360 HD-DVD audio/video question?

[SUPERMANROB]

Got a 360 for X-MAS and wondering how the HD-DVD add-on compares to a stand-alone player. considering returning it for the new toshiba player. oh the questions :) . does it do HDMI? if so, will it pass a native 1080P like the new toshiba does(i've heard)? how about TRUE DD,DTS-HD etc? My interest is HD-DVD and in the future the new audio formats but I do play a few games on a reg XBOX. Just want to know how well of a player the add-on is compared to a stand-alone. If there is a better place to ask this please let me know. thanks for any help on this.

[Xbox69]

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=488211

I'm considering a purchase myself. Still in research mode and I don't have an HDTV as of yet.

[aerobson]

Got a 360 for X-MAS and wondering how the HD-DVD add-on compares to a stand-alone player. considering returning it for the new toshiba player. oh the questions :) . does it do HDMI? if so, will it pass a native 1080P like the new toshiba does(i've heard)? how about TRUE DD,DTS-HD etc? My interest is HD-DVD and in the future the new audio formats but I do play a few games on a reg XBOX. Just want to know how well of a player the add-on is compared to a stand-alone. If there is a better place to ask this please let me know. thanks for any help on this.

Answers...

-It does not have HDMI.

-It will display in 1080p through the component cables.

-You can select True DD (not sure about DTS-HD) and get sound, but it will not be actual True DD. I heard somewhere that it sort of downgrades the audio to regular Dolby Digital if that makes sense or is even possible. I can verify that my receiver identifies the audio the same on the xbox 360 as it does my regular DVD player. It does get a little louder, but as best I can tell it is not actually playing the audio in a superior format.

-As far as the player is concerned, it is a really good substitute until the format war is over. The video quality is outstanding. The audio works and sounds good, but is not truly next generation audio. I'm satisified that this player will hold me over until I can afford a stand alone HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player. It allows me to get my HD fix, but it is not a permanent replacement.

[Edison]

Answers...

-It will display in 1080p through the component cables.


I don't think this is correct, the component will only do up to 1080i. The VGA cable is the only one that will pass 1080p, and it is the only one that will upscale regular (non-HD) dvd's.

[porieux]

It will pass 1080p over component but not many TVs support that.

[Gromit]

I agree with Edison. I don't think it will do 1080p over component. VGA only for 1080p.

[DJ_Longfellow]

I was able to select DTS with Bone Collector HD-DVD. I know it converts everything anyways, but some say if you select TrueHD over the normal DD track, it sounds a little better with the 360 HD-DVD.

Not sure about 1080p over component....my 1080i TV looks fine with it though.

[aerobson]

I don't think this is correct, the component will only do up to 1080i. The VGA cable is the only one that will pass 1080p, and it is the only one that will upscale regular (non-HD) dvd's.

Yeah, I think you're right. I knew one of the biggest parts of the latest update was to include 1080p resolution. I forgot about the VGA cables and only have a tv that will display 1080i. It still looks nice.

[scarab007]

I have the HD add on and love it. You really can't beat the price.

I admit the restricted upconverting only through vga is annoying though. Any chance it would be possible to get vga-to-component adapters and thus trick it into upconverting? :D

[kar10]

Does the Xbox HD DVD add on upconverts regular dvd's or is it just for HD DVD movies?

[Setzer]

In their Fall update they included support for 1080p over Component or VGA cables. You can read it here....

LINK (http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/news/2006/1030-novemberupdate-completelist.htm)

You'll need to make sure your TV supports 1080p via component.

[scarab007]

In their Fall update they included support for 1080p over Component or VGA cables. You can read it here....

LINK (http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/news/2006/1030-novemberupdate-completelist.htm)

You'll need to make sure your TV supports 1080p via component.

Yeah TV only does 1080i - but I was hoping to be able to upconvert the regular dvds somehow w/ a component input...

[SUPERMANROB]

thanks for the responses. I'm considering taking back the 360 for the new toshiba HD-DVD player. If the rumor is true about this new(Zephyr) 360 i could not find if it will be HDMI 1.3 compatible? this is important for the movie and movie audio portion of the system(for me anyways). Is there any time-line on this rumor(if it's true)? I have a Mits 57732 and wondering how it will look on this thing! This TV will pass native 1080p signal,so this is why I'm so interested if this new 360 will do this.

[edstein]

Does the Xbox HD DVD add on upconverts regular dvd's or is it just for HD DVD movies?

I believe it only upconverts with the VGA cables, even if your tv only does 720p/1080i.

[porieux]

I agree with Edison. I don't think it will do 1080p over component. VGA only for 1080p.

I didn't say I thought it would pass 1080p over component, I said it -will- pass 1080p over component. No need to speculate.

[Gromit]

I didn't say I thought it would pass 1080p over component, I said it -will- pass 1080p over component. No need to speculate.

Nice. I don't recall claiming that you 'thought' anything. I said I don't think it does 1080p movies.

I'm still reading at avsforum.com that it's 1080i over component. I thought the AACS rules prevented 1080p output for HD-DVD movies through component cables. I don't think it will matter as a 1080i signal on a 1080p display is pretty much the same thing, but HD-DVD movies come out of the 360 at 1080i.

I think the fall update added 1080p support for games, but not HD-DVD movies. There's no technical reason component can't do 1080p. I may be wrong.

Edit: Unless it's just marketing-speak, the fall update appears to have added 1080p output over component for HD-DVD. I'm not sure if avsforum members have reason to believe that it's still sending 1080i or what.

[mbs]

I thought the AACS rules prevented 1080p output for HD-DVD movies through component cables.

You are probably thinking of DVD being upscaled over component (something which no HD-DVD player will do).

ICT would have kept HD-DVD from doing 720p/1080i/1080p via component, but its use was delayed until at least 2012.

[Edison]

I didn't think it did 1080p (also based on what I read on AVS), but I may have been mixing HD DVD and upconvert DVD resolution restrictions also (as <i>mbs</i> noted). I did look at the Microsoft release that <i>Setzer</i> posted about the fall update and it does say HD DVD content is 1080p over component. Since I don't have 1080p capability on either of my HD sets it doesn't matter to me, as 1080i looks really good.

I get my upconverted DVD's over component through my older 'hacked' Samsung player.

[Gromit]

I didn't think it did 1080p (also based on what I read on AVS), but I may have been mixing HD DVD and upconvert DVD resolution restrictions also (as <i>mbs</i> noted). I did look at the Microsoft release that <i>Setzer</i> posted about the fall update and it does say HD DVD content is 1080p over component. Since I don't have 1080p capability on either of my HD sets it doesn't matter to me, as 1080i looks really good.

I get my upconverted DVD's over component through my older 'hacked' Samsung player.

Same here (no 1080p display so I haven't been following it that closely).

I did some googling this morning and there are several sites that clearly state that the HD-DVD add-on can NOT do 1080p over component (CNET for example) while others mention that since the fall update, it does. And the AVS people are still stating as recently as yesterday that it's doing 1080i.

It looks great. I guess that's all that matters.

[Decker]

Well, I turned in my old xbox with the BB return warranty and got a 360 HD-DVD drive instead (using a 12% coupon, it cost me $28).

Now I'm in a quandry : should I spring for the replacement warranty on this for $30 with the idea that I would return it in just under two years and put the $175 towards a new HD-DVD player? I'm assuming I could get a much better player in 2009 for that price, but of course I don't know for sure...