they had 6 units returned to them from the 10 units that they had in stock.

Sorry, I call "troll" on this one. That's just ridiculous.

t_tringle

11-13-06, 08:45 PM

t_tringle

11-13-06, 08:48 PM

maverick0716

11-13-06, 09:25 PM

I bought the 360 HD-DVD Player a few days ago at Circuit City and I returned it today, because it made King Kong HD-DVD and some of my sd-dvds freeze every 5 minutes. The customer service person said that they had 6 units returned to them from the 10 units that they had in stock.

Did you turn off the Xbox 360 after using the installation disc? That cures stuttering problems, and most likely freezing problems.

drhill

11-13-06, 09:48 PM

"You say HDMI is "nice", but how about people who want to upconvert standard dvds."

VGA upconverts everything to 1080P, there are more pc monitors and TV's that do 1080P over VGA than 1080P over HDMI.

Thank you for putting words in my mouth. When did I say 1080p? Can't find that quote can you. I said upconvert.

My tv, xbr1, has a very crappy implementation of VGA. The max res is only 1280x1024 with no widescreen support. So I don't care about VGA.

drhill

11-13-06, 09:53 PM

Sorry I have to contest this one. I have the 60" XBR1 and my movies look great on them. Maybe it is the type of movies you are playing. I am currently deployed in Iraq but check my post history as I posted up pictures from Prison Break Season 1 on DVD. I am satisfied with component and I am not losing sleep about HDMI. If it comes it comes but the quality of picture delivers with component on my SXRD.

Again if anyone wants to again see picture quality of standard DVD with a 1080P display then check the post history and see it yourself. We have slow connection over here so it takes time to get from page to page.

Sweet jeebus, people just like to imagine things in posts. I never said the PQ was bad with my current dvd player. I said that the set doesn't handle 480i/p as well as it does 1080i, this in independent of the input type. I would prefer to do the scaling else where. I would also to rid myself of component inputs merely for the input switching on my remote.

If you want to settle for not having an option, fine. But it is beyond me why some people are so vocal about this in the negative. If you don't want it, don't buy it. Don't rain on the request of those who do though. I just want the option.

Just like I want the more imporant option of different video output resolutions for games and dvd/hd-dvds... which amirm seems to ignore when people mention it.

Kano

11-13-06, 09:57 PM

But what about the sound quality? Comparing the 360's DVD playback to that of my Denon 2910 shows a large difference in favour of the 2910 - especially using the 6 ch analog output. I've read reviews stating the HD-DVD add-on for the 360 improves sound quality over the regular drive and that the downconverted True HD track is a marked improvement. I am not convinced - the 360 IMO uses compression on the audio output and I hope the HD-DVD add-on sounds as good or better than my Denon DVD player. After all it is supposed to be next gen - should it not look AND sound better?

BuGsArEtAsTy

11-13-06, 09:58 PM

Mission Impossible: III - Scene selection:

http://www.eugbanana.com/files/Pix/360HDDVD/Menus480/MI3-SceneSelection.JPG

Selecting a video commentary:

http://www.eugbanana.com/files/Pix/360HDDVD/Menus480/MI3-CommentaryMenu.JPG

Viewing picture-in-picture video commentary:

http://www.eugbanana.com/files/Pix/360HDDVD/Menus480/MI3-CommentaryView.JPG

King Kong - Normal screen:

http://www.eugbanana.com/files/Pix/360HDDVD/Menus480/KK.JPG

Interactivity:

http://www.eugbanana.com/files/Pix/360HDDVD/Menus480/KK-U-Control.JPG

Scene selection (while movie is playing):

http://www.eugbanana.com/files/Pix/360HDDVD/Menus480/KK-U-Control-SceneSelection.JPG

Bookmarks:

http://www.eugbanana.com/files/Pix/360HDDVD/Menus480/KK-MyScenes.JPG

Corpse Bride - Special Features menu (while movie is playing):

http://www.eugbanana.com/files/Pix/360HDDVD/Menus480/CorpseBride-SpecialFeatures.JPG

My setup:

http://www.eugbanana.com/files/Pix/360HDDVD/Xbox360HDDVD-800.jpg

NOFX

11-14-06, 12:43 AM

AndyN

11-14-06, 01:22 AM

Really depends on your display. I think the larger the display the more evident the improvement. On my display I used to use CG animated movies as demos (Nemo, Cars, etc.) because they were so sharp. King Kong on HD-DVD blows me away. Live action thats the sharpest pic I've ever seen better than SD CG animation.

I should note I did not use the 360's upconversion or 1080p out. I'm comparing 480i deinterlaced and scaled to 1080p to a 1080i HDDVD out signal deinterlaced from a DVDO VP50. The VP50 has a great SD deinterlacer and still it can't compare to a HD-DVD picture. I'll see if I can't re-rent Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on SD and take some pics next week.

