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one and only 360 HD-DVD Drive thread & LINKS - Page 66

post #1951 of 2184
12/28/07 at 7:25pm
Hi all,

I have a minor dilema. I'm thinking about purchasing the 360 HD-Dvd adapter but I had a quick question. From what I understand the 360 hd-dvd player outputs only the resolution selected in the display preferences. This settings is for BOTH 360 games and 360hd-dvd movies. You cannot select one independent of another.

I have a 720p 42" Sony KDF42E2000 RPLCD set that shows a ton of gaming lag at 1080i with the 360. Setting the xbox to 720p for games gives me the best performance and quality I am looking for.

Will a 720p signal look ideal on this set with the 360 HD-Dvd player? Or am I missing out on setting it to 1080i.

I wish the 360 allowed a 360 hd-dvd setting and a 360 game setting. My PS3 uses 720p for games and 1080i for movies if I wish.

thanks,

Jeff
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post #1952 of 2184
12/29/07 at 3:06am
Hi,

Does anyone know whether the HD-DVD add-on drive requires a hard drive on the 360? I'm considering purchasing an Arcade 360 unit (has new HDMI output) to use as an HD-DVD player only and those only come with a 256MB memory card (no HDD).

TIA
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post #1953 of 2184
12/29/07 at 5:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Xander View Post

Hi,

Does anyone know whether the HD-DVD add-on drive requires a hard drive on the 360? I'm considering purchasing an Arcade 360 unit (has new HDMI output) to use as an HD-DVD player only and those only come with a 256MB memory card (no HDD).

TIA

No, it does not require the harddrive.
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post #1954 of 2184
12/29/07 at 6:20am
I actually have the older model X360 Premium, believe it or not... It has a 20GB HDD, and I have it hooked up via VGA. Now, would that be the best connection I can make to get the HD-DVD in its full glory on this version of the X360, or are there any HDMI cables made a la carte for the X360, which I'd doubt?
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post #1955 of 2184
12/29/07 at 8:25am
I had way too much underscan using the VGA. Once I properly calibrated my component connection it looked just as good as the VGA.
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post #1956 of 2184
12/30/07 at 1:47am
Hello, I received the addon for Christmas along with 300(combo disc) and I'm having a couple frustrating issues. Right now I'm not sure whether the movie or the player is dysfunctional.

Installing the addon was no problem and I played King Kong first, the movie plays perfectly. But if I put "300" in, the disc will not read, says "Unplayable Disc" and I stay on the dashboard. I've looked very hard into the issue and it seems to stem around firmware. The firmware seems to install onto my hard drive and I don't see how I can remove it without formatting. I even burned the latest firmware onto a CD and I had no luck.

Now, if I take the hard drive off my Xbox, 300 will actually start playing. My next issue is that around chapter 12 of 300 and various other play times, the movie will stutter endlessly and I'll have to skip the chapter.

Basically, regarding the disc, it sounds like an issue that is happening to a lot of people so I can easily just get a replacement. What I'm concerned about is whether my hardware is faulty. Any help on the matter would be appreciated.

Thanks!
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post #1957 of 2184
12/30/07 at 9:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dielaughing View Post

Basically, regarding the disc, it sounds like an issue that is happening to a lot of people so I can easily just get a replacement. What I'm concerned about is whether my hardware is faulty. Any help on the matter would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Since you've already updated the firmware and had King Kong play perfectly, it's most likely the disc. People have had problems with combo discs. I would exchange 300 for another disc. (If it were hardware, you would have problems playing King Kong too)
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post #1958 of 2184
12/31/07 at 11:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffsiler View Post

I have a 720p 42" Sony KDF42E2000 RPLCD set that shows a ton of gaming lag at 1080i with the 360. Setting the xbox to 720p for games gives me the best performance and quality I am looking for.

Will a 720p signal look ideal on this set with the 360 HD-Dvd player? Or am I missing out on setting it to 1080i.

