Hey guys, what is going on. Im new to the forum and am learning a lot. I do have some questions as i am a newbie to all this stuff. I'll list it my questions and hopefully you guys can answer them for me or give me some info on it.

I have a 32" Samsung LCD tv (last years model). I believe its got a 7000:1 contrast ratio and its maximum is 720p. (im at work so i dont have the exact specs or model number). I have it connected to my 360 and that is what i use to watch my dvds. Here are my multiple questions that i hope you guys can answer.

1) What does it mean to upconvert when talking about dvd players?

2) Does the hddvd player add-on for the 360 'upconvert' and if so, is it worth getting it since my tv is only 720p?

3) Should i try and trade in my 360 premium for the elite (i have the warranty at bestbuy) so i can get the HDMI output, even though, again, my tv is 720p?

4) When i play dvds on my 360, it sometimes starts looking fuzzy. Any ideas on what or why this is, and what i can do to fix it?

5) Finally, any advice on whether to go blue ray, hd dvd, or just wait it out? (i kno its not the rite section of the forum, but i mite as well ask).

Well guys, thanx for your time and i look forward to hearing from you.

1) Simply speaking, upconverting is translating 480i DVDs to your televisions native resolution. Your television does this automatically, but some "upconverting" dvd players claim to do it more effectively than your tv's processing would. Whether or not it's worth it to get an upconverting player depends on how well your television can do the processing itself. If your television is really adept at it, an upconverting player is not worth it.

2) As far as I know, the HD DVD add-on is simply a drive and does no processing, and therefore no upconverting. I do not think that the xbox upconverts either, but I'm not 100% sure on that fact.

3) If you are only going to pay the difference between the two, I think that the elite is worth the upgrade if you have an HDMI port. The difference ranges depending on your calibration and the material you are watching, but you should see a difference. Of course I'm looking at a 57" tv and you are on a 32". You may not see as much of a difference there, but still it's nice to be rid of extra cables. I wouldn't do it if it cost you any more than the $80 or so that is the difference between the two systems.

4) The fuzzy look is most likely due to the way that any particular DVD is upconverted to your television. It all depends on the original disc and how that is displayed on your television. Theoretically, an upconverting player could help your problem, but to what degree is the question. Often times this is the price you pay to watch standard dvds on a larger screen television. It's also possible that one of your component cables is loose, so I would check those just to make sure.

5) My advice normally would be to wait out the format war, EXCEPT for the fact that the HD DVD add-on is now featured with some pretty aggressive free movie offers. If you can get several free HD discs with a player that is under $200, I would say that you should go for it. Blu-ray currently doesn't have anything quite as aggressive I don't think. I paid $180, got Heroes, Transformers, 300, V for Vendetta, and five extras from Best Buy. If you find something like that, I would jump on it.

360 will upconvert over HDMI and I think over VGA as well

I think grabbing a newer 360 with HDMI will fix a lot of your issues, but you may want to try a VGA cable if your Samsung has a VGA input. Component cables have always looked fuzzy to me on LCD tvs.

Premiums come with HDMI now, so only splurge on the Elite if you plan on using up a lot of space on the hard drive.

The 360 will upconvert standard DVDs over HDMI or VGA whether or not you have the add-on, but in my case they look better using my old progressive-scan player and letting my TV (Samsung plasma) upconvert. Watching HD-DVDs you will still see a HUGE difference even though your TV is 'only' 720p. Chalk it up to good marketing that TV companies are convincing you that you'd even see the difference between 720p and 1080p on a 32" screen.

Pick one format, by the time one wins we'll be getting all our TV and movies rentals over the internet anyway and you'll just be using the disks for archival purposes, by then dual-format HD-DVD/Blu-ray combos will be so common and affordable that I don't think you have to worry about your library becoming obsolete.

Yes, upconverting basically takes the 480i signal and attempts to fill in the information to make it look better and use the TVs full resolution. IMO not a good replacement for HD, but it does make regular DVDs look better.

IMO, I'd pick up a cheap A2 ($99 at Walmart tomorrow, but regularly $197 or so) over the add-onn at this point. The upconversion is better, you get the HD DVD functionality for cheap, and if/when your XBOX goes RROD on you, you'll still be able to watch movies while it's getting repaired. My 2 cents.

