Xbox 360 DVD & HD DVD video playback bugs & feature requests

Thanks to MS for the latest Xbox 360 1080p HD-DVD (etc.) update. Hopefully it's kosher to start a separate bug and feature request thread for the next update here...

I'll start:

I appreciate having the new Aspect Ratio button, but unfortunately it's missing one setting for those of us with older TVs. Some of these older TVs lock into widescreen mode when presented with progressive scan or HD content. This is a major issue with 4:3 material. To better explain:

My 16:9 TV is hooked up to the Xbox 360 via component 1080i.

Original 4:3 480p image:




What that image from the Xbox 360 is supposed to look like on a (recent) 16:9 TV in Default Aspect Ratio mode:




This is the Xbox 360's Default mode on my (older) TV. The image is stretched horizontally:




Horizontal Stretched mode looks exactly the same on my TV. This is what it should look like on a newer TV as well:




Letterbox Zoom mode on my TV corrects the aspect ratio, but cuts off the top and bottom:




What would be nice for the next update would be to have the Aspect Ratio button have an additional option where the Xbox 360 would add (107 pixels of) black space to each side, before output. This is how my HD cable box deals with 4:3 HD output. Even on my TV, such a hypothetical "Fixed 4:3" mode would display correctly:




I can't test the HD DVD drive yet (since it's still a couple of weeks before its release), but I suspect the same issues exist using the new Aspect Ratio button with HD DVD 4:3 material. (Or maybe not. See my next post below.)

[EDIT]
This is apparently NOT an issue with 4:3 material on HD DVD (either 4:3 480i/p or 4:3 1080p). It's only an issue with 4:3 DVD playback. See post #16
[/EDIT].

eg. Casablanca:




Original 4:3 Casablanca aspect ratio:




I suspect it will look like this on my TV (but maybe not - see my next post below):



A "Fixed 4:3" mode for the next update would be most welcome.

Now I'm off to test 720p and 1080p WMV video playback off DVD-R...

Bug:

I am running into the 1080p problem that others in this forum are running into too.
Ironically, in direct contrast to my problem in my previous post:

1080p widescreen WMV video files get squished into a 4:3 aspect ratio. 720p video works fine though.

This 1080p 16:9 clip should look like this...



...but ends up looking like this on my TV:



If only I had this problem with my 4:3 DVDs.

[EDIT]
However, it turns out these "1920x1080" videos are actually only "1440x1080" natively. If in fact that this is the behaviour with 4:3 HD DVDs, that would be a good thing for me, because then 4:3 HD DVDs would display correctly on my TV. However, this is definitely not the behaviour with standard definition DVD playback. 4:3 DVD 480p gets stretched on my TV, whether it needs it or not.

It seems that the Xbox 360 treats output of 480p video and 1080p video differently for some reason.
[/EDIT]

[EDIT]
Apparently 4:3 material on HD DVD (either 4:3 480i/p or 4:3 1080p) will display the right aspect ratio on older TVs. The 4:3 --> 16:9 stretch is only an issue with 4:3 DVD playback. See post #16.
[/EDIT]

4:3 1440x1080p WMV video displays correctly however. This original video...



...looks like this on my screen, as it should:



Again, my TV is hooked up to the Xbox 360 at 1080i over component.

----

Also, it seems the jellyfish artifact claim for WMV video is true.

I downloaded this WMV HD 1080p clip and this is what it showed: Jellyfish artifact

Given the behaviour with 1080p WMV, I wonder if this is actually the case. I can't wait until the HD DVD drive arrives.



Hey, give 'em a chance.



Thanks. I'll check it out.

You're right. That Discovers 1080p file is 1440x1080. I misread the app I was using because it reported the expanded size, which is 1920x1080. However, the native resolution is 1440x1080.

In a way, this is actually good for me. If Casablanca is 1440x1080p, that means it may display correctly on my TV.

Here is a site that has some true 1080p WMV video clips with native 1920x1080 resolution.



Hey cool. Thanks.

There must be a flag. The reason I say this is that the 1080p 1440x1080 "Speed" WMV video shows up on my computer as 4:3, whereas most of the other 1080p 1440x1080 WMV videos are widescreen on my computer, despite being the same resolution. These latter files must be flagged. All these videos are 4:3 on the Xbox 360 though.

PS. In the other Xbox thread in the HD DVD section, a mention is made that 480p on DVD may be stretched on my TV due to DVD's non-square pixels.

What about 480p on HD DVD (ie. extras)? Can it be upscaled to 1080i over component (unlike DVD)?

Component: 1080p games and 1080i HD DVD
VGA cable: 1080p games and 1080p HD DVD

Note that most TV sets cannot acccept 1080p over component, but it depends on your specific model.

Games do 1080p over component.

---

Interestingly, according to somebody in another thread who claims to have the HD DVD drive already (along with an older TV), 4:3 material on HD DVD displays correctly through the Xbox 360 even on TVs that stretch DVD 480p material. This applies to both 1080p 4:3 HD DVD material and 480p 4:3 HD DVDmaterial:

In other words, even with older TVs like mine that stretch DVD 4:3 material:

1) 4:3 1080p HD DVD displays correctly over component.
2) 4:3 480p HD DVD also displays correctly over component.

That's cool, but also very cool is the statement that all 480p HD DVD content is upscaled to HD over component.

So, assuming all of this is true, then HD DVD 4:3 playback of any kind will not be a problem for those of us with older TVs. We will still need another DVD player for DVD 4:3 playback, but that is not a big deal.

Correct. No HDMI output.

However, the Xbox 360 will decode TrueHD and re-encode on-the-fly to 640 Kbps Dolby Digital 5.1, for transmission over SPDIF. Not a perfect solution, but good enough for my needs for the time being. By the time HDMI 1.3 (or higher) is commonplace on players, TVs, and receiver, I suspect standalone players will be under $199, and I'll get one then.

OTOH, if you want HDMI output now, the Xbox 360 add-on is not an option.



AFAIK, no.

Component is fine. That's what I'll be using.

HDMI isn't even supported on the Xbox 360 anyway.