I wish the 360 allowed a 360 hd-dvd setting and a 360 game setting. My PS3 uses 720p for games and 1080i for movies if I wish.

thanks,

Jeff

I'd leave it at 720p. Your TV will take the 1080i signal and de-interlace it to 720p anyways, so you're not going to see any additional quality from 1080i. I run HD-DVDs at 720p and they still look absolutely amazing compared to upconverted DVD.
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post #1959 of 2184
12/31/07 at 10:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by NoiseGoth View Post

I'd leave it at 720p. Your TV will take the 1080i signal and de-interlace it to 720p anyways, so you're not going to see any additional quality from 1080i. I run HD-DVDs at 720p and they still look absolutely amazing compared to upconverted DVD.

Thats true that the TV will de-interlace the 1080i input signal and convert it to 720p, but I think real question is does my TV de-interlace it better than the HD-dvd drive on the 360. I think it does.

I've found on my Comcast HD Box if i set it to 720p the 1080i channels look like crap (720p channels obviously look fine). But when I set it to 1080i, the 1080i channels look great, and the 720p channels still look great. This tells me that my TV does a better job de-interlacing the input signal than my comcast box.

I've also seen similar benefits to the 1080i input on my PS3. For Blu-Ray disks I set it to 1080i and games I set it at 720p.

I think i'm going to have to do the same with the 360 (1080i for movies and a manual, switch to 720p for games).

My greatest wish would be if I could select 720p for games on my consoles and 1080i for movies. Also it would be nice if my cable box allowed passthrough inputs for 720p and 1080i. That way I can watch espn in 720p instead up 720p upscaled to 1080i then back to 720p.

Jeff
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post #1960 of 2184
1/2/08 at 6:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffsiler View Post

Thats true that the TV will de-interlace the 1080i input signal and convert it to 720p, but I think real question is does my TV de-interlace it better than the HD-dvd drive on the 360. I think it does.

I've found on my Comcast HD Box if i set it to 720p the 1080i channels look like crap (720p channels obviously look fine). But when I set it to 1080i, the 1080i channels look great, and the 720p channels still look great. This tells me that my TV does a better job de-interlacing the input signal than my comcast box.

I've also seen similar benefits to the 1080i input on my PS3. For Blu-Ray disks I set it to 1080i and games I set it at 720p.

I think i'm going to have to do the same with the 360 (1080i for movies and a manual, switch to 720p for games).

My greatest wish would be if I could select 720p for games on my consoles and 1080i for movies. Also it would be nice if my cable box allowed passthrough inputs for 720p and 1080i. That way I can watch espn in 720p instead up 720p upscaled to 1080i then back to 720p.

Jeff

Listen man....with your TV, no matter what signal you feed it, it will always be displaying at 720p. You should never set anything like your PS3 or Xbox to output in 1080i because your TV will just have to down convert the signal to 720p.
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post #1961 of 2184
1/2/08 at 8:28am
Looking to up grade my video card so I can play back HD movies from my Xbox360 HD/DVD Drive from my PC. I currently have an AGP 8x 6600GT video card which doest support the HDCP / HD video chip needed to watch HD movies on a PC. Any suggestions? Most video cards that support the HDCP video chip only come in PCI-e and I don't want to upgrade my whole system just the video card to an AGP version.

I'm using Powerlink DVD HD version and xbox hd/dvd drive hooked up to the PC. Now I just to shop for a AGP Video card that will let me watch my HD Movies. I don't want to use my xbox 360 to view the movies but would rather use my PC.
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post #1962 of 2184
1/2/08 at 12:22pm
From what I gather, AGP is not a secured channel, PCI-e is. That's why you only see HDCP video cards on PCI-e. However, if I remember correctly, you can still use VGA output from the video card to view HD movies. If your PC only supports AGP, video card probably isn't the only thing that won't work with PowerDVD. My friend tried the same route without any success. The software player crashed left and right on his PC.
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post #1963 of 2184
1/2/08 at 1:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sipster View Post

Listen man....with your TV, no matter what signal you feed it, it will always be displaying at 720p. You should never set anything like your PS3 or Xbox to output in 1080i because your TV will just have to down convert the signal to 720p.