IMO, I'd pick up a cheap A2 ($99 at Walmart tomorrow, but regularly $197 or so)

Hey Propers, can you point to info on the $99 A2 ? The site only lists them as selling BD players.

Thanks!

Never mind, I found it. Is the free movies thing still going on?......... sorry if I'm way OT :o

Hey Propers, can you point to info on the $99 A2 ? The site only lists them as selling BD players.

Thanks!

Never mind, I found it. Is the free movies thing still going on?......... sorry if I'm way OT :o

Yes. Best Buy is also matching the price (online is sold out, but if you happen to have one nearby that has it in stock, you can pick it up in store). At Best Buy you also get two HD DVDs for free on the spot (of your choice), plus the 5 mail-in.

Sorry to take this OT. There are threads in the HDM sections about all this, but figured chiliDog might not venture into those, since they're scary.

My question is when they are going to come out with an HD player (DVD or BD) that will output 7.1 analog. I'll eat that up when it comes out, but I haven't seen one at a reasonable price yet.

But isnt the A2 only 1080i and the 360 add on is 1080p?

I have an upconverting player that does 1080i but I'm still gonna pick up the add on to achieve 1080p

HDMI and VGA from the 360 are like night and day Samsung 5063 DLP. Something about the 360 and that TV don't like eachother on VGA at all, its washed out and greenish no matter what I do. On my Optoma HD70 vga looks fine, but HDMI is noticeably crisper.

Not worth paying extra for though, unless your tv has vga issues with the 360.

But isnt the A2 only 1080i and the 360 add on is 1080p?

I have an upconverting player that does 1080i but I'm still gonna pick up the add on to achieve 1080p

Don't confuse a dvd which is native 480i upscaled to 1080i with hd dvd which is native 1080p and output at either 1080i or 1080p.

HD DVD will look far better output at either resolution than dvd, no matter how you polish it.

The difference between 1080i and 1080p is negligible on most sets.

I thought DVD's were native 480p

I thought DVD's were native 480p

They are native 480P. You sir are correct.

i made the choice to remain format neutral till the war had ended.

but..... i just bought an A2 for $98 bucks at walmart, and i finally get to watch transformers tomorrow (yes, i held off from watching until i got to watch it in HD)

98 freakin bucks! i spent double that on my oppo (which i will be selling btw)

They are native 480P. You sir are correct.

I always heard that DVDs are 480i. From this forum too.

I always heard that DVDs are 480i. From this forum too.

DVD's are 480i. They are based around the NTSC standard which is an interlaced signal.

The 360 is to noisy to be a good DVD or HD-DVD player IMO. But if you wear headphones then you might be ok.

But isnt the A2 only 1080i and the 360 add on is 1080p?

I have an upconverting player that does 1080i but I'm still gonna pick up the add on to achieve 1080p

from one of many sources...
http://www.hometheatermag.com/gearworks/1106gear/

There Is No Difference Between 1080p and 1080i
My bold-printed, big-lettered breaker above is a little sensationalistic, but, as far as movies are concerned, this is basically true. Here's why. Movies (and most TV shows) are shot at 24 frames per second (either on film or on 24-frame-per-second HD cameras). Every TV sold in the United States has a refresh rate of 60 hertz. This means that the screen refreshes 60 times per second. In order to display 24-frame-per-second content on a display that essentially shows 60 frames per second, you need to make up or create new frames. This is accomplished by a method called 3:2 pulldown (or, more accurately, 2:3 pulldown). It doubles the first frame of film, triples the second frame, doubles the third frame, and so on, creating a 2-3-2-3-2-3 sequence. (Check out Figure 1 for a more colorful depiction.) So, the new frames don't have new information; they are just duplicates of the original film frames. This process converts 24-frame-per-second film to be displayed on a 60-Hz display.

It's Deinterlacing, Not Scaling
HD DVD and Blu-ray content is 1080p/24. If your player outputs a 60-Hz signal (that is, one that your TV can display), the player is adding (creating) the 3:2 sequence. So, whether you output 1080i or 1080p, it is still inherently the same information. The only difference is in whether the player interlaces it and your TV deinterlaces it, or if the player just sends out the 1080p signal directly. If the TV correctly deinterlaces 1080i, then there should be no visible difference between deinterlaced 1080i and direct 1080p (even with that extra step). There is no new information—nor is there more resolution, as some people think. This is because, as you can see in Figure 1, there is no new information with the progressive signal. It's all based on the same original 24 frames per second.

