Xbox 360 as HD DVD Player: One and Only thread Here - Page 8

Probably USB power is not enough ....

They gonna be releasing an internal HD DVD player at any point?

Is this add on going to be the cheapest HD DVD drive available? Do you guys think we will be able to yank the drive out and transplant it to our HTPC's. I know it will require a HDCP compliant card and software player. I guess what i'm trying to get at is this, how many of these add on drives are going to be raped of their drives to build a HD HTPC'S? I don't even have a 360 but at $200 i'm going to be getting one just to try, if it works i think MS will have a hard time keeping these in stock until a cheaper pc specific drive comes out.


Glen

Yes, for sometime to come, I guess. The HD DVD external drive from HP is $349. When NEC and others come up with their internal IDE drives, I think it will be around $250-$300.

Infact considering that the addon comes with Kong and the remote, we are getting the drive for just $150.

on my samsung dlp, vga blows component out of the water for games and dvd.

I can't get mine to do that (I kept the VGA cable just in case). I played around for hours, compared everything and component is just slightly better. On movies it is barely better, on games it is way better.

Bummer, must be set dependent or something.

Correct.....but if PS3 uses 1.2 (not 1.3) HDMI it will not suppor the new HD audio formats either.

PS3 uses HDMI 1.3 which is fully BC

Not according to d3code

Quote
'The PS3 will have parts of HDMI 1.3 inside, only some parts of the hdmi 1.3 chipset they need to use. that is why sony ps3 is possible to release the ps3 in november. also from the get go it wont be possible to use HDMI 1.3 direct, but this will be fixed later on by firmware update. it will use hdmi 1.2A. logical since there aint a tv out yet that uses 1.3 hmdi "

AFAIK, HDMI 1.2 couldn't be firmware upgrade to 1.3. Correct me if I am wrong. What does parts of the HDMI 1.3 mean? Sounds like excuse for no HDMI 1.3 transmitter.

Not sure what d3code's source is. Has Sony announced any changes since Ken Kutaragi's (president and group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment) statement? :


http://gear.ign.com/articles/715/715311p1.html

Sony Rep at the CEATAC show in Japan. He talked to them directly.

Gothca, thanks. Any links with the actual details and what the means overall? How does that effect games like Resistance that use 7.1 uncompressed audio?

No links. I don't think 1.3 will bring anything to PS3 on the audio side. According to the logo, PS3 should decode everything inside and output as PCM. HDMI 1.2 does that just fine.

Thanks. So you are saying James63's post (below) was innaccurate then.

"Correct.....but if PS3 uses 1.2 (not 1.3) HDMI it will not suppor the new HD audio formats either."

By support, James63 means DTS-HD/DTHD bitstream output. According to HDMI spec, only 1.3 could output raw bitstream for receiver to decode. Since PS3 should be able to decode everything to PCM, it shouldn't matter not be able to output the raw bitstream. You loss nothing.

Also, nobody knows the meaning of "parts of HDMI 1.3". I suspect PS3 support deep color space part of the 1.3 spec but not raw audio bitstream output. But you never know. Because Pio said they could output raw bitstream using a special implementation of HDMI 1.1/1.2.

I see. I guess we will have to wait until people start experimenting with it. Thanks again

So I have a 360, and I want hd dvd. However I cant make up my mind wether to go with a stand alone box, or with the 360 ad on. What reasons would there be to not get the 360 ad on, and grab a stand alone?

The only things I can think of are these:

1. HDMI fudgery, will 360 really have it? Will I be happy with component if it does not?

2. What happens when my 360 craps out (like they all seam to do), now I have no dvd or game system... lousy!

The extra 200 bucks is not that big a deal to me. I do want HDMI for video (digital to digital), however I will not be using HDMI for audio (fiber), will this be a problem with a Tosh player? Can I do both HDMI and fiber at the same time?

Honestly it will be hard to amswer this until the add on is actually released and we can see what it does/does not do and how the PQ/AQ stack up. Yes you can have HDMI/Optical at the same time (my A1 is hooked up to a projector via HDMI and just couldn't bring myself to just use the 2 watt speaker on the PJ and I have both analog outs and optical out to my receiver

I think you answered your own question when you said the extra $200 is not a big deal to you. Here's why:

1) As you mentioned, if you use your 360 for movies and games and either the drive or the 360 fails, you won't be able to watch HD-DVD's at all. Of course, if it's just the HD-DVD drive that fails, you could still play games but if the 360 fails, you're out of both until your 360 is repaired/replaced. Also, if you plan on doing a lot of movie watching, you're putting more wear and tear on your 360 (would could be important if you don't have an extended warranty).

2) The 360 HD-DVD will not have HDMI nor will it have the ability to output TrueHD au dio. Without HDMI, you won't have the ability to upscale SD-DVD's and with only an optical audio output, you won't have TrueHD. These might not be big issues to you, but it does make the extra $200 seem worth it IMO.

NOTE: As others have mentioned, the 360 isn't out yet so we really don't know how it's going to perform. Will it be faster than standalone units? What audio formats will it be able to output? Will the PQ be as good as the standalone players?