This is not true. The OP is actually 100% correct. It all depends on the TV's scaler which should for the most part be better then the 360's. So even though it always will display 720p and with games always should be set to 720p, with movies it may look better set at 1080i if his set's scaler handles the down conversion better then the 360. Cable boxes are notoriously horrible at scaling so definitely don't use that as the measuring stick.
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post #1964 of 2184
1/2/08 at 2:45pm
I've been doing a little research and ATI has the HD2600 Pro and XT chip set that are 8x AGP that support DVI / HDMI / HDCP on AGP slot. Those cards are inline with nVidia 8600 cards. nVidia unfortunately doesnt make an 8 series card in AGP. The good news is that the ATI has better performance on HD viewing that the 8600 nVidia cards. But I'm an nVidia guy my self. I need to find a card that has VGA/HDMI/DMI outputs that's AGP that I think is going to be a challenge. This is going on a Sharp X10-X projector that only has VGA.
My HTPC is fairly beefy 3.2mhz 2gig ram. Windows Media version run's smooth on this. DVD playback is excellent. Currently using BFG 6600GT OC AGP card. But like others trying to make the transition to HD DVD with out having to upgrade my entire system just for the video card.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Foxbat121 View Post

From what I gather, AGP is not a secured channel, PCI-e is. That's why you only see HDCP video cards on PCI-e. However, if I remember correctly, you can still use VGA output from the video card to view HD movies. If your PC only supports AGP, video card probably isn't the only thing that won't work with PowerDVD. My friend tried the same route without any success. The software player crashed left and right on his PC.


Anyone using thier XBOX HD DVD drive hooked up to a projector that isnt HDMI? Through VGA or component video?

I'm pretty sure I can always view HD content through my XBOX HD DVD hooked up to VGA to my projector as a last resort.
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post #1965 of 2184
1/2/08 at 7:17pm
I use a vga cable from my MITS HD 1000 to my xbox 360 and it looks amazing.
I used to use component before the dashboard update that fixed the vga washed out problems,as for the res? my Mits looks better in 1080p than 720p due to the fact that the MITS scales better than the 360 or my cable box.
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post #1966 of 2184
1/3/08 at 6:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Foxbat121 View Post

From what I gather, AGP is not a secured channel, PCI-e is. That's why you only see HDCP video cards on PCI-e. However, if I remember correctly, you can still use VGA output from the video card to view HD movies. If your PC only supports AGP, video card probably isn't the only thing that won't work with PowerDVD. My friend tried the same route without any success. The software player crashed left and right on his PC.

AGP is HDCP compatible as is my Sapphire X1950Pro AGP card. With the add-on 360 drive most HD-DVD movies will play great with Power DVD Ultra. I find that I get stuttering with Transformers and King Kong, but i feel that my socket 754 system is CPU limited and this is the cause of the problem. You will need a Dual-Core CPU and a FSB capable of at least 1000 MHZ to watch the latest releases with no problems. I find that the add-on drive is smoother plugged into the XBOX 360 for playback. So much for ripping HD-DVD's and playing back smoothly on my current system
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post #1967 of 2184
1/3/08 at 8:54pm
I'm using the AGP VT ATI 2600 Pro 512 on an older P4B800e MB 1GB and 3.0ghZ runs smooth as glass.

Quote:
Originally Posted by BUCK NASTY View Post

AGP is HDCP compatible as is my Sapphire X1950Pro AGP card. With the add-on 360 drive most HD-DVD movies will play great with Power DVD Ultra. I find that I get stuttering with Transformers and King Kong, but i feel that my socket 754 system is CPU limited and this is the cause of the problem. You will need a Dual-Core CPU and a FSB capable of at least 1000 MHZ to watch the latest releases with no problems. I find that the add-on drive is smoother plugged into the XBOX 360 for playback. So much for ripping HD-DVD's and playing back smoothly on my current system
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post #1968 of 2184
1/4/08 at 5:07pm
Well, here's hoping they can get this add-on working with the ps3 some day.
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post #1969 of 2184
1/4/08 at 6:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BUCK NASTY View Post