In the case of Samsung's BD-P1000 Blu-ray player, the player interlaces the image and then deinterlaces it to create 1080p. So, you get that step regardless.

Two caveats: Other Blu-ray players can output 1080p/24. If your TV can accept 1080p/24, then it is adding the 3:2 sequence, unless it is one of the very few TVs that can change its refresh rate. Pioneer plasmas can change their refresh rate to 72 Hz, and they do a simple 3:3 pulldown (showing each film frame three times). This looks slightly less jerky.

If you're a gamer, then there is a difference, as 1080p/60 from a computer can be 60 different frames per second (instead of 24 different frames per second doubled and tripled, as with movie content). It is unlikely that native 1080p/60 content will ever be broadcast or distributed in wide numbers. The reasons for this are too numerous to get into here, but I list them in my follow-up blog.

So Don't Worry (Or Only Worry a Little)
Without question, it would be better if all TVs accepted a 1080p input. (Read that again before you start sending your e-mails.) What I hope this article points out is that, if you have a 1080p TV that only accepts 1080i, you're not missing any resolution from the Blu-ray or HD DVD source. If a TV doesn't correctly deinterlace 1080i, on the other hand. . .well, that's a different article (which is conveniently located on page 64).

The 360 is to noisy to be a good DVD or HD-DVD player IMO. But if you wear headphones then you might be ok.

Do you own the add-on? I have had it for 2 weeks now that thing doesn't give out any noise.

Do you own the add-on? I have had it for 2 weeks now that thing doesn't give out any noise.

I think he was talking about the 360 console itself. Though my new 360 with HDMI is so quiet I can hear the DVD drive reading the disk. Freaked me out at first I thought it was going to break. lol Now my old one was like jets taking off. So I would just turn the volume up on the TV til I couldn't hear it.

Rumor has it that if you get one of the new 360s that you have good shot at getting the quieter BenQ drive in it. So they say atleast...

I didn't even care when I bought my new premium with HDMI. I just wanted the HDMI it was only an added bonus that it was quiet.

Do you own the add-on? I have had it for 2 weeks now that thing doesn't give out any noise.

Do you have one of the newer 65nm ones? tgable and I both have the older 360s and I have to agree with him that their fans are just way too loud for watching movies at low volumes or a movie that has a lot of silent scenes. Wearing headphones solves that issue as he said.

We are both going to be swapping our 360s for newer Elites sometime soon and I am really hoping they have solved some of the fan noise. The HD-DVD add-on itself doesn't really cause that much noise.

Do you have one of the newer 65nm ones? tgable and I both have the older 360s and I have to agree with him that their fans are just way too loud for watching movies at low volumes or a movie that has a lot of silent scenes. Wearing headphones solves that issue as he said.

We are both going to be swapping our 360s for newer Elites sometime soon and I am really hoping they have solved some of the fan noise. The HD-DVD add-on itself doesn't really cause that much noise.

Actually I have a launch 360 december build and I just bought a 360 Halo edition and got the add-on just 2 weeks ago. My response was when he stated that it is noisy when playing the HD Add-on which I don't have that issue with either of my consoles

Lots of good info in this thread...I am now gonna pull the trigger on the add-on, I think it will be fine, my TV in native 1080p anyway

I have a just a couple of questions.
1. How do you know whether or not your tv's resolution is natively 1080p?
2. Can regular dvd players play hd dvd movies? If so will it look funny?

1. This is a basic spec of the display. Look up your model # on the manufacturer's website.

2. No.

My wife picked up the add on for me...sadly I cannot have it until christmas..meh... I will prolly never use the add on to watch regulat dvd's, try to keep the hours down on the 360...but it will play reg dvd's wont it? I have an upconverting player for the reg dvd's

My wife picked up the add on for me...sadly I cannot have it until christmas..meh... I will prolly never use the add on to watch regulat dvd's, try to keep the hours down on the 360...but it will play reg dvd's wont it? I have an upconverting player for the reg dvd's
The 360 itself upscales DVDs via HDMI or VGA