Now then, I can see a couple of reasons why the 360 drive might be a better choice:

1) Not confirmed, but I assume you'd still have access to your 360 Guide during HD-DVD playback. This means you could still check your friends list and receive incoming message from your gaming friends. So you could feasibly watch an HD-DVD while waiting for a friend to page you when he is ready to play a game (for example). Again, I can't confirm if you can do that but it would seem logical that you can since it works when you play standard DVD's.

2) The 360 HD-DVD drive seems to offer a great value at $200 with a free movie and remote. If you are a bit nervous about jumping into HD-DVD because of the format war, then it's a relatively inexpensive way to get a player and see how you like it. And again, the 360 drive could be faster than the standalone units which can take quite some time (G1 players for sure) to boot up and play a disc.

All that said, I already have an HD-A1 standalone player but I'm thinking about getting the 360 drive as well! I think it would be nice to have both, but my recommendation for which one you get it ambiguous. Since you mentioned that the difference in cost is not a big deal, I'd probably say just get the standalone and be happy with the best output options.

Well at first I was going to get it. Now that I've pre-ordered the A2, I'm backing off purchasing one. As mentioned above, potentially no HDMI and no Dolby TrueHD kind of puts me off.

I plan to get both. The A2 and the add-on. I will get the add-on to get my feet wet, then get the A2 after a major price drop. I keep my 360 running cool and well ventilated. Those two things are key to the life of your 360. I also have a two year warranty, so that means I have until Feb 2008. The add-on is for those of us who have the 360 and sould like to jump into the format war without spending another $500. Some of us are able to do both, but the add-on gets me in early for the least amount of money. Considering I want the gameplay of the 360 and to be able to watch HD-DVD's. Now If I don't care to game, I would just buy a HD-A1.

The video play back of the HD-DVD's through the 360 component cable will be way better than standard dvds. HDMI is not a big deal for me. The HD movie trailers look outstanding on the 360. So everyone can judge for themselves, but I say if you have a 360 buy the add-on. You won't miss the TRUE-HD. When the stand alone players are at a resonable price, then go get your TRUE HD. The DD+ sounds really good too. Most will be pleased by it. Now the REAL HOMETHEATER people who have invested crazy amounts of money in their equipment, will have both. Because they can afford it!

Just my two cents!

The 360 add-on is a great "temporary" upgrade for those of us who don't want to spend a lot of money and already have a 360. Here is why:

HD-A1
- bulky size
- i don't have room for it
- long boot up
- would be a hassle to connect analog connections (and I don't have HDMI receiver either)
- 700 canadian dollars in Canada (not willing to spend that much)

HD-A2
- good size
- i still don't have room for it though
- quick boot up
- doesnt have analog, so I'd need a HDMI receiver to take advantage of DD+/TruHD (which I don't)
- will prolly be 700 canadian in Canada (still too much)

HD-XA2
- has everything I want
- i still don't have room for it
- will prolly be 1200-1300 in canada (waaaaay too much)

360 add-on
- should look more than fine over component at 1080i or 720p
- doens't require more video/audio cables and connections
- i have room for it
- will be 250 in canada, maybe even less?
+ comes with Kong (for the price it's a nice bonus, the toshiba doesnt come with any movies and it's much more money)
+ can't complain of lack of HDMI or dd+/truhd (since I wouldn't be able to use them with HD-A2 anyway)

Also, it's not entirely true that the 360 doesn't support TruHD. It downmixes it over the optical connection. People who have played with the device have said that downmixed TruHD destroys the normal DD+ track. So, while you're not getting the FULL benefit of TruHD, it's certainly there.

I'm also not sure why you guys bring up a "$200" price difference. The cheapest I've seen the player is at Walmart for $450, and that is still only the first-gen player.

(183 voters).. Aren't those the only two ways to get 1080p out of the xbox360 after the update?

Less than 3% - 1080P via VGA
Less than 1% - 1080P via Component

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/poll....ts&pollid=3921

Amazon has them for 399

EDIT: Although when you go to check out they have a ship date of Dec 4th....

Probably been asked a million times already but its likely The addon won't work on a PC through USB right?

It certainly would. Just not sure about the AACS movie playback part.

I just ordered mine from Amazon this afternoon and it said it will be shipping either tomorrow or Friday. I even called the company they go through Electronics Expo and there customer service said once they get the order it is shipped that day or first thing the next morning. Moving onto the 360 HD-DVD add on. I really have debated it the last two weeks and I told myself do I really want to use my 360 for movies especially as hot as the 360 gets after a couple hours. Also, MS is being stingy on the whole HDMI thing. If you read the threads on this forum and the reviews on the movies on http://www.highdefdigest.com you should definitely go with the A-1 instead of the add-on. I just bought a brand new Sony 60" SXRD and it does not support 1080p through the component cable only the HDMI. So MS saying they are going to have this software update for 1080p is not going to do me any good anyway. Only a few HDTV's out there can support 1080p through component cables. Whoever decides to get the 360 add on please let us know how it is.