AGP is HDCP compatible as is my Sapphire X1950Pro AGP card. With the add-on 360 drive most HD-DVD movies will play great with Power DVD Ultra. I find that I get stuttering with Transformers and King Kong, but i feel that my socket 754 system is CPU limited and this is the cause of the problem. You will need a Dual-Core CPU and a FSB capable of at least 1000 MHZ to watch the latest releases with no problems. I find that the add-on drive is smoother plugged into the XBOX 360 for playback. So much for ripping HD-DVD's and playing back smoothly on my current system

I don't agree with this. I'm running a C2D T7500 (800MHz FSB) on my notebook w/PDVD Ultra and Nvidia 8600M GT and, besides a few PDVD quirks, haven't had any problems playing the latest BD or HD DVD (360 AO) titles. I've got the notebook plugged into my HT via VGA (50" PDP) and 5.1 anaolg outs.
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post #1970 of 2184
1/8/08 at 8:19pm
Well, I do have a Xbox 360 and an HDDVD add on. But I use it entirely different from all of you. I modded it to fit into my HTPC case. Check it out!! Movies look so amazing in HD dont they?? Have you guys seen Transformers yet?? HOLY COW!!


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post #1971 of 2184
1/8/08 at 9:03pm
Do you have the console in there too, or just the add on? Either way, looks nice. I just watched Happy Feet, Transformers is up for tomorrow. All I can say is Wow, Happy Feet look so REAL!! Using a Xbox with HDMI to the set for the setup.
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post #1972 of 2184
1/9/08 at 4:42am
I just got a new 1080p 52" XBR4 and I'm wondering if it's worth going to the VGA cable so that movies can be viewed in 1080p...I've heard mixed results on using the VGA cable (ie...better contrast but washed out colors)...is anyone using the VGA to watch movies in 1080p? Any comments?
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post #1973 of 2184
1/9/08 at 4:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bduffy10 View Post

I just got a new 1080p 52" XBR4 and I'm wondering if it's worth going to the VGA cable so that movies can be viewed in 1080p...I've heard mixed results on using the VGA cable (ie...better contrast but washed out colors)...is anyone using the VGA to watch movies in 1080p? Any comments?

I never had any issues with my VGA setup, I recently got an elite and went to HDMI and the difference, well i cant see one at least on my tv. just make sure you change the reference level and calibrate it the best you can and you will be pleased. Also make sure you use the MS VGA cable and not some cheap knock-off thats seems to be many of the peoples issues, but also depends on how your tv handles a pc input as well some aren't as good as others..
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post #1974 of 2184
1/9/08 at 5:08am
Thanks...I'm going to give it a try...can always return the cable if it doesn't make a difference.
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post #1975 of 2184
1/9/08 at 10:18pm
i noticesd some noise(is that what the blurry pixles are called) on the screen when i was watching transformers and was wondering if there was a way to reduce/ get rid of it or is that normal as it is transferred over a usb connection. i have it and my bd-p1400 set to 1080i and there is no blurry pixles/noise on the 1400 i saw thay monster makes a usb to camcorder cable(like the one included ) http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html...t_adv_XSG10001 would that improve quality?
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post #1976 of 2184
1/10/08 at 10:18pm
After a recent Xbox Live / 360 update, when viewing HD DVDs on my Xbox 360, blocks of blue dots flash on the screen about once a second. I have tried 5 different HD DVDs, all with the same result.



The HD DVD drive is not near any heat source and stays cool. I have checked all connections, but this is clearly not a connection problem.



If I put a regular DVD in the HD DVD drive, it plays fine.



The drive played HD DVDs perfectly, up until recently. I believe it was right around the time of the latest update.



Has anyone ever seen this before?



Here are some pics:
http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=2184131933&size=m
http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=...ostream&size=l
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post #1977 of 2184
1/11/08 at 2:12am
No honestly...