TMSKILZ

11-14-06, 02:07 AM

theroys88

11-14-06, 09:03 AM

To those who have a 360 HD Dvd add on would you be so kind to post pics of it at 720/1080p and upconverted hd pics just too see if there's really a big difference. I want to get it but I want to see if it makes a huge difference since im already upconverting all my dvd with my 360 via VGA.

I can tell you that the difference is not as great as it was from VHS to dvd. I just bought the 360 add on and watched King Kong last night. Smoother yet sharper then the SD version. Colors were alot better. I have a upconverting player with DCDI so I can say that I am getting the most of my SD movies. I figured for 160 dollars for the add on plus a free movie it was worth the improvement. I just cannot justify 400-500 dollars for a high def player. I will say that HD movies on satellite are crap and look worse then my upconverted movies. HD DVD is so clean!

lastxbr960

11-14-06, 11:51 AM

If you lose or misplace the remote and the game controller you have more serious issues than being unable to control the unit.
HaHa, this is why a said minor inconvience as we all misplace remotes and controllers from time to time, Well I do I should say.

swanlee

11-14-06, 03:02 PM

"I said upconvert"

Yea and VGA on the 360 will up-convert Standard DVD's to 1080P or whatever resolution you choose to use through VGA

emmonsh

11-14-06, 05:31 PM

I just watched kk on my samsung hln. it doesnt do 1080 thru vga and does 1080i thru component. i tried both. i have been using the vga for gaming at 1280*720 and the pic is great for gaming. now for the dvd. the hddvd is fantastic thru vga at 1280*720p/ in reality i wouldnt uograde to 1080p till this dies, the picture is that good. the colors are fantastic and the sharpness is amazing. i slao tried on component at 1080i not much diff. colors a littler brighter, yea maybe but on vga its more natural and quite a bit more sharp/ for the money it is great. as for sound, nothing against the audiofanatics but thru my onkyo the dd is great. hd is more for video and my onkyo can make it so you look for the dinosours running.The drive worked flawless. easist dvd player i have ever owned.smooth as silk.

Capfacsurf

11-14-06, 05:46 PM

Go Spurs? As in Tottenham?

Capfacsurf

11-14-06, 05:51 PM

Me too. My Sammy HLN looked AMAZING with the add on. Set mine for 720p using component input. The detail on the images is pixel perfect. Too sharp perhaps, as special effects become easily discernable.

drhill

11-14-06, 06:55 PM

"I said upconvert"

Yea and VGA on the 360 will up-convert Standard DVD's to 1080P or whatever resolution you choose to use through VGA

Thanks for telling me something I already know. How about you go ask sony to upgrade my xbr1's vga port to something usable for me then. ;)

Scarpad

11-15-06, 08:13 AM

To me the clarity is the biggest difference, it's like a veil of Haze has been raised from the DVD's Image. I have the Xbox set to 1080i on my Sammy LCD which is 1360x768, that seems to yield the best image.

hughesne

11-15-06, 10:04 AM

...hd is more for video and my onkyo can make it so you look for the dinosours running.

Nice quote, thats like saying a TV is more for video. Audio is equally important for HD. Those who dont agree are just uninformed.

MSpeed6

11-15-06, 12:16 PM

Does this player remember where you left off if you power off??

union1411

11-15-06, 12:34 PM

Bought the 360 and the add-on last night.

King Kong looked way better than anything on hd cable (many of the scenes were 3D-ish).

Player worked great, love the menu, and load times were fast.

However, King Kong is a boring movie, as are many of the released movies (Phantom, Last Samurai, Vendetta, etc). So, I found myself skipping to certain scenes. I looked at the release schedule for HD-DVDs (and BluRay) and I wasn't excited. It's like 5 or so movies a month and I just can't get excited about a boring movie like Superman Returns or World Trade Center or whatever.

So, although the PQ was fantastic, the content is just not really there. So I just don't feel like I'm getting bang for the buck (one mediocre (plotwise) movie a week just doesn't do it for me).

As for the 360, I rented a couple of highly rated games, they looked good on my 50 inch 1080i display, but I got bored quickly and think the graphics are just overhyped. I like the graphics, quality, depth, and immersion of PC games much more.

So, for $600, I'm going to put my money towards something that will have more utility. Even my gf, who works in the tv industry, got bored after a few minutes of Kong and decided to vacuum the living room instead.

The experience reminded me of when I got into DVD-A/SACD a few years ago. Great quality but little content or demand.

MSpeed6

11-15-06, 01:46 PM

emmonsh

11-15-06, 03:20 PM

Nice quote, thats like saying a TV is more for video. Audio is equally important for HD. Those who dont agree are just uninformed.
sorry bu7ddy, but your dead wrong. i have lots of friends with hd, probablyalot longer than most on these forums and the audio is merely a second step. sure great audio is a plus, but for hd, video is everything. its like hd radio, come on its a joke.

seanb61

11-15-06, 03:53 PM

great audio is a plus, but for hd, video is everything. its like hd radio, come on its a joke..