Do you think its worth will drop like a rock to making it become completely worthless once the format is 100% and non-existant in the market? The reason I ask this is (even though I sold mine too a week ago...a lot of my buds are telling me it was stupid and a knee jerk reaction...I dont know was it?).

Im not going to lie I do miss it now because I cant enjoy HD movies for cheap. But I could always pick up another one cheap as a ton of people have been unloading them, if I did this do you think I would be making a mistake? Maybe the same mistake over again? A lot of owners of the 360 add on still love it and feel theyres absolutely no need to get rid of theres even after the news.

I dont know, was my very sudden reaction of me selling mine the day after I hear the news a knee jerk reaction? Will I "really" honestly deep down be stuck with a brick (not in terms of function but worth) come summer time? ...or sooner...

Also another thing I need to state is, IF I do decide to pick up another HD add on for cheap...I wouldnt buy any movies for it (until stores blow em out for cheap), till then I will only rent from Blockbuster. And hopefully by summer time or Xmas 08, 2.0 Bluray standalones will be out and all the kinks are worked out and a lot more affordable.
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post #1978 of 2184
1/12/08 at 8:55pm
Question: I'm using the Xbox 360 addon with my PC and UltraPower DVD. Is it possible to access the online content for HD DVD titles? I was trying Transformers and it appears to just hang there accessing the online but nothing happens. I'm wondering if UltraPower allows the internet to communicate with the the Xbox addon.
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post #1979 of 2184
1/13/08 at 7:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by timcuculic View Post

After a recent Xbox Live / 360 update, when viewing HD DVDs on my Xbox 360, blocks of blue dots flash on the screen about once a second. I have tried 5 different HD DVDs, all with the same result.



The HD DVD drive is not near any heat source and stays cool. I have checked all connections, but this is clearly not a connection problem.



If I put a regular DVD in the HD DVD drive, it plays fine.



The drive played HD DVDs perfectly, up until recently. I believe it was right around the time of the latest update.



Has anyone ever seen this before?



Here are some pics:
http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=2184131933&size=m
http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=...ostream&size=l

Yes. Your Xbox is most likely dying. To confirm, try your drive and the same disc on a buddies Xbox, where it will work.
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post #1980 of 2184
1/14/08 at 11:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Princeismyname View Post

No honestly...

Do you think its worth will drop like a rock to making it become completely worthless once the format is 100% and non-existant in the market? The reason I ask this is (even though I sold mine too a week ago...a lot of my buds are telling me it was stupid and a knee jerk reaction...I dont know was it?).

Im not going to lie I do miss it now because I cant enjoy HD movies for cheap. But I could always pick up another one cheap as a ton of people have been unloading them, if I did this do you think I would be making a mistake? Maybe the same mistake over again? A lot of owners of the 360 add on still love it and feel theyres absolutely no need to get rid of theres even after the news.

I dont know, was my very sudden reaction of me selling mine the day after I hear the news a knee jerk reaction? Will I "really" honestly deep down be stuck with a brick (not in terms of function but worth) come summer time? ...or sooner...

Also another thing I need to state is, IF I do decide to pick up another HD add on for cheap...I wouldnt buy any movies for it (until stores blow em out for cheap), till then I will only rent from Blockbuster. And hopefully by summer time or Xmas 08, 2.0 Bluray standalones will be out and all the kinks are worked out and a lot more affordable.

Considering a standalone 1080p HD DVD player can now be had for $8 less than the Add-on at Amazon, I'd say the add-on isn't worth much of anything. I'd imagine the Toshiba players are much better DVD upconverters than the xBox is as well. At least, I hope that's the case, because I'm very unimpressed with my xBox's upconversion over VGA. I wonder how long before Microsoft discounts or discontinues their add-on? At this point they either need to make it standard hardware on every new xBox, or just stop selling the thing.

If you're going to rent HD DVDs instead of buying, you'll need a netflix account as Blockbuster is Blu-Ray exclusive.
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