You are so wrong.

PridgNYC

11-15-06, 03:58 PM

I agree. Audio is a second step. I was an early adopter with dvd, then had to upgrade from my 27" crt to a 40" widescreen RP HDTV (Tosh 40H80), then upgraded to a 5.1 surround receiver (Sony STR DB930) but I kept the speakers that I was using with my pro logic reciever. Just couldn't justify spending $1000+ on a new set of matched speakers (though I did add a subwoofer) To my ears the system sounds great, and now looks fantastic at 1080i with the hd-dvd add-on. I am fairly certain I would not be able to hear any difference between dd5.1 and truHD on my system; and I don't care. Someday perhaps when I don't have any neighbors and have unlimited funds and can build my dream home theater I may care but not at this time.

lordcloud

11-15-06, 04:22 PM

This is my first post, but I am no newbie. I have to agree that great audio is not a necessary component of HD. I have only my speakers in my television to hear movies through and I still love good HD. Great audio can add to the experience and then become an essential part of it. But video is forst and foremost when it comes to HD. Logcally, audio is just the second step, and great audio is not an necesarry one.

SolidSnake526

11-15-06, 04:29 PM

.

You are so wrong.
Well I've never heard HD-Radio, but what I do know is that audio does make a fairly big difference. It's different for everyone, but my guess is it's probably a near-50/50 split for audio and video. You can't have crap audio and amazing video or vice versa. A good middleground is better than top-of-the-line on one end and 20+-year-old tech on the other.

That'd be like having a quad-SLI computer with a Pentium 2 (I don't even think that's possible, but you get my point).

Gspotter

11-15-06, 07:13 PM

Can someone please tell me what is used as the audio outputs? Optical, coax, RCA's? Thanks in advance

Robert D

11-15-06, 09:31 PM

oleus

11-15-06, 09:51 PM

maverick0716

11-16-06, 01:30 AM

HighDeff

11-16-06, 02:59 AM

XBOX360 HD-DVD add-on owners, please make a report here.:

http://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers.php?DVDnameid=7755&Search=Search&#comments

HeavyC

11-16-06, 09:18 AM

I must say I'm highly impressed with the add-on and HD-DVD in general. I expected a marginal increase in quality from my upconverted SD-DVDs. Boy was I wrong. It does truly seem "3Dish" in some scenes.

I used a 30 dollar gift rebate I had at Amazon on it, so for 169.99 I feel like I've already more then got my money's worth out of it.

union1411

11-16-06, 10:38 AM

again the quality of hd-dvd is amazing and it is really tough to go back to regular dvd/hd cable. but looking at the catalog of movies available and that will available in the next monrth or two:

a) alot of the movies just don't do it for me and are the types where i would fast forward. i mean corpse bride, last samurai, supaerman returns, king kong, etc., just are not great movies that i get into. kinda reminds of dvd-a/sacd. i was floored by the quality but i just wasn't into steely dan and fleetwood mac.

b) alot of the movies on hd-dvd (and bluray) i've already seen. how many times can i watch training day, full metal jacket, phantom, batman returns? these are on cable alot and although, yeah i can rewatch and be impressed by the pq, it's just not enough to hold my attention for 2 hours.

anyways, great pq. but until there are a lot of movies (like i can walk into blockbuster and select from great movies i have not seen before, or movies that i would like to watch again in hd (like star wars, gladiator, cars, whatever) then i am just going to wait

HeavyC

11-16-06, 11:17 AM

I'm actually pretty impressed with the NetFlix selection. A lot of the future titles I have saved in my queue will have HD-DVD versions available. I'm not sure how many HD-DVD movies I'll go back and replace my SD-DVD's with, but I do intend on renting a TON of them.

Now, if they give me a Matrix Trilogy HD-DVD Box Set, I'd be all over that.

Gspotter

11-16-06, 01:27 PM

Can someone please tell me what is used as the audio outputs? Optical, coax, RCA's? Thanks in advance

Anyone?

oh_riginal

11-16-06, 01:37 PM

MSpeed6

11-16-06, 01:39 PM

I have the 50E2000. @ 1080i, king kong looks amazing. Haven't seen my tv produce a better picture.

Damed

11-16-06, 01:56 PM

I'm debating on buying this drive, as I've gotten my hands on that $40 coupon for Circuit City, so the temptation is stronger than ever, lol.

My question is, should I even bother? I have a 50 inch Sony KDF-E2000, which only goes up to 1080i, not 1080p. Since I am unable to reach the full potential of the HD-DVD drive, I'm not sure if I should even buy the drive, and wondering if I should just stick with my upconverting NS75H Sony.

Any thoughts?

I have a 40" Sony Bravia LCD TV that does only 1080i, and I notice a HUGE difference from SD to HD-DVD, especially with the "really good" titles (Corpse Bride, Batman Begins, V for Vendetta, etc)

Your 50 inch should look fantastic.